An Entrepreneur is not an Island

This was a question that I was asked in a recent event.

At that moment, I gave the answer that came into my head…

After giving it some thought… there is so much more to answer this question, I have decided to lay some thoughts on this post.

An entrepreneur, a founder, a CEO are very lonely positions and roles to take upon.

We need to be strong, we need to be brilliant, we need to be focussed, most of all we need to be relentless and thrive every day.

We have to be an “ecosystem of knowledge” as we are expected to understand most of the areas of our business better than anyone else. We are feeding innovation, efficiency, solutions, and motivation to our company and staff to continue to thrive.

So yes… sometimes we feel like an island, that is alone, with “all the concerns in the world” and anxious to keep our “ecosystem” flourishing and growing.

Most people can shut down, but not an entrepreneur, a founder, a CEO! We are in constant survival mode.

Urgency, Growth, Revenue, Efficiency, Burn, Competition, Innovation are words echoing in our heads constantly.

How can an entrepreneur, a founder, a CEO be less of an island?

1. Build Bridges: We need to be in a constant state of construction of bridges. Bridges between us and other founders, us and other companies, mentors, coaches that can help us with guidance, intellectual growth, and opening doors to expand or expose our business. We are stronger together than we are alone, so we need to be in constant construction of alliances.
2. Ask for feedback: We need to be humble, always ask questions, ask for feedback, as someone might be seeing something you are not. It is most important to get different perspectives and knowledge from that feedback. Be open to listening and don’t take it personally. In the times we live, “no business is set in stone” so we need to be available to hear, learn, relook at our business and iterate fast if needed without emotion.
3. Find your trusted team of vertical leaders: Trust, delegate, and let it flow. If you trust your team and your team trusts you, it is easier to delegate and ask for help. You can’t build and run a company on your own. It is hard to delegate at first, but if you don’t delegate, you can’t scale your business faster. To scale your business you need to be able to cascade down some tasks and responsibilities, not doing this means you will lose time, teams trust, and mostly it will hurt your business.
4. Lay down your clear principles and what you expect the company to be: If this message is clear, everyone will follow the same principles creating a company profile and culture that all are proud and aligned.

Having said this, as a founder, a CEO, this entrepreneur aligns the company to certain principles, and most of the time this reflects what kind of person or citizen he/she is.

Can companies be citizens or have citizen principles?

I believe so… and in our company SheerME.com, we try to follow our principles as people and as leaders, despite just having a couple of months, we believe that aligning these principles from the beginning will help us create stronger foundations.

What is the thought behind this?

We are all members of a greater society….

Our Company is a member of this society.

I heard this a few weeks back on a podcast and I resonated 100% with it and we are applying it every day.

Let’s start with a question….

What does it mean to be a citizen?

• It is the responsibility to show up and actively participate in our society. This is an active thing, it is not a passive thing.
• To invest in relationships, to acknowledge our interconnection and our interdependence. This is not a solo sport it is a team sport.
• To be a citizen is to understand power. Where it comes from, and the different ways we can use it for good and in our mission,
• We do this on behalf of the many, not just the few. Not just ourselves as individuals, but ourselves as members of a collective.

These principles can be applied to a collection of individuals that we define as a company. We try to follow this in our day to day in SheerME.com

Some more questions to answer as an exercise….

• How are we showing up as SheerME?

We are trying to help the wellness, beauty, and fitness communities on their digital transformation, offering technology, efficiency, and digital consultancy with a performance-based revenue stream. Either we send business to professionals who request our services or we do not deserve to get any commission.

• How are we participating with others?

We try to align our business and brand with other companies that have similar principles and missions. We try to explore advantages, partnerships, and help all those who work with us. We are trying to build an ecosystem that brings benefits to all stakeholders and not just a few.

• How are we understanding what our power is, and are we using all that to benefit the many, not just the few?

We understand that with technology comes adaptation and a learning curve that takes time to adapt and adjust. But someone needs to be available to help and guide on this transition, so we are here to help, serve, and coach all in our community and ecosystem so we can grow and transition together.

To benefit from this digital transformation, we know it will take time and patience to help the community learn this new trend. We are focussed to help all stakeholders on this journey and transition.

We are in the midst of so many challenges, with this situation we are living today that we have to ask these questions every month, every week, every day.

We need to be ready to adapt and iterate so we make sure we are aligned with our principles and the needs of all stakeholders.

In sum; an entrepreneur, a founder, and a CEO can be an island, but an island with bridges, with systems of connection, with peers that help and guide, with boats and ferries that facilitate in all connections to expand and thrive as a flourishing ecosystem.

This island needs to have the right people to help with the development, and it needs to have a clear mission that resonates with others that might help to expand and grow.

The mission needs to be clear, fair, and be aligned with the needs of the many and not the few.

Being an entrepreneur, a founder, and a CEO can be tough, but with a serving spirit, with the right mission, people, and drive, it can be the greatest and most fulfilling role you might have.

Even better if you can create a trend or help a community to improve, evolve, or be more efficient.

I hope this helps you in any way, do keep on thriving and be relentless every day!

If you resonate with this, please leave a comment below.

“Work hard, think big, stay humble”