Being an Entrepreneur is Not A Job, It’s an Identity

“Understanding that no one cares as much as you do will actually enable you to make progress rather than spend time being disappointed.” 

When we don’t recognize that no one cares as much as we do, we not only become frustrated, but we alienate our team members that are working hard, and usually for below-market compensation. We must have realistic expectations not only about their work effort, but also about how much they care about the long list of things that run through our mind each day. Our teams aren’t failing to care enough—we as leaders are failing to recognize and accept that no one cares as much as we do and take measures to bridge this gap.

What You Need to Do

Part of the process of entrepreneurship is the sooner we accept that there is no one out there who cares as much as we do, the better off we will be. It is our perspective that is off, not theirs. This flawed perspective can be detrimental to team members, and other resources, who are working hard, and still criticized for not being committed. Telling someone who has just worked a long day or a weekend that they aren’t committed enough is a great way to turn them into an ex-employee. Our entrepreneurial passion can blind us to negative and inefficient perspectives, but that doesn’t mean that we shouldn’t be proud of our passion. We just need to recognize how it works and how it affects others.

Not everyone has what it takes to bring the energy to create something from nothing. I always felt lucky not only that I stumbled onto something that might turn into a good business, but that I was working on my passion every day. People will say to you, “Work is fine but it’s not like I wake up passionate about credit card marketing. I wish I woke up every day working on something I really believed in.” We are lucky to have found our idea or our vision. We are lucky to have that glow in our eye. What goes with that is the reality that no one will care about it as much as you do.