The most common thing I get asked about our work here is how to create a collective.
I hear all of the time… “I need an Amrita” or “I need a Kiva.”
There is incredible freedom that comes with entrepreneurship. This is the path to sovereignty, where you are completely in charge of your own life. You get to decide when, where and how much. If freedom is a value that you honor, then in most cases, entrepreneurship is truly the choice for you.
Entrepreneurship can also be a lonely road, where the pressure to make every decision and, especially at the beginning, to be in charge of every aspect of the business is very challenging.
Service delivery, sales and marketing, the financials… and the probability is that only one of these things is most likely in your zone of genius.
We teach our clients to begin to delegate work that is outside of their zone of genius as quickly as possible. It is the keystone to scalability.
The key to scalability is to delegate everything outside of your zone of genius – as quickly as possible. Tweet It!
But how do you begin to create a collective and culture yourself as you see us doing here at Eyes Wide Open?
You begin in stages.
What you see here is the result of YEARS of work, and each of us having a commitment to our own personal growth that allows this partnership to thrive.
Partnerships are like marriage. They require a tremendous amount of trust and surrender. Communication and self-awareness are vital pieces of the picture, because, quite frankly, it is simply too easy to blame the other person(s) for your own stuff.
The good news is that there are ways to ease into partnerships and eventually, if it is on your entrepreneurial path, to create a collective of your very own.
Here’s where to start to create a collective of your very own:
1) Be committed to your own growth as an entrepreneur. Own your strengths and weaknesses and be willing to hold up a mirror to your actions and see what there is to see. My experience is that this requires a mentor, a community and a willingness to surrender your ego. As Alexis says, our blind spots are called that for a reason. Our commitment to this is so strong that we have called in Reuben to be our coach – as an equal partner in this business. It’s that important.
2) Be willing to invest so that you can create resources to do less and less of the work that is outside of your zone of genius. I hear from people that they are trying to build a business with as little investment as possible. This is like trying to grow a tree without water. There are huge payoffs possible in this game – but you have to be willing to invest. The notion of bootstrapping – building a company from the ground up without outside capital is absolutely possible. The reality is, though, that in most cases you are investing nearly 100% of revenue back into the business for the first 1-3 years so that it can grow. So you need to be crystal clear on your resources to be able to do this (hello Money Map).
3) Find your tribe. Seriously. I would not have been able to handle the roller coaster of entrepreneurship without my business soul sisters. Each of us – Alexis, Amrita and I have our own sisterhood of fellow entrepreneurs where we have a soft place to land, a sounding board outside of the Collective, and women who take a huge stand for us as individuals, ensuring that we are committed to creating a reality in Eyes Wide Open where our personal needs are met.
At our Circle of CoCreation retreat last week (pics below), the thing that brought tears to my eyes – well, I’m a sap and seeing people having breakthroughs always makes me cry – but the biggest thing was the support this tribe had for each other. The way they truly knew each other’s strengths and challenges and took a stand for each other. As their coach and mentor, I felt like a proud mother hen.
4) Practice Surrender. Put yourself in situations where you feel what it feels like to give up control. Control and partnership do not mix. And truly, Alexis’ ability to do this, in the face of this business being created based on her great work is exceptional. It speaks volumes to who she is and her own personal journey of growth and transformation. Until you are truly ready to let go of control of your great work, you are not ready for this kind of partnership.
So first steps… co-host a telesummit. Partner with a business soul sister (or brother) to add more impact to each of your offerings. Hire a business manager or a book keeper. And practice the art of allowing them to be in their zone of genius without interference.
Breathe. Trust. Communicate. Surrender to the idea that…