Building and growing a small business can be tough. Every aspect of day-to-day operations comes down to you. You need to be accountable for every decision you make, whether big or small and there often seems like there’s no one else you can turn to for advice. It can be a lonely road to walk but many of us take the risk because of the many positives that come with being a small business owner. The freedom to do things your way and the excitement of taking control can be exhilarating, but going out on your own can also lead to one of the most common problems experienced by entrepreneurs.

This ‘lone wolf syndrome’ can start off quite naturally. In the early days, there’s often nobody working alongside you and so, of course, you handle everything yourself and rely on your own judgement. But as you walk further down that path, and the syndrome becomes more engrained, negative aspects can emerge. Perhaps when you take on staff you still like to keep your cards close to your chest. You may feel that people outside of your business are unable, or unwilling, to talk about issues that come up. You may become distant from your friends and family, you may become stressed and irritable or you may find that your sleep and health suffer as a result of your isolation.

The buck stops here. If you want something doing right, you need to do it yourself. It’s easy to fall back on old maxims such as these, but is doing so really the best way to go about things? How can we avoid this ‘lone wolf syndrome’ and, if we’re already suffering from it, how can we change things?

On this episode of your favourite small business podcast, we’re joined by Anthony Witt who has worked with many entrepreneurs to overcome this and many other problems. Anthony’s going to talk us through his perspective on this particular issue and what steps you can take to avoid it having too large an effect on your life and business.

Issue Challenged in this Small Business Podcast:

How do I overcome lone wolf syndrome?

About Anthony:

Anthony Witt is an entrepreneur, business and life coach and the host of the excellent podcast, The Champion Entrepreneur. Anthony aims to give people the tools to live their lives with a pursuit of purpose in everything that they do.

On this episode of the number one small business podcast, Anthony is going to talk us through his tips for avoiding one of the most common entrepreneurial ailments, lone wolf syndrome.

Actionable Tips:

1. Get offline. To get out of lone wolf syndrome, meet with people in person. Join a mastermind group, attend a chamber of commerce meeting or introduce yourself to small business owners in your town.
2. Make a list of the people you want to involve in your life. Keep the list around so you can see it regularly. Get involved with people and let people get involved with you. Add value to their lives and let them add value to yours.
3. Set deadlines and make them public. It needs to be out there for the people you have developed relationships with. If they know your deadlines, these people will keep you accountable to your goals.

Top Quotes:

• “You can’t get out of lone wolf syndrome without involving other people in your business and your life. We’re created to be social beings and we thrive in communities. When we’re put together we do so many amazing things.”
• “It’s about getting other people involved in your life to help you move to the next level, to see where your blind spots are and to see where you are stuck.”
• “In a mastermind group, you want people who are similar but that also different. The difference is so important. You need people who are different otherwise you won’t find each other’s blind spots. You want people who want to be challenged and who are going to look from different perspectives.”
• “It’s never too late to start asking for help.”
• “I believe we all have the ability to be a champion, we have to just have the willingness to actually take the action and go out and do it.”
• “We live in communities of isolation. We shut the door and we’re not getting involved in other peoples’ lives. I would challenge you to allow other people to know who you are. Open yourself up to a little vulnerability, especially in your business.”
• “Ideas are a dime a dozen. It’s the implementation and the taking those ideas to the next level; that’s where you need help.”
• “We all have that weird thing, we all have something that holds us back. We’re afraid to allow other people to see it because we think they will see our imperfections and if they do so, they won’t think as highly of us and then I won’t be of influence to them. We all have imperfections!”

Anthony’s Links:

• The Champion Entrepreneur (http://tcepodcast.com/)
• Anthony’s Twitter (https://twitter.com/aleewitt)
• Anthony’s E-Mail (awitt@witthouse.com)
• Anthony’s LinkedIn (https://www.linkedin.com/in/aleewitt)
• Anthony’s Facebook (https://goo.gl/1rGe1f)

Key Timestamps:

• 00:51 Challenged Issue
• 01:23 Anthony’s Introduction
• 05:26 What is Lone Wolf Syndrome?
• 10:06 The People We Need
• 14:53 Stuck in the Lone Wolf Mind Set
• 19:23 What Creates Lone Wolf Syndrome?
• 24:14 Actionable Tips
• 32:38 Anthony’s Links

Don’t forget, the more you expect from yourself, the more you WILL excel!

The post Lonewolf Syndrome & How to Beat It appeared first on Excellence Expected, by Mark Asquith.