Visionary or Integrator? Startup or Maintenance CEO?
In the world of business, there is no shortage of ways to categorize your leadership style and the way you operate. But maybe in the real world, it's not quite so distinct.
I LOVE quizzes and personality tests and different ways of categorizing my personality, my skills, and how I think about things.
Sometimes these assessments are genuinely useful and can help us understand how and why we do the things we do and think the way we think - which can help us improve our weaknesses and lean into our strengths.
But, they can also sometimes create artificial boxes around us and create limitations that can keep us from growing as leaders and as individuals.
One of these dichotomies that I've repeatedly gotten stuck on, personally, is the idea that you are either a startup or a maintenance CEO.
You're either the energetic kid here to whip everyone into a frenzy of work, who changes things at the drop of a hat. Or you're the "adult" they bring in once things are rolling, so you can bring order to the chaos.
As we've been talking about maintenance mode, it seemed like a logical choice to examine whether or not all business owners can even BE in maintenance mode. What if you ARE either a startup CEO or a maintenance one? Does that mean that your business will never be able to operate like clockwork?
My guest today is Sarah Avenir, author and the CEO of &yet, a marketing and messaging agency. And she's been on both sides of this debate.
She's BEEN a startup CEO, a freelancer, an employee, and then she got tapped to become the CEO of &yet and she had to figure out how to make a team of designers, developers, and strategists come together under what she calls systems of practice.
Listen to the full episode to hear:
Learn more about Sarah Avenir:
Learn more about Susan:
Taking a Break
Bake In Boundaries in Your Default Settings with Brittany Berger
Examining Your Relationship With Your Business With Nicole Lewis-Keeber
Busting Productivity Myths and Redefining Work Life Balance with Tanya Dalton
The End Goal of Maintenance Mode, What it Is, and What it Isn't
Self Awareness as the Key That Unlocks Consistency with Marie Poulin
When to Quit and When to Persevere in Your Business with Margo Aaron
Building Healthy Habits That Facilitate Consistency with Sarah Von Bargen
Preparing Your Business So You Can Take a Real Break with Claire Pelletreau
Hiring, Selecting Business Partners, and Growing a Team That Enables Maintenance Mode with India Jackson
Leveraging People, Processes and Technology with Jason Staats
Develop a Sales Process With An Eye Toward Consistency with Allison Davis
Work on a Consistent Message and Marketing System to Prepare For Maintenance Mode with Michelle Mazur
Shift Your Model To Get Your Business to Maintenance Mode with Mark Butler
The Maintenance Mode Mindset: Stop Breaking Your Business with Racheal Cook
Finka Jerkovic - Assessing + Addressing Your Capacity as Founder
Assessing Your Business' Capacity with Anna Wolf
Starting With the End in Mind and Reverse Engineering the Plan with Ryan Lazanis
What Does Maintenance Mode Look Like? featuring Ryan Lazanis, Anna Wolf, and Tamara Kemper
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