134- Entrepreneur dilemma — brash boldness vs leadership bravery

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In this episode of The StrugglingBiz, we discuss a major theme of the mindset of the troubled entrepreneur in dealing with stubborn decision-making vs. the thoughtful reflection of key decisions in leadership in helping to make the business succeed as well as reach their objectives — and many times, exceed them. This deals with the brash boldness that leads to cowardice by not wanting to communicate vs. the bravery of the critical thinking and reflection of weighing decisions honestly to see what would be best for the business and for the future outcome of the enterprise. And it occurs when the entrepreneur knows how to communicate and LISTEN as opposed to follow the path of a bold mindset, just because of not wanting to think, reflect or take any risk that may be beneficial in the long run.

The idea for this theme comes from a recent episode of the podcast show called The Accidental Creative by Todd Henry, where the topic is called “Bold vs. Brave Work, and 3 Elements of Brilliance.”

We strongly recommend that you consume this episode from Todd Henry, as it is very relevant in the world of entrepreneurs and how they can see themselves as leaders that will really reflect on success and some of the risk-taking or that will stubbornly lead their business down the road toward failure.

For myself as an entrepreneur, I went through the route of being bold in my decisions for getting contracts for services, but then not being able to deliver on them. That meant that I had to humble myself and realize that I should have listened to the advice being given by my other partners in the startup, because they seemed to have the better idea. In fact, my boldness made me feel that only I had the right answer and would not accept any other alternatives.

How different things would have turned out if I had been able to overcome the brash boldness and accept the fact that there were other alternatives to consider that would have rendered a better outcome for the business. For me, in those early days in the late 1970s and early 1980s, the only result for my business was to finally shut down and close. Like so many startups in those days, we became a statistic of “failed” entrepreneurships because I relied on brash boldness, which later could have been seen as some form of self-insecurity and for me, possibly cowardice.

We hope that you can find value in the suggestions that are delivered in Todd’s podcast episode, and that you can then understand better how you can succeed as a brave entrepreneur rather than one who manages by brash boldness.

Thank you for your attention.