by Wendy Shen

President/CEO
FLOMO®/Nygala Corp.

I was recently asked if I had advice to give for how to prevent an owner or CEO from burning out, and I said, “What?! A CEO can’t burn out!” Our role is too important for that. We have to stay positive because it affects the success of our business, our livelihood, and all the valuable employees and their families who help and work hard for it. Here are some tips I’ve learned along the way that inspire me to keep a positive attitude and keep the company moving up.

  1. Have a positive attitude. The owner is the one who the employees look up to and look to for guidance and insight on the direction of the company. Smiling and laughing helps reduce the tension and pressure in a day.
  2. Celebrate events, achievements, birthdays, or share successful stories with your staff. When your employees make an achievement it benefits your business too! Celebrating gives yourself and employees moments to look forward to and makes working hard rewarding.
  3. Work hard to play hard. Many CEO’s think about business from the moment they wake up till it’s time to go back to bed. But having fun is just as important as making money. If you’ve worked hard, then you deserve to play hard, vacation, visit with family, and have fun. It will recharge you to get back to business and go further.
  4. Mentor or coach your employees or those in need of help or direction. The more you contribute to other people’s futures, the more you can learn about your own too. You will feel positive and accomplished when you see how you can make a big difference in someone else’s life.
  5. Delegate to your management/leadership team effectively. There’s no need to hold everything on your shoulders when you have a great team of people who have experience and know how to keep the company running.
  6. Give back to the community. Aside from making donations, we like to get all the employees involved with helping out at special events or for special causes. It gives us a way to fulfill our social responsibility and allows us all to connect on a more personal level to grow our relationship as a team. Giving back to organizations or groups in need makes you feel accomplished and that can help you stay positive.
  7. Be creative and it will make work and life fun. Do not just compete with prices, also be creative and think of ways to make your product or service stand out from competitors. Have fun with it! People appreciate companies that are “different” and that offer customers exciting opportunities and promotions.
  8. Move forward in a positive direction. You can gain a lot of valuable knowledge by networking with different groups of people from different fields. Attend seminars, speaker presentations, or go back to school to keep up with the changing times!
  9. Exercise is a great way to keep up energy and happiness in the body. Whether it’s hiking, swimming, or going for a jog—try to add a little exercise into your days.

As a business owner, I take responsibility as being a leader. I know how important it is for my employees to see me in a positive light and the effect it has on them and their daily job. Sometimes problems or emergencies may happen in our personal lives, but we have to try our best to not let those factors enter our offices and influence our team. I walk into work every day with a genuine smile because each day I strive to make it my “Best Day” and I want to encourage that same way of thinking in my employees so we can succeed together. Your “Best Day” is the day you finish all your pending jobs, you save the company money, make a huge sale, you get rewarded for something great you’ve done, etc. Everyone’s “Best Day” is different. If you are living out your “Best Day” every day—how can you not stay positive?

This article has been sponsored by:
Linkage’s Institute for Leading Diveristy & Inclusion