Business owners, are you still thinking like an employee? Don’t take this as an invasive question. It’s not unusual to stray into the behavior of past employees, even after several years of running your business. I call this the remnants of “employee thinking.”
It is not unusual that after operating your business for several years, you return to your previous employee behavior. Habits have a slow death; they are so ingrained in our psychic that deliberate actions are required to remove or replace them.
I maintained an employee mindset for the first 3 years of my business. It wasn’t until I ran into some big challenges that I recognized; 1) I was stuck with an employee mindset and 2) I needed a breakthrough.
So it may not seem strange to you that you, the established business owner, are back in employee mode. Stress, distraction, and business challenges can push us to that place where we fall back on unproductive behavior from the past. For example, have you seen older children, when frustrated or tired, revert to old habits like thumb or finger sucking as a way to calm or comfort themselves?
Mind you, it’s not unreasonable for business owners or entrepreneurs to experience unforeseen setbacks that “rattle their cages.” These setbacks can push you back into employee survival mode. This may be more prevalent in areas of financial matters. The concept of seeing high returns on investment (ROI) could be elusive; simply because you may not see the return right away.
These 5 easy steps to break the cycle of an employee mindset:
- Acknowledge or be aware that you have returned to the employee mindset or at least are heading in that direction. Take a conceptual snapshot of the last trading decision you made and the result. Review the process you followed to reach the decision. If the approach was not aligned with your business vision and goals, you need to do damage control. Consider the following questions: “Am I taking shortcuts to reach my goals?” “Am I looking at the whole picture or is my attention focused on something immediately in front of me?”
- As an entrepreneur, sales are the main part of business success. Employee attitudes toward sales are biased and often viewed as a necessary evil. To get good results, our perception of sales must be different. You have to embrace it as the conduit for success. Making a change of mentality is the first step; Think of your business as a provider of solutions to the dilemmas or challenges facing your market.
- Lifelong learning is essential. Working for an employer affects our approach to learning. We may learn just the essentials for the job or just enough to get by. But that kind of thinking can be detrimental to your business. You must stay abreast of economic trends and changes that impact your business or market. This approach opens the door to additional business. Keep learning; It never ends
- Looking for a loan to invest in business growth. An employee mindset thinks a business loan is too risky; I’ll limp along doing the best I can and sales will increase. It’s definitely not a good idea. Go back to your business plans and review the timeline to grow your business. Are you investing back in your business? Didn’t you set goals to expand the business within a certain period of time and hire an assistant to free you up for work? us the business? Making a wise investment in your business would take you to your goal.
- What is your attitude towards change? This is a difficult path for most of us, especially when we are emotionally involved in the business. Starting a successful business requires a good product or service that others need. Therefore, it makes sense to invest in developing the right solutions. But that’s not all. It also requires passion, commitment, diligence, and many other qualities. After a few years in business, you may experience changes in the market that require changes. For starters, any unduly close connection to your business can blur your objectivity, stunt growth, and even erode your business. Remember that any unhealthy emotional attachment gets in the way.
If that’s your dilemma, take a page out of the book of professional tennis players. In short, it is not unusual for this group to work with different coaches at different times. The ultimate goal is to stay fit, be competitive, and improve your game, among others. In turn, they hire coaches to take them to the top and will fire them if the results are less than stellar.
As an employee working for someone else, you rarely worry about the challenges of starting a business. That is not his problem or concern. As an employee, his focus is limited and narrow. There are other employees to handle other aspects of the organization.
When you became the CEO of your company, you need to start thinking about and applying strong attributes worthy of a CEO. The first thing he needs to do is trade in his employee hat for a CEO hat. Eradicate those bad habits and mentalities. Don’t take off your CEO hat when difficulties arise and always think with the mind of a CEO.
If you find this challenging, invest in some entrepreneur leadership training or hire a business coach to work with you.