You're Not the Big Cheese!
Any transition or reinvention involves being able to move on from the past. But we often think of the ability to move on as ditching emotional baggage. But being unable to move on from a former identity can be equally pernicious.
For those of us with successful careers, our identity can often be deeply entwined with our status. This is especially common among people who have climbed up the corporate ladder to a certain level of seniority or who have built their careers on the success of their previous roles.
But as strange as this may sound, what got you here won't get you there. You're no longer the big cheese. This is especially relevant when leaving the relative safety net and prestigious surroundings of the corporate world to start a new business. You can't possibly grow a new company when you're always staring in the rearview mirror, missing what you had.
When it comes to decision-making, forget the old hierarchical structure. You'll need to think quickly on your feet. Resources will no longer be available. Bootstrapping is the modus operandi. The trusted relationships you built in the corporate world may no longer be useful in camp startup.
As Peter Drucker said, "The greatest danger in times of turbulence is not the turbulence; it is to act with yesterday's logic." Welcome to the world of uncertainty. You'll be hunting for your own food from now on!
