The role of a business owner is a confusing one – particularly for business owners who have broken through barriers to scale time and time again. On the surface such success can cause others to believe that all is well in the inner world of the owner and cause the owner to start to question him or herself when their inner world doesn’t seem to align with external measures. “Sales are exploding, profit is up, but why do I wake up some mornings with dark clouds looming in my mind”.
This is reinforced by western cultures in which success is defined by these external factors: independence, wealth, control, and leadership. Success in the business arena offers all these and more – and yet something is amiss.
Freeman, et. al. (2018) conducted a mental health study that compared the prevalence of depression, attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), anxiety, addiction, and bipolar disorders among entrepreneurs and a control group. They found that entrepreneurs had significantly higher prevalence for (Fig. 2.0) depression (2x), ADHD (6x), addiction (3x), and bipolar disorder (11x). What’s more, they had a higher prevalence of co-morbidity (having more than one disorder) than that of the control group. The only mental health disorder with similar prevalence is anxiety, which mirrors the prevalence rates in other studies of approximately 25% of the general population.
Those statistics are challenging for the business owner to read. Statistically speaking they are significantly more likely to experience mental health challenges than those in the general population. An interesting phenomenon is that successful owners have developed coping behaviors that allow them to thrive. This includes building a team and culture in the business that supports their unique psychological needs. That is, in part, why complexity, confusion, and conflict increase at points of transition when people must behave differently and why successful owners are often caught off guard in these moments.
So how should the owner respond:
Build Self-Awareness. Working with a therapist and/or medical professional to address the clinical symptoms can help. Additionally, a skilled coach who understands the unique needs of the owner, their management team, and the business can provide insights and support for increasing your self-awareness.
Build Other-Awareness. If you, or someone you love, is struggling with these issues, work on empathizing with what that might mean for staff, family, and others. Taking an empathetic approach does not mean enabling harmful behaviors to continue. Rather, it means seeking to understand the perspective and experiences of others. This is a skill that can be developed. The first step is to become curious without judgment and explore without having to change anything until shared understanding is developed.
Bust the Success Bias. It is not surprising that depression or addiction become more evident when things are going badly... but when things are going well these experiences can be very confusing and easy to dismiss. External success can be as a mirage in context of the owner’s mental wellbeing. Having trusted people outside the business such as a peer group, non-family advisors, or close friends with whom you can be your authentic self can be helpful if you are willing to be both vulnerable and receptive.
Close the Skills Gap. Owners don’t succeed by doing all the work in the business themselves, it takes a team. Creating change often requires a different set of skills. Having the right skills at the right time focused on the right stuff is part of an owner’s success story. Points of significant transition often mean we need a new set of skills inside and outside the business. Consider who you need on your team to navigate the unique challenges and opportunities the current season presents.
For more information:
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