You Gotta Pay the Cost To Be The Boss

Happy National Boss’s Day! National Boss’s Day is celebrated on October 16th or the closest working day each year in the United States.

“Today, In 1958, Patricia Bays Haroski registered National Boss’s Days as a holiday with the U.S. Chamber of Commerce in honor of her father, who was also her employer. She created the holiday to improve office relationships between supervisors and their employees as well as raise cognizance to all the hard work boss’s put into their jobs. She felt as if younger employees didn’t appreciate their bosses enough, and knowing first hand what her father went through to make a company run smooth, set out to change that viewpoint.” (https://nationaltoday.com/national-boss-day/)

Being the daughter of a business owner myself, I can relate to the reasoning behind why Patricia Bays Haroski wanted to make this a holiday. Sometimes being The Boss can be a very thankless job. Often, it is hard for those who do the work to fully comprehend what it takes to manage the work and the operations for an entire company. Usually those closest to the Boss are able to see the real impact and sometimes the weight that bosses carry. I get a lot of my work ethic from both of my parents, but seeing my Dad run his own business made me want to become an entrepreneur as well.

Becoming a business owner is one of the most challenging, yet rewarding decisions I've ever made in my life. As my Mom said to me today as I was telling her how busy this month has been, "It costs to be the Boss!" This is a reference from James Brown’s song, “The Boss” (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jC2ZY2loo74) , which was released in 1973. In 2020, which has literally felt like a whirlwind of sorts, these words have never rung more true!

I’ve learned so many lessons since becoming a full time entrepreneur and today on National Boss’s Day, I thought I’d share a few of them.

1.) You Have to Spend Money to Make Money.

The actual and potential growth of your company and revenue is directly related to your growth as an individual, owner and leader.

Making consistent, but wise, investments in yourself and your business is critical to being profitable. As a lifelong learner and consultant, I’ve always invested a lot of money into personal and professional development, but that amount has definitely increased since I’ve been a CEO. Each level requires new lessons, information and strategies to both sustain success at your current level and prepare yourself for the next level. In this fast paced technology-driven world that we all live in, keeping your skills fresh and relevant is a major key to overall success.

2.) Know Your Value and Charge Accordingly. There is power in knowing the real value in the products and services you provide. It’s also important to know who your target market and ideal client is. Everybody will not be willing to pay you your going rate for the services and products that you provide and that is ok. Simply put, those aren’t your people. Someone saying that you’re expensive does not mean that you should lower your rate. Continue to invest in strategic business development activities, targeting your ideal client(s), and you will eventually land your next opportunity.

3.) Plan, But Also Be Ready to Pivot. I am a free spirit by nature, but when it comes to my work, I am super organized and a visionary and I also just happen to be a certified Project Management Professional (PMP). When it comes to my money, structure and discipline is very natural for me. But here is the flip side of that. Planning is essential to a successful business, but being flexible is equally as important. Being able to shift as the market and the needs of your customers shift is critical to success.

Whether you are a boss of a company or the boss of your career or life, these are all points to keep in mind as you chart your journey to “good” success. All the best to the bosses and future bosses!

A Little about the boss

As a global transformation consultant and coach, Lekisha equips her clients with the strategies and tools they need to sustain success through change and digital disruption. She is particularly passionate about empowering historically underrepresented groups with the leadership and computational thinking skills necessary to have a successful career in the current and future workforce. Her favorite quote is, "To whom much is given, much is required."