Are You The Worst Boss You’ve Ever Had?
I giggle a little evil giggle every time I hear a brand new entrepreneur gushing about how excited they are to be their own boss. They talk about freedom to set their own schedules and make what they are worth. They are excited for the new challenge and are ecstatic to be free of their previous boss.
Evil Amy cackles in a witch like voice, “Just you wait my dear… just you wait.” Because I know exactly what is coming! Trying to reason with this brand new entrepreneur is like trying to tell a child on Halloween that they will regret eating too much candy. They are drunk on the dream and there’s no way around it.
But, if you can hold off the entrepreneur endorphins for just a minute, I promise it will be well worth your time. Before you celebrate getting rid of the boss, take a look ahead and realize that you will very likely turn into the WORST boss you have ever had. You may just take the cake for Jerk of All Jerks.
Think about it. As our own boss we often:
Ask yourself to be on call 24/7. It doesn’t matter if you are at the school play, if that important client calls, you have to slip out. It doesn’t matter that you pulled a super late night cranking out a project until 2 am. If there is a pitch scheduled for 8 am, you’ll be in the office. You may be in your PJ’s (unless It’s a video meeting), but you’ll be there.
Beat yourself up for every little mistake. I am positive I have never had a boss be as rude to me as I have been. I’ve never had a boss that expects me to be perfect to the level I do. And I’ve surely never had a moss that will criticize things totally unrelated to my performance like my weight, disorganized closet, or messy basement. But as my own boss, nothing is off limit to criticize.
Expect yourself to work when you are sick or when your kids are sick. There’s no rest for the weary! And you can’t take a day off because then business will shut down. And business cannot shut down because there are bills to pay. And we need cash to pay those bills, so sweetie, you better just suck it up and power through. Take some Dayquil. That will solve everything.
Don’t pay ourselves. How long would you work for a boss that said, “Oops, sorry, slow month, I’m just not going be paying you this month.”? I wouldn’t last a month!
Never give yourself help when you need it. Imagine you were overworked at your job and you went to your boss saying, “Sir, we need help on this project or I don’t see any way we will be able to get it done. I’d really like to bring in someone who can help us do XYZ.” Now imagine that his or her response was, “I’m not paying someone else to do that? Any idiot can figure it out. You can skip your family BBQ on Thursday and pull an all-nighter and you’ll be fine?”
Hello horrible boss, meet yourself! How long do you think you will want to continue working for yourself? Many a business owner has reached burnout and become completely frustrated with their business for these exact reasons! And the craziest part is that they are ALL optional! You can be successful and not be on call 24/7. You can make mistakes, forgive yourself and move on. You can take days off! You can and MUST pay yourself! And you can hire help when it’s needed. If you are feeling some guilt as you read this and realize you have been a horrible boss to yourself, it’s a simple fix. Fire that horrible boss and hire a version of yourself that honors and respects that you MUST maintain healthy boundaries and expectations if you are going to survive! Then we can really celebrate being our own boss! << See More >>
I giggle a little evil giggle every time I hear a brand new entrepreneur gushing about how excited they are to be their own boss. They talk about freedom to set their own schedules and make what they are worth. They are excited for the new challenge and are ecstatic to be free of their previous boss.
Evil Amy cackles in a witch like voice, “Just you wait my dear… just you wait.” Because I know exactly what is coming! Trying to reason with this brand new entrepreneur is like trying to tell a child on Halloween that they will regret eating too much candy. They are drunk on the dream and there’s no way around it.
But, if you can hold off the entrepreneur endorphins for just a minute, I promise it will be well worth your time. Before you celebrate getting rid of the boss, take a look ahead and realize that you will very likely turn into the WORST boss you have ever had. You may just take the cake for Jerk of All Jerks.
Think about it. As our own boss we often:
Ask yourself to be on call 24/7. It doesn’t matter if you are at the school play, if that important client calls, you have to slip out. It doesn’t matter that you pulled a super late night cranking out a project until 2 am. If there is a pitch scheduled for 8 am, you’ll be in the office. You may be in your PJ’s (unless It’s a video meeting), but you’ll be there.
Beat yourself up for every little mistake. I am positive I have never had a boss be as rude to me as I have been. I’ve never had a boss that expects me to be perfect to the level I do. And I’ve surely never had a moss that will criticize things totally unrelated to my performance like my weight, disorganized closet, or messy basement. But as my own boss, nothing is off limit to criticize.
Expect yourself to work when you are sick or when your kids are sick. There’s no rest for the weary! And you can’t take a day off because then business will shut down. And business cannot shut down because there are bills to pay. And we need cash to pay those bills, so sweetie, you better just suck it up and power through. Take some Dayquil. That will solve everything.
Don’t pay ourselves. How long would you work for a boss that said, “Oops, sorry, slow month, I’m just not going be paying you this month.”? I wouldn’t last a month!
Never give yourself help when you need it. Imagine you were overworked at your job and you went to your boss saying, “Sir, we need help on this project or I don’t see any way we will be able to get it done. I’d really like to bring in someone who can help us do XYZ.” Now imagine that his or her response was, “I’m not paying someone else to do that? Any idiot can figure it out. You can skip your family BBQ on Thursday and pull an all-nighter and you’ll be fine?”
Hello horrible boss, meet yourself! How long do you think you will want to continue working for yourself? Many a business owner has reached burnout and become completely frustrated with their business for these exact reasons! And the craziest part is that they are ALL optional! You can be successful and not be on call 24/7. You can make mistakes, forgive yourself and move on. You can take days off! You can and MUST pay yourself! And you can hire help when it’s needed. If you are feeling some guilt as you read this and realize you have been a horrible boss to yourself, it’s a simple fix. Fire that horrible boss and hire a version of yourself that honors and respects that you MUST maintain healthy boundaries and expectations if you are going to survive! Then we can really celebrate being our own boss! << See More >>
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