“It’s a trap, don’t fall for it, because you are always on stage and your every action, interaction and reaction is being scrutinized and analyzed by every constituent of the company.” 

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 you are doing. Will anyone even notice? But once someone does take note, you are always onstage. 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.

You must realize that your every word and deed is being monitored by everyone, everywhere. Even the smallest things can make a big difference. 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.

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.

Investors are Watching

Everything you do is on display, and is an evaluation process—especially for investors. You may never actually hear these questions, but it doesn’t mean they aren’t asking them.

• Do you acknowledge competition?
• Do you acknowledge that the team members that you have today, including you, may not be the team members to run the business down the line?
• Do you dominate the conversation or share the stage with your team members?
• Are you defensive about your gaps?
• Are your communications clear and to the point?
• How do you dress?
• How do you talk to employees?
• Are you on time?
• Do you drink?
• Do you talk over your team members in the presentation?
• Are you close with your family?
• Do you curse?
• Were you late to the meeting?
• Do you seem stressed?
• Are you overwhelmed by the pressure?

Ultimately, investors are asking themselves, “Does she 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 with your conclusion, but will still question your ability to align the organization with such a “verbose” communication style. You are always onstage.

Employees are Watching

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 public and another in private?
• Are you trustworthy?
• Did you cheat at 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?

When you are busy running the business, you do not spend much time thinking about how you appear to people. You are focused on the tasks at hand. You may be running around with your hair messed up, your shoes untied, and the buttons on your shirt buttoned wrong.

A Story

For two years following the collapse of the financial markets and the bankruptcy of many of our customers, we were under a lot of pressure. The workday was twenty hours every day. One day, one of our customers who had committed to extending their contract called to tell me that they now had to terminate it. 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. We all felt, “If it is getting to you, it must be bad.”

You Have An Opportunity

In addition to a realization, it is an opportunity. At first, you may feel that with everyone watching, you are bound to screw up. Who wouldn’t when you are on the clock day and night. But having an audience also provides you with the chance to influence some very powerful and positive company behaviors. For example, people notice:

• When you are the first to come to work
• When you are the last to leave work
• If you go to the end of the line when with employees to let them go first
• If you admit you don’t know things
• If you thank people for their candor (and mean it)
• If you make fun of yourself
• If you display kindness and empathy.

This stage provides you with a forum to have an impact on the culture of your company and the behaviors of others. If you have this perspective, you see your constant stage performance not as a problem but as an opportunity to lead by example.

No one understands better than you that the success of your venture depends on—you. Your passion, dedication and drive are critical. Your ability to lead is equally important. 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 beginning of a new 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, it’s mostly you. If we were to look at a pie chart dividing responsibility for the company’s future success, your portion would be about 99 percent. That’s a lot of pie, especially when everyone is watching.

You can’t escape being onstage, so use it to your advantage and put on a show they’ll never forget.