Our solution to stress:

FastTrack the Chief Executive!

Making choices and decisions at the top can be isolating and stressful. Chief Executives may not always be concerned with being popular so if they make an essential but difficult decision, they don’t always fear its impact. However, the nature of the issues they face means someone has to be accountable for their inception and this can make them feel hugely responsible for the well-being of a lot of other people. When a company is doing well, the issues a Chief Executive faces can be rewarding and motivational, but when cash flow is tight and morale is low, a lot rides on the choices people at the top make. It isn’t easy being a Chief Executive or a member of the top team.

It is the responsibility of a very few people to ultimately make the business succeed. Sleepless nights, long hours and a persistent fear of failure often ‘go with the territory’ but these are features of the role that are not well defined in the job description! Often companies start small and entrepreneurial, fuelled by the dynamic enthusiasm of the creator but as the business expands two problems can arise. Firstly, the company needs to employ more people principally to market it, sell it, monitor the finances and run the operation. Salaries, bonuses and profit share then become the issues a Chief Executive faces, whose greatest strength might be their creativity and who is little equipped to deal with managing people. People require persistence, consistence and patience – this takes up a lot of time! Time is something few Chief Executives have in plentiful measure.

Playing to the strength of a Chief Executive often means encouraging them to ‘let go’ of the responsibility of the business and delegate to others whilst still retaining the accountability of the business.

The second issue Executives face as the business expands is the inevitable difficulty of separating ‘themselves’ from ‘the business’. Often they have developed it or even if they’re running a larger corporate, they have a desire to make their mark on it and in it. This provides fertile ground for powerful long term visions for the business but also the desire to be ‘in it’ all the more so as to speed up or effect the decisions in line with the achievement of this vision. Desiring this objective isn’t an error but it can lead to long working hours while the Chief Executive attempts to achieve measurable results. Coupled with a need to ‘control’ events, decisions and people; a fear of failure should the business not achieve target, and you have a huge recipe for long term stress!

Again, encouragement is the key. Learning to work ‘on’ the business not always ‘in it’ is the key to greater work/life balance and a sense of satisfaction at what is achieved.

Coaches in Whealth are dedicated to teaching the skills Chief Executives need to manage their business AND themselves. If you think you need coaching to help work on the business not in the business, then contact Whealth now on 0844 800 4292 and we’ll send you the details of the process we can offer.

"Playing to the strength of a Chief Executive often means encouraging them to ‘let go’ of the responsibility of the business and delegate to others whilst still retaining the accountability of the business. "