Inner Mastery Is Crucial For Entrepreneurs
One of my favorite things about professional journeys that are challenging is that they tend to push us to grow, and it feels to me like the larger the challenge, the more the growth transcends just the professional aspect - it also catalyzes personal and spiritual transformation.
I find that entrepreneurial environments, particularly those requiring entrepreneurial leadership, lend themselves to challenges that are most holistically transformational. This observation comes from having spent 10+ years in corporate leadership experiences (JPMorgan, McKinsey & Company) and 15+ years in various entrepreneurial environments as both an operator/entrepreneur as well as an investor/mentor. While you can get away with focusing on IQ and EQ in larger environments - in more entrepreneurial settings, I find that you need to also have an SQ of sorts, a “self quotient” – a knowledge of and mastery of the self and all of its dimensions.
There are four specific things and nuances that are unique to entrepreneurial leadership environments that really require a person to reach deep into the self in order to continue showing up as the best version of themselves.
First off, these environments, require a particularly high level of risk-taking; and though risk is often thought of as something to manage in a spreadsheet, in fact, it tends to be something to manage inside one’s own body. Taking risk often literally ends up “on one’s shoulders,” with the possibility of failure often looming not too far on the horizon. Hence, awareness of one’s own nervous system and physical stress, and its management becomes paramount.
Furthermore, these entrepreneurial situations require the management of unique stakeholder pressures - employees, customers and investors, all of whom are tugging at the CEO from three sides, competing for resources and attention. Investors want more bottom-line profits, customers want more product/service for less dollars, and employees want fulfillment and balance. It’s no wonder entrepreneurs often feel lonely and suffer from high levels of burnout.
The third nuance is that in these environments, every employee has direct access to the CEO. The companies are generally small enough so that every employee can observe the CEO, often on a day-to-day basis. That means if you are showing up frazzled, exhausted, and overwhelmed, people will immediately feel it and their own level of fear and uncertainty will tend to increase.
Lastly, entrepreneurial leadership requires being repeatedly exposed to “emergencies” and firefights, as there does not yet exist a managerial layer in the company to shelter the CEO/entrepreneur from having to deal with these directly. That means being able to stay centered and open in the face of seemingly disastrous information becomes extremely important, especially in keeping people around you calm and focused.
Because of these four nuances of entrepreneurial leadership, it becomes particularly salient for the entrepreneur to master peak performance of their inner life. Nothing less than inner mastery will suffice in allowing the entrepreneur to manage the factors that tax the nervous system, the body, the mind, and the heart simultaneously, and still show up day in and day out as the best version of themself.
At Manifestations Capital, we continue to focus on investing in and helping to build those services, products, and technologies that allow entrepreneurial leaders to accelerate their inner mastery journeys.
We welcome new investors to the fund. If you have interest, please reach out directly.
Choose Your Horizons continues to grow and make a broader impact. The data we are collecting on the positive impact this is having on people has been very encouraging. The company chose to open this round of funding to a broader audience. If you are interested in an investment, we would welcome your participation. Here is the link:https://www.startengine.com/offering/chooseyourhorizon
Recently, we have been spending time really understanding the K-12 education space and opportunities to support students and teachers in working with difficult emotions and preventing mental health challenges for our youth. Please let us know if you have expertise in this area.