How much transformation can you handle?
|
Hi Reader, I had a client ask me this question recently: “When entrepreneurs are going through massive personal transformation, how do they integrate that with the intensity of running a startup?” Here’s what I told him: If you can’t handle transformation on the inside, you won’t be able to handle it on the outside. Every external breakthrough in a company requires a nervous system strong enough to hold the chaos and change it creates. Without that foundation, you’ll unconsciously resist the very transformation your business needs. There have been several different occasions where I look at a company's culture and it tells me about the CEO’s consciousness. I was once doing a company offsite and working with the CEO, and I said to him “Your anxiety is going to destroy this company” in front of his entire team. They were doing paired exercises — but they stopped immediately and fell silent to listen to his response. “How did you know?” he said. I responded: “Because your entire team is anxious.” He said “Holy crap,” looked around the room, saw everyone’s faces and their concern, and then asked me: “How do I change that?” For the next couple months we worked together to regulate his nervous system so he wouldn’t be operating from anxiety. His business grew for the next two quarters, and his people were happier. Your nervous system is the keel of your companyThe most successful founders I’ve seen tend to their nervous systems. Bill Gates disappeared into the woods every quarter for a “Think Week” with nothing but books and notebooks. Steve Jobs practiced Zen meditation and took long, meandering walks. I do five-day silent retreats on a regular basis to clear my mind and return to myself. Why does this matter? Transformation goes beyond intellectual. It's physiological. When you train your body to stay open through inner upheaval, you become the kind of leader who can shepherd radical external change without collapsing under the weight of it. What I often see is this: Massive internal change → Massive external growth. Your nervous system capacity determines how you carry your vision, your team, and the future of your company. Tend to it, and it will allow you to transform at every scale. Big Love, Joe This newsletter is brought to you by The Council. |
Art of Accomplishment
Note: Scroll down to check out our new section How to Have Better Meetings. The AOA Leadership Newsletter Hi Reader, I've seen this pattern in several of my CEO clients: They feel superior as a way to protect themselves. But in actuality, they're signaling their shame and shutting down their joy. Here’s what I show them to break the pattern: 1 - Superiority and deep joy are fundamentally incompatible. Try to name a single person who feels superior that is also deeply joyful. You won’t find...
Note: Scroll down to check out our new section How to Have Better Meetings. The AOA Leadership Newsletter Hi Reader, A while back, I worked with a CEO who was brilliant, relentless, and exacting. His startup was breaking into its first $10M year. But every time they got momentum, something bottlenecked. Engineering wouldn’t ship on time. Sales didn’t close fast enough. Leadership hires weren’t stepping up. The problem? He had an answer for everything. In meetings, he’d jump in before the head...
Note: We’re always looking for ways to add more value to these newsletters, so we’re introducing a new section: How to Have Better Meetings. Scroll down to check it out! The AOA Leadership Newsletter Hi Reader, Last month, I worked with a founder who had just closed a Series B. To the outside world, he looked like a rocket ship. But inside, he was hollowing out. He told me he couldn’t shake the pressure that it was all on his shoulders. He’d stopped sleeping. He had to keep pushing. His...