Life without line management

If you have made the decision to seek a more entrepreneurial form of employment, then you are no stranger to sacrifice; your working hours shoot up, your personal relationships are tested, and resilience is your middle name, but I’d be surprised to hear that you ever stopped to ponder what life would be like without a manager.

"I’m going to miss being managed"

Entrepreneurial-ism and independence are intrinsically linked as it’s inevitable that dependence and risk-taking don’t really come hand in hand. So, when you started your business venture you certainly weren’t thinking, “I’m going to miss being managed”, but that’s exactly how I felt in late 2018.

I’ve had some great managers over the years and some less than great ones, but I’ve always learnt something from every single one of them. Being a good manager doesn’t come naturally, quite often the most technically gifted in their respective fields end up being promoted, however, just because you are fantastic at what you do, it isn’t a given that you will be a great manager. Constructive feedback, offering valuable new perspectives, structured development plans, and positive reinforcement are all benefits of having a manager.

Suddenly you are going it alone (I’m one of the lucky ones who has a business partner) and there is nobody telling you what you are doing well and what you could do better. It’s a me, myself and I situation and only you can figure out how good, bad, or indifferent things are going. Whilst we almost always have investors, advisers, and if you are fortunate enough, a network of like-minded individuals around you, nobody is responsible for your professional development but you.

Oh, and did I mention that you are also making bigger decisions every single day than you have made in your entire career to date? The stakes are higher, and you need to get comfortable with that quickly. 

As an entrepreneur, you learn more and you learn it faster than you ever thought possible. It’s ultimately the way in which we think, our inherent growth mindset, that propels us forward and arms us to overcome the many obstacles that we will face, but I for one, would welcome a little managerial reassurance every now and again.

I’m fortunate to have a business partner and a close adviser to bounce ideas off. However, if this resonated with you and you haven’t found a solution yet then I’d highly recommend spending some time reflecting on your last year and documenting the things that you’d like to get better at. Remember - nobody else will!