When do you talk to your leadership team about your business challenges? How about your spouse? When does leadership mean “this is my problem to solve”, and when do you wrap the rest of your organization in on your decisions? Let’s talk about it!

Why is that important for business? 

Some businesses don’t rely on their leadership for much of anything, and think leadership is a matter of figuring out the solution and then sharing it with the rest of the team. On the other end of the spectrum, some tell their leadership everything, and it can affect morale and have negative repercussions on retention. When we don’t use our team, we miss out on other thinking, nor do we engage their talent fully. And if we don’t believe in their ability to contribute to the solution – that’s another problem altogether. 

At the same time, we need to be conscious of our own emotional state before we infect the whole company with it, which is why it’s good to come to the table once we are ready for solutions, and not just panicking. Going to the leadership team with every little issue in an emotional state can create its own set of problems. 

Which brings up another issue – when and how much do you share with a spouse?

This can really highlight the value of a business confidante, not to replace the leadership team, but to act as a sounding board when emotions are still high, or maybe when we have business depression. https://soheresmystory.com/ep80-ever-been-business-depressed-replay/ When we aren’t ready to lead or inspire people, but we don’t want to worry our spouses, a business confidante can be just what’s needed. 

Beyond whether the leadership team can actually provide help, we should also question the vulnerability aspect of whether we are bringing them into the conversation when challenges present themselves. There is a pervasive idea that we should always have it together or have all of the answers as leaders that toxic and problematic. Being able to say, “here is a problem that I don’t have answers to right now, but let’s figure it out together” can relieve so much pressure, as long as we aren’t unnecessarily contributing to angst. People can only help with things they have a line of sight to. 

We can also help build the skillset of thinking like owners and also provide the nutrients for growth and sense of engagement in the company by engaging the team on problems. 

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