About You

Perhaps you’ve achieved a level of success and been have operating successfully for many years, recognised as a credible solution provider in your sector or field. But recently, you feel like you’ve lost your sense of drive and direction. You feel disconnected from your purpose, or maybe it doesn’t even feel right or fulfilling any more. When you look to the future of your business, you’re not sure what you see and this is making you feel demotivated, uneasy and frustrated.

Or maybe you are clear on your purpose – your “why” and committed to you mission, yet when it comes to defining impact, there is a lack of clarity or understanding of what will be different or better as a result of the actions you take in your business, both for your business and also the wider impact you are seeking to achieve. There are aspects which are not in your control that are affecting progress and this is causing understandable frustration. In addition, you believe your reputation may be at stake if you do not deliver.

As the leader of your business you are the only person in your situation and you have set yourself and your business an ambitious goal to do good. You feel like you have the weight of the world on your shoulders and that you can’t do this alone. Whilst you work hard and no one would question your dedication to your mission, you feel guilty that you are not doing enough yet, your high expectations to achieve impact is leaving your feeling overwhelmed and exhausted. You wonder if you’re doing the right thing or if it would be better to give up entirely.

You are the leader of your business and the buck stops with you.  You work hard keeping things going and it feels like there are never enough hours in the day.  Perhaps you can’t recall when you last gave yourself a proper day off.

The multiple responsibilities associated with running your business seem relentless and you are exhausted from feeling as though things will never let up.  Your business is having a negative impact on other aspects of your life which are always coming second and you know that working this way is not sustainable. You are experiencing paralysis and you’re unsure what you need to focus on to move forwards.

You feel as though you are always too busy continually juggling competing priorities. You don’t have the time or space to look ahead and focus on the strategic aspects of your business and plan effectively.  As a result, you’re not making the progress you expect and achieving your goals seems farther away. This poses a risk to your long term viability.  You may have a team or other colleagues, associates or contractors that you rely on however you lack the confidence in others to deliver work to the same high quality standard.  You are worried that if you delegate some of your responsibilities, you will lose control of your business.  You feel as though you are in a Catch-22.

Whilst you are clear on your purpose and are laser focused on your business, you are aware that some of your colleagues and team members are not like you and are not aligned with your mission and purpose. They may have other priorities in their lives, which may even be in conflict, or they just appear to be disinterested and seem to be content only doing the bare minimum. You lack the commitment and passion of some team members to go above and beyond to achieve your mission.

You are a key figure in your business, but you feel like you are not an expert in sustainability or ethics. You are aware of the gravitas of the actions or decisions to be taken in regards to these matters and in operating more responsibly, however you you don’t have complete information and are unsure where to start. As a result, you feel like you are not doing enough and are worried about the negative impact or unintended consequences on your stakeholders, and your reputation.

Maybe you want your business to become more sustainable and be a pioneer in your sector, trailblazing new ways of working and leading with integrity by doing the right thing for people and planet, and doing all this whilst running a financially viable and successful business. But the word “sustainable” is an abstract word and you are finding it challenging to define what it tangibly means for your specific business and as a result, you’re not making any progress. Competitors already seem to be making progress and you are at risk of losing competitive edge.

As the leader of your business, you have a lack of peers to whom you can turn who understand your context and who can provide moral support. You are an ethical leader and you pride yourself on doing the right thing, but other stakeholders and business counterparts don’t always agree. Sometimes you wonder if the decisions you take are the right ones and your ethical principles and decisions can create conflict with your peers, leaving you feel alienated and your sense of agency is diminishing. You crave an aligned ally who gets what you are seeking to achieve and without one, you are feeling demoralised and demotivated and fear you are unable to affect meaningful change.