Care is often low on the list of priorities when we start businesses. Well, we may think about how we want to care for our clients and maybe even our employees, but not so much about how we want to care for ourselves inside our businesses.
If you build care into your business for your clients and for your employees, but not for yourself, you do not value care. You value martyrdom.
As soooooo many new technological tools come online and so many new people are offering services, it becomes more and more important to think of your business as a container for care, for yourself, most of all.
The boom of so many tools and so many people trying to connect you with exciting new ways to do things can harm you and your business. The dizzying number of choices can both paralyze you and distract you with busyness. It is getting harder to know the right thing to do. It is unclear what deserves your attention and what does not. In this environment curation is care.
A good curator (mentor, contractor, coach, consultant, etc.) shows care by first seeking to understand your needs. A good curator cares for you in this busy environment by listening and by empathizing with your needs. A good curator helps you see your own needs more clearly. A good curator shows care by helping you be a better decision maker.
Using care as an organizing principal in your business makes it easier for you to trust your decisions. You feel more empowered to install systems that support ease in workflows and relationships. You feel more empowered to point out when people are rushing you into decisions, pressuring you to be perfect and activating your nervous system in other negative ways. You feel more empowered to choose people who can help you choose better.
When the micro-world of your business is organized around care, you think about the basics (mission, goals, objectives) differently. You think about your business differently. You think about the world differently. You think about yourself differently.
Lead with Care