How to Survive the Stress of Leading a Startup
Like drinking or gambling, it’s a good idea to recognize when you’ve had too much startup
Let me ask you a question, and think about it for a second before you answer: Have you ever been totally bored and completely stressed out at the same time?
Right? Me too. It’s actually pretty common in startup leadership circles, but no one ever realizes it until someone asks them the direct question. I recognize that kind of stress all too well, but it took me most of my 20 years working with startups to recognize why it was happening.
Good stress comes from loads of work aimed toward a desired and achievable goal. This bad stress isn’t the same. Bad stress happens when you’re doing a hundred things at once, but none of them feel like parts of a greater sum. Bad stress makes you do stupid things and hit walls and lash out at people. And when you’re in a leadership position, you can’t do any of that.
Bad stress is the curse of the startup leadership. Here are some techniques I’ve worked out over the past 20 years to help turn bad stress back into good stress.
