Grow your people.

"My business is a mess!"

While we were struggling with my husband's health problems late last year, I received another big blow.  

Sharon (not her real name), the CEO of one of our businesses decided to resign.  

After running the business for 18 years, she said, she wanted to move on.

Sharon was gracious enough to agree to stay on for one more year to train the next CEO before she leaves.

But, my daughter, Choo, has decided to go full time with her studies in Manila this year. She also accepted some graduate school teaching loads in one of the top Universities there.

She was supposed to be the next CEO!

Suddenly, we discovered that we did not have any succession plan for CEO.  We have always assumed that Sharon would stay forever!

So, guess what! Because the clock is ticking very fast, I had to jump in as the CEO trainee.

I had to stop everything that was going on in my life and come home last January to train under Sharon.

In a single year, I need to get to know the almost 100 employees really fast, to learn the jargon and to familiarize myself with the processes.  I need to know when to do what, to make the business run smoothly after Sharon leaves.

All the details! All the nitty gritty!

And while going through the tasks, I discovered my worst nightmare!

They have not been fully implementing the GYBP Roadmap that I had given as my contribution to Pinoy business owners!  

I have been out there teaching it to so many people!

I even wrote a book about it!  

And, my own business is a mess!

"Do I really deserve to be your Negosyo Mom?"  

I started to doubt myself.

A month into it now, amidst a lot of firefighting and learning from Sharon, a new supplier for another business, Kevin (not his real name) came to visit and we invited him out for dinner.

In between mouthfuls of delectable Zamboangueño cuisine, he talked about a lot of business stuff that I did not know.  

Kevin is a third generation businessman who owns more than 10 businesses. All of them are very successful.  

He is a 30-year old millionaire!

Quietly, I asked myself: "What can I teach him?"

"Nothing!"

Next, I asked myself: "What right do I have in writing a book about business when I know so little compared to this man half my age?"

"Who am I to claim that I have the roadmap all figured out?"

"Now that I am fighting fires, what right do I have in putting videos out to give my 2 cents?"

"I am too old, too tired, and too busy.  Might as well throw in the towel and really retire."

I have been getting paralyzed slowly with fear and self-doubt for months with all the stressful firefighting.  And, Kevin's visit hit my dying dream with the final blow.

Then, an email came in this morning from a young businesswoman-

friend saying:

"Thank you for your ebook!  You have helped us so much!"

And another email from another businesswoman who wrote:

"You have inspired me to grow my business by growing my people.  Now, I look at them through your eyes, and I see how we can grow together! I am so excited! Thank you!"

As I read their emails, I heard a little voice say: "The Kevins of the world are not your market.

"Kevin runs his businesses with his wife, his siblings and his in-laws. The business model they use is still the traditional model where family members are the managers of the different functions themselves.  The only reason they are big is that unlike most startups, they started with big capital that has been handed down from the previous generations of businesses.

"He is rich because he was born rich.  He had a head start.

"For each Kevin though, there are thousands of startups like you out there who are lost, and who need your roadmap to show them the way out of the maze.

"And, each of them has the potential to grow their businesses to employ 100 people.

"Think of those groups of 100 people and their families!"

It was then that it hit me!

My blog posts, my video business tips, my emails, and the "Grow Your Business, Pinoy!" book may not be of use to the Kevins of the world, but they will make a difference in the lives of the families of these hundreds of thousands of "100 people".  

I suddenly understood why I am now a CEO-trainee.

There are lessons that I need to learn now because you need them.

I just need to stop resisting this phase of my life and continue to be open to learning and documenting these valuable lessons.

Every day, I will learn new materials that I can share with you in my next emails.

Are you ready for them?

For today, just know that even the most confident person will experience self-doubt. That is the lesson for both of us.

You and I are no exceptions.

So, when having those self- doubt attacks,  let’s do these:

1. Balance the negativity. Write down 5-10 self-praises to drown out all the negative chatter in our brains.
   
2. Take a timeout. We are just overwhelmed with all the challenges in our business. Let’s take a short vacation, or if this is not possible, let’s enjoy our favorite hobby. We can even just play our favorite music and dance along for 5 minutes before we get to work again.

3. Connect with people who support us. This is one of the times we need to be surrounded by the people who matter to us most. People who believe in us. These are our family, friends, coaches, and mentors who will cheer us up and will re-boost our confidence.

4. Remember, you are not alone. Everyone experiences self-doubt some time.
   

Recognize it as what it is: a moment of self-doubt. And then, think of the smiling faces of all the customers we serve.  Think too about the family members of our employees, especially the innocent eyes of their little ones.

There will be haters.  There will be naysayers.  There will be people who will ignore us no matter how we try to attract or please them in business.  This is a given.

Know that these are not our market. Let us wake ourselves up and know that someone else out there needs our product or service.

All we need is to know who they are and where they are.

We cannot cater to everyone.

We serve a specific niche because we are not amateurs.

"Turning pro is a mindset. If we are struggling with fear, self-sabotage, procrastination, self-doubt, etc., the problem is, we're thinking like amateurs. Amateurs don't show up. Amateurs crop out. Amateurs let adversity defeat them. The pro thinks differently. He shows up, he does his work, he keeps on truckin', no matter what."

- Steven Pressfield

What about you, what helps you overcome doubts in your abilities?

Do share your strategies with us so we can all bounce back and totally overcome self-doubt.

I have bounced back for you, my friend, and once more, I am