Blog

For business leaders and entrepreneurs, learning how to deal with frustration in business is necessary to lead a productive and successful company. We need to find ways to address frustrations by working toward solutions and systemizing processes.

If you just wanted to win the debate (and annoy the person you’re speaking to), pick a straw man of their argument and burn it to the ground. If, however, you want to try to get to the truth, you should consider the strongest possible argument that your opponent could have meant — and respond to that. That would be the steel man argument which is the strongest version of an argument, sometimes called the principle of charity.

Whether you are running your own solo business, stuck in the corner of a busy office, or working remotely from home, feeling isolated at work can be a genuine issue for many employees. Business isolation is a growing problem, and it affects all kinds of people in all types of business environments. In addition, due to the fear of Covid 19, more people are choosing to work remotely, generally by themselves, and losing that day-to-day connection of working around other people.

Intellectual courage is a willingness to disagree, dissent, or challenge the status quo in a setting of social risk in which you could be embarrassed, marginalized, or punished in some way. When intellectual courage disappears, organizations develop patterns of willful blindness. Bureaucracy buries boldness, and efficiency crushes creativity.

Experienced leaders see decision-making as a four-quadrant box.  The horizontal axis is the outcomes – good and bad, and the vertical axis are decisions, good and bad.  The upper left box is for good decisions/bad outcomes.  The lower left is bad decisions/ bad outcomes.  The upper right is good decisions and good outcomes.  And the lower right is for bad decisions/good outcomes.

As Christians, we cannot allow ourselves to be swept away in the undercurrent of the cultural stopwatch.  Romans 12:2 says, “Do not conform to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God’s will is—his good, pleasing and perfect will.” The Bible places high value on rest and peaceful living.

In light of the world events over the past several years, it’s hard not to find yourself chronically overthinking. We worry about our health and our loved ones’ health, just like we worry about our businesses and what the future holds. As a result, we can easily slide down the slippery slope of deliberating ourselves into a better situation.

So, what’s the takeaway here?

Saying thanks is relatively easy; it makes both you and the recipient feel good.
It is necessary. It can make a difference in your customers’ experience with your company and client relationships.
And that all affect your bottom line.

There are many areas of our business world where we need to learn how to stop. We need to stop thinking problems can be solved with more money and staff.  We need to stop saying “yes” to every request.  And we need to stop micromanaging people and projects.

Do we put our trust in God, the omnipotent, omnipresent creator of the universe?  This one who breathed life into us gave us the ability not to choose Him with the plan that if we choose Him, we made that decision of our own accord and thereby are worthy of His Kingdom.