She looked at me like she was about to cry.
Her tired eyes reflected the heaviness of the situation she found herself in.
It was like being in a small box, she said... one that kept getting smaller.
After 35 years in the workforce - 6 of them in earnest as an independent consultant - she had developed enough experience, expertise and battle scars that she was finally in a place where she had the means to give herself space and time.
She just didn't know how.
Every direction she looked required her. Her time, her expertise, her leadership and her guidance. She felt completely trapped by her business, and she simply couldn't see how to get out of it.
When we talked at length, I knew she was in a position where she could step forward and could do such wonderful things for her growth - if she would step forward.
She just had to see it was possible.
For a business owner at this stage, it's so tricky to take that next step because we have become so used to everything relying on us. We feel like unless we are struggling with everything, we are not adding value.
What she (and others at this precipice) had to decide was that she was willing to become something different - a new identity, playing a new role in her business, with a new mindset towards ownership and growth.
She had to become a leader, not a doer. And she had to lead from her power.
Now that sounds goofy, but what does it actually mean?
Power, to me, comes from complete alignment. It is the place from which you are doing what you are absolutely wired to do. Where your efforts are a straight shot to value, not a circuitous route meandering through the "shoulds".
Those leaders who have realized that their power will lead to their growth? Those are the ones who have stepped up to the next level and suddenly see how they can work differently and impact their business in much more effective ways.
In this case, my client needed to let me come in and play the CEO roles that she did not want to - that were not powerful for her - and focus all her attention on sales and business development, which she was very skilled at.
Imagine how much more quickly she could grow if her time is surgically focused on the very things that will expand the business?
"I want to buy back my own time"
Or consider my other client, who found that stepping away from the operational side of her business and having a partner who could direct that side for her (me!) enabled her to finally build out her creative work and open up her creative leadership (which she taught to her students).
Building your brand in the creative space you teach is very, very good for your business.
Spending all your time trying to manage launches, build marketing strategies and wrangle a team is not.
Both of these business owners recognized that in order to make leaps in growth, they had to change who they were as a leader, and to let go of the time trap that kept them shackled to non-valuable work.
Everyone will have a different growth profile and a different source of power.
What's yours?
Ask yourself this question:
If you imagined yourself doing one thing for the rest of your days and it was easy and enjoyable, and that could make you wealthy and happy, what would it be?
What are you willing to invest in or change in order realize that vision?
If your immediate thought is "Well, that would be nice, but it's not possible... I still have to do everything", I would encourage you to think again ... but this time ask yourself what would happen if it was possible (because it is).
Powerful work leads to growth. Always has and always will.
Spend your time on that. Let go of the rest.
Wanna chat about how you can?
Book a call and we'll brainstorm your path forward.
Sometimes a second set of eyes can help you see what might be right in front of you.
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