Everyone travels a rocky personal road — and business owners are no exception. Keeping your head in the game during a trying time is already difficult. Running a company while under emotional stress only compounds that stress.
This is something Dhiraj Rajaram is all too familiar with. The founder and chairman of Mu Sigma, Rajaram went through a divorce during which his wife sold her stake of the company, leaving Rajaram in total control of a multinational big-data delivery business.
Related: 5 Tips for Dealing With a Personal Crisis or Health Issue While Running a Business
It was a difficult time, but Rajaram and his team rallied and the company has grown steadily every quarter since.
Even if your social life isn’t tied to your business life, personal troubles can still significantly affect your leadership abilities. As Rajaram learned, balancing the demands of your business with a personal crisis isn’t easy, but doing so successfully is vital to keeping your company moving forward.
Lightening a load while carrying a burden
Balancing the various responsibilities of business and personal life is nothing new. In fact, according to a Bensinger, DuPont & Associates’ study, 47 percent of people participating said that personal stressors affect their work performance. Many entrepreneurs may be specially equipped to deal with crises in business, but that same skill isn’t always as effective when coupled with a personal plight.
At work, there’s always more to do, and predicaments have definite answers. Work harder, make more calls and put in an extra hour each day — these are all viable solutions to most business problems.
But, in your personal life, problems require the opposite: slowing down, listening and being patient and selfless. Toeing both sides of the line can be extremely challenging. The burden weighs even more heavily when you feel as though you’re on an island.
When my father was diagnosed with terminal lung cancer, I felt that I had no right to discuss it with my employees. They already had full-time responsibilities at work, as well as their own personal struggles. You may be like I was: You don’t want to expose your vulnerability. More importantly, it…