Do You Experience Ease or Unease when it Comes to Asking for Support?

When you’re the leader and your team or communities are looking to you always for support or direction, we can often feel -oh so- alone. Who is supporting and nourishing the risktakers? With mental health concerns among business owners and entrepreneurs a perennial favourite in most news cycles we are seeing up to 80% of respondents in various major surveys rating their mental health at a low even as the pandemic closures have lessened in many parts of the world.

We went from having our businesses slow to a grinding halt or at least slow down and then 2022 happened and instead of bringing some of the slow and intention we learned in 2021, we raced into the hustle and catch up 2022 promised.

The reality is – even when surrounded by a team and a large community, business owners still can feel occupational loneliness. This comes from both not knowing WHERE to ask for support but also HOW to ask for support. Have you been conditioned to always be the giver of support instead of the receiver? One of the lessons I learned from my Italian great-uncle Mike was to always be the holder of favours, never owe anyone anything! Wow, what a belief to have arcing into my last decade of running my own businesses and creating communities of resilience and prosperity.

Thanks Uncle Mike but that is a fast track to burnout and loneliness when you’re running a business.

The problem is resilience has long been seen as a signal of victory in challenging times and not as the result of being fully supported, prosperous and cared for. How can we change the unease some people have about asking for support?

Fear of Being Seen

"What if my customers or colleagues know I am experiencing challenges in my business?"

– Client Question Before Joining the Catalyst

I recently had a virtual coffee with a business owner who admitted that through the pandemic and having to be a caretaker for an ill relative, their business had taken a bit of a dive as the ability to market AND do all of the other things was getting to be too much. They didn’t want others to know about how their business was doing because it could impact how their clients felt about working with them. I told them absolutely how real that fear can be and yet, would they want to work with people who were uncomfortable with your reality?

Instead we worked out a plan for them to incorporate automation and AI to help them create a sustainable marketing plan and then when they joined the Catalyst, we asked for additional support from other members to help them create a buzz around their marketing. This is what I call “Communal Marketing” where we harness advocates and ambassadors to help us create momentum where we need it. It’s handy to have right now with all of the social media algorithms interrupting organic marketing plans.

Next Steps

Do a check in right now:

  • What is one area of your business you could really use support in?
  • How can you ask for that support?
  • How will you know you’re supported?