Stop Making Excuses and Be A Starter - Robert Herjavec

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In this series, professionals share how they embrace the entrepreneurial
mindset. See the stories here, then write your own (use #BetheBoss in the post).
Im not embarrassed to admit that I started my first business out of necessity I
was fired, and had a mortgage payment to make. Even though it was out of
necessity I still had to find the courage to be my own boss.
When youre out today, think about how many small businesses you see and
interact with. For each small business you see, someone made a courageous
decision for it to exist. Whether it was to prove a point, to satisfy an itch, to beat
the odds, to pursue a dream, or even to make ends meet, the courage to strike
out on your own is worth celebrating.
I was like most people, afraid to fail and with very little guidance and NO
experience as an entrepreneur. There are plenty of reasons why people make
excuses not to start their own business Ive heard them all. When you fall into
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the trap of making excuses, you limit yourselfAdvanced

from going afteryour dreams.

I
cant is the lie you tell yourself so that you dont have to try. In honor of Global
Entrepreneurship Week (Nov. 16-22) and Small Business Saturday (Nov. 28), I
wanted to share with you the top three excuses that I hear from would-be
entrepreneurs, in the hopes that you might recognize your fear and find the
courage to face it.
Mark Zuckerberg didnt create the

concept of social media, but is now
among the top 100 wealthiest and most
influential people in the world. You
dont have to be first to the table.
Sometimes when you put something
off, later becomes never. It will
never feel like the right time. Nothing
is ever perfect, and youll always feel
like youre too busy and you dont have the time. The bottom line? We all have
24 hours in a day; its up to you what you do with it.
You dont know the right people, you dont have the money, and you dont have
the right skills. I know all too well that these are legitimate concerns for
someone who wants to start a business, but to achieve the skills, connections and
cash to start your business, you will have to earn them. Shadow a mentor, get a
part-time job or volunteer, read books, search the web, reach out on social
media, talk to friends and family, speak with a financial advisor and look into
loans. Our connected world is at your fingertips.
Everyone has advice, but no one knows what you have to go through to start,
grow, and scale a business until they live it. Ive lived it, and I know that the fear
of failure is very real. Business, as in life, is a series of trial and errors failure
and success. If you suppress your fear of failure and are open to the lessons, you
can learn each time you make a mistake you will be stronger for it. Failure can be
embarrassing, but if you never try, all you will end up with is regret.
_______________________________________________________
You may already know that I have been working with Deluxe Corporation to
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elevate the stories of small businesses through

The Small Business
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Revolution.

To celebrate their 100th anniversary, Deluxe launched this movement to
celebrate small business across America and will honour 100 businesses through
documentary style photo essays and the short documentary film below which I
play a small part in. Im so proud of this documentary so please check it out
here:
Short Trailer: Small Business

Revolution Documentary
from The Small Business Revolution
PRO
Learn more at http://smallbusinessrevolution.org.
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Charmainne Hollannd
President
What a great reminder, of why I became a Entrepreneur and why I can't stop
now! Thanks for sharing article Robert Herjavec.
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We got a call from Dennis, who was discouraged about his relationship with his
manager Danielle.
"What's the problem, Dennis?" we asked. "What is the communication
breakdown between you and Danielle?"
"I can't even tell you, really," said Dennis. "It came out of the blue."
"I started this job fourteen months ago, and
Danielle and I got into mind-meld mode right
away. She told me about her biggest goals for
2015 and I dug into them. I got two big projects
completed in my first quarter here. Danielle was
ecstatic.
"We brainstormed over email all the time and
generated a ton of great ideas. She kept our CEO
up to date on the projects and he was very
supportive of our work, too.
"I don't know what changed, or why. Starting around Labor Day Danielle really
cooled towards me. She told me to put one of my biggest projects on hold until
2016 and now she won't even talk to me about it.
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"She doesn't keep me in the loop anymore. I Advanced

have to scrounge
up projects
todo,

even though I know every one of our other VPs' priorities and I could help them
all if Danielle would only lengthen my leash!"
"Has Danielle shared any concerns with you, or any unhappiness about your
results?" we asked.
"Not at all, until just recently," said
Dennis. "In September Danielle told
me that she wasn't happy with my
follow-through. That comment took
me completely by surprise.
"I asked her for examples -- not in a
defensive way, but just so that I
could understand -- and she said she
couldn't think of anything specific
but that she had given me several
action items that I had let slip. I'm telling you, that isn't true.
"There are several people I take care of things for, but Danielle's requests come
first. I don't know what action items she was referring to, but now she won't talk
about that topic either."
"What about your other relationships in the company?" asked Molly. "Do you
still interact with your CEO?"
"All the time," said Dennis. "He even told me that Danielle had told him I was
slacking off. Slacking off - can you imagine? I told the CEO that I'm confused by
Danielle's recent change of attitude towards me.
"I'm working as hard as I ever did and getting so much affirmation from the rest
of the company. The CEO told me to ride it out. He said 'Danielle will come
around. She's just stressed out.'"
"I don't like it," I said. "Me neither," said
Molly.
"He's the CEO!" I protested. "If his VP,
Danielle, shares concerns with him about a
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direct report,
it's up to himto digin andask
Advanced
her what she's concerned about. Why would

he tell you to ride it out? He should help you two clear the air."
"He's afraid of her, quite honestly," said Dennis. "I don't mean 'afraid' in the
sense that she's volatile or that she has nearly as much influence as he does, of
course. It's more than she is the darling of the executive team.
"Nobody else understands her job, so she's had the run of the place and now, I
guess, the other VPs have seen that I know a lot about how our department
works. If they want something and they can't get it from Danielle, they can often
get it from me. The CEO is probably just reluctant to upset her. She's a bit of a
prima donna."
"Well, there you go!" said Molly. "Now you
are a political threat to Danielle. She may not
like having somebody around who makes her
seem less indispensable than she used to be."
"That's what I fear," said Dennis. "I have no
desire to create any friction with my boss,
naturally. I want us to be a team. Danielle
wanted to hire someone competent, but she
wanted to hire someone she could keep
under her thumb. A year into this job I have my own relationships with our CEO
and the other VPs, who are all Danielle's peers.
"I agree with your assessment, Molly. I don't want Danielle's job, but I think she
feels she's created a Frankenstein's monster. She doesn't want me to work
directly with any senior-level leader except for her."
"Apart from her comment about your follow-through," I asked, "has Danielle
said anything else to give you a clue as to how she's feeling?"
"Just one thing," said Dennis. "We flew to
Tampa together to see a big customer. In the
rental car she said 'You drive. I'm your boss,
and every once in a while I get to call the shots."
"Ouch!" said Molly. "Talk about confessing
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yourself!"
Advanced
"It was awkward," said Dennis. "I actually

jumped on her comment because I thought that we might as well use some of
our alone time in the rental car to clear things up between us. I said 'Danielle, if
there's anything I'm doing that offends you or makes you feel uncomfortable, I
want to know about it and I want to stop doing it. I value our relationship and I
want you to be happy you hired me.'"
"Wow," I said. "Good for you, Dennis! Name that elephant!"
"I tried," said Dennis. "It didn't work. Danielle
sat silently for the entire drive, the most
awkward forty minutes I can remember. At the
client meeting she did all the talking and I sat
there like a lump. I happened to hit the mens
room at one point and our client, Pierre, was in
there too."
"Oh no!" I said. "You had a heart-to-heart in
the men's room?"
"I had no choice," said Dennis. "Pierre told me
"You're my chief advisor when you're back in
your office, Dennis. I guess when you're on the road you've got to play it cool so
Danielle doesn't get her nose out of joint."
"More naming the elephant!" said Molly. "It sounds like there's too much truthtelling going on for Danielle's taste right now."
"I'm at my wit's end," said Dennis. "Our CEO
isn't going to intervene. Danielle isn't going to
talk about her feelings of insecurity or whatever
is going on with her. I may have to start a job
search. I can't work this way.
"I know what needs to be done in our
department and the VPs certainly know, too. I'm
hamstrung by my own manager, who also won't
talk to me. It's a bad situation."
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"Danielle is afraid of your growing flame," said

Molly. "Like you
Advanced
said,she fears

she's created a Frankenstein's monster. She fears that you might outshine her.
She doesn't see a job for herself at a higher altitude.
"The more competent and credible you
prove yourself to be, the more she
worries. I agree that you may have to
move on, especially since your CEO isn't
showing any indication that he can rise
to the occasion and mentor Danielle out
of her anxious state."
"That's what I think, too," said Dennis.
"Ironically, the same client, Pierre, has a
VP position he's trying to fill. Do you
think I should move to Tampa?"
"We love Tampa!" we said.
"Pierre's opportunity is certainly worth a look, and there are opportunities worth
exploring with other companies, too.
"People get fearful easily, and executives get more fearful than most. Danielle
never expected you to do as great a job as you've done in your first year. First she
was happy she hired you, and now she's not so sure."
"I'm going to talk to Pierre and learn more
about his VP opportunity," said Dennis. "I
would rather move on than keep pushing a
rock uphill the way I'm doing now."
"Fear at work is the topic no one wants to talk
about," I said.
"Fear in the executive suite is rampant, but
generally executives pretend not to notice it.
Danielle should be basking in her success at hiring as capable a Number Two as
yourself, but she doesn't have the confidence to do that.
"Your CEO should be all over this problem, but instead he tells you to ride it out
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and hope for the best. That's not very impressive."

Advanced
"You're right," said Dennis. "I guess I've been deluding myself that somehow this
situation might correct itself on its own. I know from experience that once a
manager decides someone is persona non grata, things aren't going to change especially since Danielle would rather cut her tongue out than acknowledge that
she's uncomfortable with my - what did you call it? My growing flame."
"It's a good analogy -- your growing flame,"
said Molly. "You don't need Danielle
anymore, and it kills her that you don't. There
are so many CEOs who could use your help,
Dennis. You can run your own department the
next time!"
"Is every company as full of drama and soap
opera as mine is?" asked Dennis.
"There are always waves swelling and
crashing," I said.
"The healthy companies talk about the waves, and the unhealthy ones don't.
They pretend there are no waves of good and bad energy swirling around them.
They stick their fingers in their ears and talk about KPIs and made-up business
jargon. They don't talk about what's happening right under their noses - the
positive and negative momentum that everybody in the place can feel, from the
C-suite to the mailroom."
"They are dinosaurs," said Molly. "There are
more truth-telling people like you speaking up
all the time and more Human Workplaces every
day. There are more job-seekers who know their
value.
"We are moving out of the mechanical
workplace and into the Human Workplace, step
by step and person by person. You wouldn't
settle for a fearful boss like Danielle in your
next job, and lots of other people wouldn't,
either."
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"It's about time for work to become a humanAdvanced

place, isn't it?" asked

Dennis.

"Not a moment too soon!" we agreed.
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