Who is managing and supporting you?

Who is managing and supporting you? Business owners tend to be alone and take on all of the responsibility for their business. This article investigates the type of support for managing directors you should be looking for.

When we work for a company we get managed.  We receive guidance, tasks are allocated to us based on our skill set, we are set goals and we are given reviews and praise.

Working as an MD is very different. It’s especially hard if you are a procrastinator – who will motivate and push you?

As children we have parents to encourage us to do well, they keep us on time and ensure we are happy and healthy.

At school, we had teachers to inspire and motivate us, and at work, we’d have our bosses and colleagues listen to our niggles, celebrate our successes, and give us a pep talk when we needed one. As a Managing Director, it’s a very different story.

Support for Managing Directors; What do you do when you don’t have a boss? 

Definition of boss:
‘The person who is in charge of an organisation and who tells others what to do’ Cambridge Dictionary

When you are the business owner, the CEO, or the MD of the business, there are very few people who have authority over you and your actions and decisions.  The proverbial buck stops with you.

Your decisions determine the path the company takes, its future, and the futures of all the people who work for you or with you.  It’s a huge undertaking!

These reasons may not have been why you started or bought into the business.  You probably wanted to serve people in whatever way your expertise allowed, you needed to earn money, or you were fed up with seeing other people doing whatever you do badly.

Now you have grown your business, you have a team working for you, you are expected to lead and make decisions, and everyone judges you for the quality of those decisions, not just on the quality of the goods and services you provide.

The hardest thing is knowing what decisions you need to make.  It is easy to be reactive as when faced with a problem or issue your experience and values will guide you.  What is not so easy is being proactive, envisaging a future, forming a strategy, planning the route, and keeping focused on the end game.

You can not be an expert at all things! As a small business owner, there will be many different hats you are expected to wear, and you will need to make decisions about marketing, sales, operations, finance, and HR.  Sometimes you will just wish you had a crystal ball.

Before you turn into an indecisive heap or an autocrat, most people who run businesses know that there are people who can advise and help them, and use the people around them to aid them in running the business.

Here are 8 top tips to support Managing Directors:

1). Put aside some time to think and plan
Find others to ‘do the do’ so you have time to be strategic and take the long view

2). Find someone to hold you accountable
Telling anyone of your plans makes it more likely that you will keep to them, telling someone who is going to ask you about your progress will intensify the desire to bring your plans to fulfillment.

3). Seek out a support network
You need people who genuinely have your best interests at heart and will create a safe space for you to think, reflect and pause.

4). Don’t surround yourself with ‘Yes’ men and women
Avoid those who will agree with you and say that you are always right, and it is always the other party’s fault that things go wrong. Sometimes the best thing someone can do for you is to hold up the mirror to your own faults and failings, but also to your strengths and brilliance.

5). Cut out toxic influences
Limit your time with anyone who constantly brings you down, questions your judgment, or shatters your self-confidence.  Your support network will help with this.

6). Know your limits
If you don’t have all the information or do not understand then find someone competent, who can help you understand and make informed decisions rather than purely emotional ones.

7). Find people who inspire you to greater things
Read, follow, and listen to people who stimulate your thinking.  Join groups or go networking to learn from your peers.

8). Every day you need to carve out some moments of calm
Doing this will allow you to focus and reflect on your plans and your progress. Even twenty minutes a day will benefit you and lead you to success.

Being a CEO or MD can be the loneliest place in the world, or it can be the best possible role to have.

Remember, that you are unique and will do things differently from every other person so ensure you get the support that fits your personal needs, whether it’s from business coaches like us or from another source. Just don’t try to do things alone! As business coaches, we support our clients on each of the 8 tips above every single day, it’s what we do best!

At the end of the day, any path you take will lead somewhere, and if the destination is not exactly where you thought it would be, it will lead to a whole new adventure.

If any of the above resonates with you and you would like our support, sign up for a free discovery coaching session to see if we are the right fit for you, or take our 3-minute business assessment which will provide you with instant focus areas to help you.