WHAT YOU FEEL: everything you do seems to be scrutinized but you don’t have the time to worry about everything you say and do

PERSPECTIVE: It’s ironic. One of the things you worry about as you sit in your apartment, office or workspace is whether the world will even pay attention to what we are doing? Will anyone even notice? Once someone does, you are always on stage.

Before reading this, you probably thought you were on the clock a lot. The entrepreneur is on the clock twenty-four hours per day, 365 days per year. This does not mean that you have to work all those hours (although you probably do anyway). It does mean that you are constantly being watched and judged. Fair or not, you are the face of the organization and there is not a personal entrepreneur and a professional entrepreneur. There’s only the entrepreneur and you are always being watched.

When you are the entrepreneur, you are on stage twenty-four hours per day. People are always watching. Your employees, investors, customers, advisors, and vendors are always looking to you. They are looking to see if you are their leader. They are looking to see if they can trust you. They are looking to see if you can take the pressure. They are looking to see if you will make them a success. No time of day is off limits. No topic is off limits.

In New York City I had a colleague that had always been involved with a cancer charity. His Mom died way too young from cancer. Long before becoming an entrepreneur, he was dedicated to raising money for cancer. When he started his company, despite his crazy schedule, he kept up his charity work. He became a member of the Board of a local cancer charity. You would think that these are the character traits you want in a leader. During a dinner with him and his investors, one of his investors said to me “it is great he keeps up with the charity but it takes a lot of his time.”

Disgusting but the reality is that everything is on stage. Assume that everything you do at any time of day is being watched. Think about how unfair this is. The pressure you are under and the heart you have put into this and you are always under the microscope.

Slam the phone down once and your stability is questioned. Come late to a meeting and you are disrespectful. Show loyalty to an early employee of the business and you are putting your feelings ahead of the best interests of the company. Some of it is fair. Some of it is not.

This is especially true with investors. Especially with investors, everything you do is part of an evaluation process. They are asking themselves “does he have the leadership qualities we want?” It is not only about the subject matter at hand. For example, write a long, detailed email to explain something and you will think you did a nice job thoroughly explaining an issue. They may agree but may also question your ability to align the organization with that communication style.

This is also true with employees. Employees are watching your capabilities, temperament and daily behavior:

• Do you look tired?

• Do you yell?

• Do you slam the phone?

• Do you insult employees?

• Do you say hello when you walk past someone?

• Do you introduce yourself to new employees?

• Are you late to meetings?

• Do you favor certain employees over others?

• Do you welcome feedback and criticism?

• Do you talk negatively about team members, customer or employees?

• Do you insult former employees?

• Do you say one thing in private and another in public?

• Are you trustworthy?

• Did you cheat at a game of cards?

• Do you dress well?

• What time do you get to work?

• What time you leave?

• Do you act as if you know it all or are constantly learning?

The smallest things can make a big difference:

For the two years after the collapse of the financial markets and many of our customers, we were under a ton of pressure. The work day was twenty hours every day. One day, one of our customers who had committed to extending their contract called to tell me that they had to terminate their contract. We had enough bad news and this customer turning from an extension to a termination was not welcome. After I hung up the phone, I slammed my hand on my desk and threw a rubber baseball I kept in my office against the wall. Two years later, after all the dust had settled, our company was out at an event and a long-time employee came over to me. She said she always had confidence that I would see us through. She did say, however, that the only time she felt like we weren’t going to make it was the day that I slammed my hand on the desk and threw the ball against the wall. “We all felt if it is getting to you, it must be bad.”

No one understands better than you that the success of your venture depends on you. Your passion, dedication and drive are critical. What is equally important is your ability to lead. It makes no difference whether or not you will ultimately be the CEO of the company. You may have gotten into this because you are a talented technologist or a skilled marketer. You may have never thought or cared about being a leader. Regardless, at the early stages of a venture, like it or not, you are the leader. Your actions set the tone. In later stages, when there are more team members, your organization will have a culture that is bigger than you. For now, the pie chart of “who do you look to for how the company is going to do? is nearly one hundred percent you.

For the entrepreneur, there needs to be two worlds. One in which you are running the company and the other when you have the opportunity to “let it out.” With all the pressure you are under, you must have vehicles to escape.  You must find your times and places to do this away from it all. For the rest of your life, don’t forget you are always on stage.

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