It is not a rarity for business mentors to come across leaders who are stuck in or keep getting drawn back into the detail of what makes the business tick, and there are many reasons why.
As a previous business owner, I have been guilty of this in the past and I can now recognise the symptoms very quickly.
Drawing from personal experience and from mentoring others in similar situations, the most frequent drivers I have come across are an obsession with perfection, fear, and a lack of clarity on what a leading role entails. I believe they are linked. My intrigue on this topic began when I read the Sheryl Sandberg quote ‘Done is better than perfect’ from her book, Lean In published in 2013. I completely resonated with it due to my aversion to detail, and I brandished it to my right-hand person at the time who, besotted with the fine print, was constantly nudging me to pay more attention to detail. A mesh of both approaches would probably have been an ideal solution.
Working on the business means that such aspects as building multiple revenue streams, exploring what’s out there, long-term survival, operational robustness, healthy team activity that is not reliant on the owner all contribute to building a business that would sell. The ultimate commercial state to be in.
Yet, these three destructive leadership traits continue to sabotage
The fear element leads to focus remaining internal, in a comfort zone rather than strategic and external. Unilateral decisions replace transparent communication inviting feedback due to a fixation on a specific activity which in turn stokes frustration and then the lack of clarity means that what should be happening at the top is not, leading to missed opportunities and potentially market share losses.
There is such a thing it seems as The Perfection-Fear-Clarity Loop where these three factors reinforce each other in a vicious cycle:
Lack of clarity or knowledge leads to a fear of getting it wrong, which fuels perfectionist behavior (overthinking, overworking, second-guessing), which causes delays
reducing clarity even further (no progress = no feedback), feeding the loop again.
To break this pattern, try:
- Clarify, early and often – Ask questions. Define success criteria.
- Lower the stakes – Treat work as iterative, not final.
- Shift from fear to curiosity – “What can I learn?” instead of “How do I not mess up?”
- Embrace “good enough” – Progress beats perfection in most real-world scenarios.
- Share rough drafts and hear your people – Feedback reduces ambiguity and fear.
When a business owner reaches the healthy state of building a business that is sellable, there is a certain freedom gained.
A mind freedom from the day-to-day grind. This state of mind makes way for fresh ideas to drive forward, nourishing networks and exploring new markets. This is the exciting part and every business owner should experience it. Its the reward for the relentlessness of running a business.
How do we make it happen? It takes work, faith and being surrounded by and trusting in, engaged, capable people. Business Mentoring and Coaching can play a key role. With a mix of these support practices a business owner or anyone in a leadership position will gain insight as to where they are and together with the critical friend a mentor will provide, a clearer path to business mindset freedom will become apparent. In the Association of Business Mentors research last year, we found
63% of business leaders reported that mentoring allowed them to increase their headcount, demonstrating its role in building capacity and supporting team expansion.
7 out of 10 business leaders said working with a professional mentor improved their mental health and confidence, showcasing the personal and emotional benefits of mentoring.
72% of business leaders noted that mentoring directly improved their work-life balance, with the same number highlighting enhanced mental health and confidence as a result of their mentoring experience.
Mentoring and Coaching can be for the entire team. It does not have to be ringfenced to the owner. In fact, team mentoring or mentoring circles is an extremely effective way of encouraging inclusion, aligned decision making and an understanding of coworkers perspectives and abilities. Increased productivity all round.
Helpful resource: Built to Sell by Michael Warrilow
