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On today\\u2019s show we are talking about something that is rarely talked about. Entrepreneurship has been put up on a pedestal and it cool to be an entrepreneur.

Today\\u2019s show is about the inner struggle of being an entrepreneur. It\\u2019s about handling the negative self talk that can surface when things don\\u2019t go as planned in your business. It\\u2019s when an employee or partner doesn\\u2019t fulfill their commitment. It might have been you. Maybe you made a mistake that needs to be corrected.

Every one of these events results in managing an exception. It means having to work extra hard to fix something that should never have happened. Even if it wasn\\u2019t your fault, you, as the business owner feel responsible. It\\u2019s that sense of responsibility that is healthy for the business and heavy for you as the business owner. It\\u2019s a weight that you carry with you all the time. It\\u2019s an extra sack of potatoes on your back all day long, all night long, even when you sleep. 

The amount of effort that goes into managing exceptions is many times the effort associated with managing routine items. I\\u2019ll give you a simple example. If a tenant pays their rent on time, the money appears in the bank account, the book-keeper records the entry. All is good. But if a tenant vacates early, or if they fail to pay the rent, the amount of energy expended in managing that exception is many times what it would be in the normal case. The effort to manage an eviction is orders of magnitude more than the effort to receive a rent deposit. 

When something doesn\\u2019t go as planned there can be emotional baggage that makes the task much heavier emotionally than the task itself. 

In many cases, you don\\u2019t leave enough slack in the system or the calendar to handle these unplanned events. The effect is that other commitments are delayed. Here too, the cascade effect can result in more missed expectations. The feeling of overwhelm can be paralyzing. 

But the fact is, every single one of these issues can be solved. All too often, entrepreneurs fall back on the skill-sets that have made them successful in the past. It\\u2019s true, that this approach will fix the immediate issue, but it won\\u2019t solve the underlying problem. In fact, it is really perpetuating the problem. It\\u2019s instinctive to ask \\u201cWhat should I do?\\u201d But the better question is \\u201cWho do I need to be?\\u201d. 

Sure things need to get done, but they also need to be done the right way, by the right person in the organization. 

Michael Gerber in his ground breaking book called \\u201cEmyth\\u201d talks about the three roles in the organization. There is the technician, the manager and the business owner. If your instinct is to do the work, then you\\u2019re being the technician. If you are the manager, then you are assuming responsibility for the task, and often delegating the task, but not the responsibility. Sometimes, that\\u2019s who you need to be. But if you\\u2019re truly the business owner, you will find the right people in the organization to own the responsibility for getting the job done, and for getting the problem solved. When I say solving the problem, I\\u2019m not just talking about the immediate issue, I\\u2019m talking about the underlying issue.

Your role as the business owner is to make sure the systems are put in place to make even these exceptions part of the standard operating procedure. When you engage with your team, the conversation should focus on the systems, and not the specific emergency. Yes, the emergency needs to be solved, but not at the expense of the systems. Otherwise you\\u2019re not solving a problem, it\\u2019s simply a bandaid and the problem will resurface.