Christopher V. Flett

I had breakfast with a colleague yesterday and she shared a saying her dad had. “You don’t just have to have a head for business. You have to have a stomach for business too.”

Isn’t this true? It’s one thing to keep your head in the game when you get thrown a curve ball, but it’s another to have the constitution to do what it takes to manage it when it happens. Too often, owners stick their heads in the sand and pretend that the problem is going to go away. It rarely does. It’s like wishing away cancer. You need to dig down deep and find the personal fortitude to march forward, through the shit, and make magic happen. When clients need to make a tough call, I hear them say, “Oh…this makes me feel sick.” That’s an emotional response, not a physical one. You feel sick because you are psyching yourself up, worrying about the outcome. People, business isn’t personal. It is a a simple transaction that gets screwed up by people creating personal relationships out of professional connections.

In a soon to be published rant about tardiness, I will talk about setting rules and boundaries for those you work with. When people feel sick about a decision, it’s because they have allowed someone to overstep a boundary that likely wasn’t identified. When rules and boundaries are in place, if someone oversteps your boundary, to take the agreed upon course of action. If you are late for me, I leave. I don’t feel bad about it because I’ve likely told you that I will leave if you are late. It is cause and effect. Here are some of the more common reasons why clients/colleagues feel ’sick’ and my advice to them:

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“I don’t have any prospects in my funnel and I’m sick to the stomach” ME: “Go get some prospects you dough-hole!”

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“I have to fire that employee because they are stealing from me”. ME: “You should call the police and throw them in jail. Just firing is letting them off easy.”

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“I’m really worrying about the upcoming presentation.” ME: “Worst case scenario, you won’t get the work which is what you have right now. Don’t freak yourself out.”

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If you don’t want to make the tough decisions, then put clear boundaries in place. When people overstep their boundaries, you simply follow the course of action. We have 12 rules clients agree to when they work with a Ghost CEO. If they break any one of the rules, they are fired. Not a hard decision as it is cause and effect. Look at the rules you have for others and determine if your feeling sick is really from you not taking the time to ensure everyone understands how to engage with you.