Sometimes protecting is a disservice

Many of us have a natural instinct to protect people—so we don’t tell them about the hard stuff.

We hide the financial woes.

We curb the customer complaints.

We shelter people from the truth because we don’t want to hurt their feelings.

We only share a fraction of the challenges we experience as entrepreneurs.

The problem is, when we deal with all the pain and pressure solo, we don’t give others the chance to understand, react, support, or help fix the issue.

I’ve learned this the hard way. Too many times.

Five or so years ago, my company was under a lot of financial pressure.

I couldn't make payroll multiple times that year; we were experiencing big growing pains, losing clients, under-pricing, trying to nail down our services… I could go on.

The problem is, I didn’t tell my team a thing.

I drained my savings and shouldered the stress in silence.

My reasons for not communicating were good. I had the right intent: I didn’t want to scare them.

But they knew something was up the whole time.

My attempt to make them feel secure actually left them insecure.

Sometimes, what you think is protecting others is actually doing you and them a disservice.

So, how does this apply to your life?

Are there any areas where you should be a little more transparent? That you must relay a message even if it’s hard? Even if it might hurt feelings? Even if it might make you look bad?

If so, I challenge you to do it today.

#business #leadership #culture