I heard a great speaker yesterday–the (female) CEO of a billion-dollar materials company. She shared a little of her career history and how she had started her own business many years ago. She explained that the reason she’d done that was that it was the fastest way she knew to become the CEO.
That is certainly one of the primary reasons people start their own businesses, whether it’s a high-capital operation with assets, inventory, and employees or a one-person, home office, service offering. Being your own boss appeals to many independent, creative, capable people.
You report to no one but yourself. (Okay, there’s no question that clients rule—but the thing is, if you have a tyrannical or clueless or disrespectful client, you can always “fire” the client. Not so with the boss.)
I’ve had some good bosses—from whom I learned great things and who earned my respect—and I’ve had some bad bosses—who abused their authority, took advantage of those lower on the food chain, made it to their higher positions more on politicking and sucking up than on genuine leadership capabilities.
One of the reasons I eventually craved to become my own boss was not, ironically, because I couldn’t wait to get away from those horrible bosses. Rather I was empowered because of some of the good bosses I had, because of the skills I learned from them, the recognition I received from them, the encouragement they gave me. Their good leadership imbued me with a sense of confidence in my abilities and belief that I could go out and do my own thing.
My “boss” is tough and exacting, expecting me to meet very high standards. There’s no question she’s my toughest critic. But she’s also flexible and forgiving and says nothing when I decide to change my priorities or pursue some crazy new idea or take the day off. We’ve had a great relationship for over 19 years now!
There are many reasons I chose to go out on my own so many years ago. Here’s just one story that illustrates why being my own boss had appeal to me.
When I was in my early 30’s, I worked in corporate communications for a fast growing real estate services company. I had been talking with an editor at BusinessWeek about a story on my company’s recent purchase of a real estate investment trust. It was beginning to become evident that all wasn’t as it seemed with the state of this REIT’s finances and we were about to experience some fallout.
I thought I’d done a good job of convincing the CEO that he needed to agree to an interview with BusinessWeek, to take the offensive and explain the company’s side of things, instead of retreating and refusing to comment, which made him look bad, like he had something to hide. So he agreed and we arranged for a time and place out in California for a reporter and photographer to meet with him.
On that day, when I returned from lunch on the east coast, I had several “urgent” messages—from my boss, from the BusinessWeek reporter and the BusinessWeek editor. Everybody accused me of screwing up: The magazine was furious that I’d “led them on” about this interview, because when the reporter and photographer got there, the CEO insisted he knew nothing about it and refused to see them. The company bigwigs wanted to know why I had “sicced” this reporter and photographer on the CEO. My direct boss implied my job was on the line for pulling such a stunt.
Of all these people, the CEO knew the truth. But he lied—to the reporter, to his management team, to my boss, to the magazine. I was made out to be the bad guy, even though I’d done nothing wrong.
It wasn’t the first or the last time that someone higher up in the corporate world betrayed me or treated me essentially like refuse. But it’s certainly one of the most memorable. This wasn’t some mercenary guy working his way up the corporate ladder by stepping on others’ toes during his climb. This was the guy already at the top!
That experience certainly did nothing to enamor me to the world of corporate politics. I love knowing that my boss is honest and loyal and will never stab me in the back! That’s one of great things about being self-employed.
I have been training and coaching business professionals in the dynamics of how they present themselves since 1990. It has been a fun, rewarding and lucrative career. Now I want to leverage my knowledge and experience to provide others with the opportunity to make the same kind of living I have conducting the Compelling Speaker workshop. The Compelling Speaker is unique among presentation skills training programs, because it involves audio instruction that participants receive in advance on an audio CD. This allows the workshop to be a much more intense, hands-on practice experience because participants have received their instruction ahead of time.
This sets the Compelling Speaker apart and as a result can give trainers a differentiating edge. I believe the right person can make a lucrative, fulfilling career with the workshop as one of their core offerings.
I plan to use these posts to share my thoughts about starting and running a training business, being a solopreneur, and particularly about the excitement and rewards of training others in presentation skills.
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