If you’ve been around here a while, you know that I love to share practical tips to growing your organization’s impact and income through solid financial management.

I also love to share the behind-the-scenes look into running this business. I absolutely LOVE the work we do, but it’s not always easy and I feel like I’m constantly being presented with learning opportunities to help me grow into a better leader. Since this month marks four years in business, I’ve spent a lot of time reflecting lately and wanted to share my biggest business (and life!) lessons learned:

1. Don’t take things personally. I care so deeply about our clients that when something doesn’t go perfectly right, it sits like a brick in my stomach. I’ve lost sleep and challenged my own self-worth at times because someone had a clarifying question about a bank reconciliation. Now I focus on doing my absolute best and know that that’s enough.
2. Don’t let fear hold you back. I have said yes to clients I knew were a bad fit, didn’t speak up when clients were months late in paying invoices (and lost a lot of money), let employees who weren’t a good fit stay on way too long, all because I was afraid of having a difficult conversation or scared a client might leave. (Spoiler alert: when I stood up in courage and took action, things turned out JUST FINE.)
3. What’s right for someone else is not necessarily right for you. As an entrepreneur, you’re responsible for your own professional development, so I’ve spent countless hours devouring information from online business “experts” and entrepreneur “gurus”. While I picked up some useful information along the way, it actually just distracted me and made me feel like my business and life didn’t stack up. Now I focus solely on things that truly bring value to my business and me, and not just what everyone else is doing.

Thank you to YOU, for being a part of this amazing tribe of purpose-driven leaders. Your positive attitude, selflessness in service, and dedication of your life and work to helping other people and inspiring and humbling to me.

I’d love to know the biggest lesson you’ve learned as a leader this year! Leave a comment below and let me know.

PS – Reminder! We created a fun quiz to help you figure out which of these finance pros you need to elevate your organization. Everyone loves a quiz, right?

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