Entrepreneur stress is a daily challenge many of our organizational leaders face. As Executive Assistants, it is a part of our job to be the hand to help them up again.
Here are 5 tips and tricks to help your entrepreneur get through their bad day.
Keep it short
Clear workplace communication is important! If you have daily 1-on-1 meetings, keep them short and to the point. The “BLUF” method can help you here: keep the Bottom Line Up Front.
Hit them with only one or two important updates, save the rest for the next day when they are in a healthier headspace. Try to stick with positive updates, but never bury bad news if it’s time-sensitive and they need to hear it.
Take tasks off their plate
If you see that your entrepreneur is stressed and bogged down with tasks, take action by helping with some of them. This stress is a signal they aren’t the right person for those specific jobs, even if they’ve kept them on their plate. Multitasking can be harmful.
Identify the right people to do the task — they may be inside the business or outside, like vendors or partners. Put together a specific suggestion about how you’re going to communicate the delegation and what the expectation for 80% complete is.
Calm the storm
Relaxation techniques are useful in finding peace in the storm, but many times the best solution is to minimize the storm itself. If they’re having a bad day and struggling, their patience is going to be worn, and their ability to think at their best is limited.
Prioritize the projects that need feedback; be very specific about where you need them to weigh in, and then get to work. The rest can wait for tomorrow.
Talk about the future
“Future focus” is where entrepreneurs thrive. They excel when they are focused on the vision they’re building in spite of the current bump in the road.
An entrepreneur’s life is challenging. Entrepreneurs often feel frustrated with people in their organization — maybe they aren’t getting the results they need from their team, things aren’t happening quickly enough, etc.
You are the person who works closest to them — be supportive. Validate what they are saying and let them know you understand where they are coming from.
Take action in tandem with your moral support. Avoid glossing over what they are feeling now. Help them understand they aren’t crazy for being frustrated. Entrepreneur stress is valid.
Once they feel understood and heard, you can lessen the burden and show them the way out by communicating how you can help them. Focus on “I will…” and avoid burdening them with a list of “You will…”
Know when to give some space
Finally, take what you’ve learned about your entrepreneur’s leadership style and personality to know when to engage deeply and when to keep your distance. Sometimes your entrepreneur needs time to focus and regroup.
So keep working on long-term projects and go above and beyond to communicate with the rest of the team and keep your daily updates concise, helpful, and actionable.
We work with incredible entrepreneurs. Our job is to be the extra superpower they need on days they feel a little less super. Let’s try to implement these powerful strategies for alleviating entrepreneur stress.
At Superpowers, our mission is to help successful entrepreneurs discover new levels of Freedom and Growth in their professional and personal lives. This blog is the tip of the iceberg of what we do. Interested in learning more? Visit the Superpowers homepage.
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