Today I want to talk about rotten fruit and how this concept applies to not only your team and business, but life.
We’ve all seen it right? A perfectly yummy clamshell of raspberries and then the next, a 3 or 4 suddenly moldy.
When we look closer the mold and rot probably have spread to other berries, almost like magic, and seemingly overnight, right? Well the truth is more likely, your sweet, perfectly ripe berries started to decay and mold because they were put next to another fruit that had unseen mold right below the surface.
I want to apply this analogy to both business and life. If your business is that sweet, perfectly ripe berry, and you put it next to, let’s say, a toxic client, customer, or outside critic, your business will turn shades of gray in the form of doubt, resentment, burnout, frustration, etc.
If your juicy business is exposed to any of those negative feelings and they are left unchecked to run wild, pretty soon the business that you once loved will be something you dread and that isn’t something I want for anyone.
Now if we look at your team, things get even more interesting.
Have you ever had a high performing team but one person in the team that just unsettles the team? You know the kind, they maybe don’t put in the quality of work, lack ownership/accountability, maybe are the negative Nancy of the group, etc.
And then pretty soon the rest of your team starts to sputter in their morale, collaboration, success, fulfillment… you get the idea.
This is why it is SO important to nip this in the bud. If you have a rotten fruit of an employee on a team of a-players cut that mold out ASAP otherwise you risk it infecting the rest of the team and derailing not only them, but your whole business!
Now if we look at your life the same is true. If you are that sweet fruit and suddenly you introduce into your life someone who is toxic because they are selfish, entitled, demeaning, judgmental, dramatic, self-absorbed, mean, etc., then suddenly your rose colored glasses will get cloudy. Instead of seeing the best life has to offer, you might start to see the shadows and look for the bad.
I bring this up because I have seen over my many years of working with small businesses and entrepreneurs the inevitable “I hate my business” sentiment come up more frequently that any of us would like.
I used to think that this was just a moment of exasperation, and not a red flag, and then I realized that this sentiment first takes root many months, if not years, before people vocalize it.
And by the time you utter those words it is verging on almost too late. The same is true if you suddenly have a friendship that you start to avoid or worse of all start to resent.
Lest you think I am immune, it was back in 2018, that, to my horror, I uttered those words. That moment cut me like a dagger and it set me on a treasure hunt to understand why.
What I uncovered not only in myself and my business, but also with clients, astonished me. In almost all cases the linchpin of this sentiment was ONE thing.
Now that thing could be different for everyone. For some it was an unmet expectation in a client project. For others it was a comment made that broke the camel’s back. For others it was someone they admire telling them that they were doing it wrong, or they weren’t going to make it. So what is that one linchpin?
DOUBT.
Pardon my french but doubt is a sneaky little f*cker. It can creep in almost silently and make camp in your mind, your money, your relationships, your life and if you don’t evict that sucker (literally) then pretty soon that doubt will impact everything.
It might start innocently enough with you doubting your self worth. But when you start down that rabbit hole it creates a repulsion and desperate energy in your sphere.
Suddenly you are getting into spats with those you love most. Now clients are inexplicably saying, “no thanks” and “pass” and then the worst thing happens.
You start to believe this BS that doubt has thrown your way and you start questioning every decision, every moment, every client, every relationship until you have tied yourself in such a knot that it is going to take a team of army engineers to figure out how to get you untwisted.
PHEW! Now while all of this sounds terrible, and believe me I have actually been there, there is an antidote and it is AWESOME. It works 100% of the time, every time. You ready for it?
Boundaries. Standing up for yourself and saying, “not today satan!” Taking a moment to breathe in the suck and exhale the courage to say, “Nope nope nope. You do not get to treat me that way. You do not get to project your ick on me. You do not get to run me over because your own little devil is running wild in the playground of your mind! No ma’am!”
And sometimes, business owners, this boundary is no longer accepting mediocrity in your team and putting up with, pardon my french again, shitting attitudes that are spreading mold to the rest of your team.
Something magical happens when you make a choice, and believe me it is a choice that can seem herculean, but once you do it the clouds will part. Your business will bounce back, and you will come out on the other side, happier, healthier, and with some pretty amazing grit under your belt.
You want to know why I love this antidote so much? Because when you make a choice and say “me first” you step back into your power. You instantly show up differently and it has ripple effects through the rest of your life!
In addition, it fills you back up because we all know that you cannot serve your clients, self, family, friends, etc. to the best of your ability running on E.
The other thing that will DRASTICALLY reduce this from happening again is this… making sure you share your expectations because as I like to say, unshared expectations are nothing more than premeditated resentments. And boy-oh-boy is resentment a doozy of mold spores!
So with that, I want to offer you a friendly challenge. Can you do some rotten fruit inventory in your life and business and make the choice to throw it out? Remember, it is your life, your business, and you owe yourself this!
p.s. want more Golden Nuggets like this one, to save time and get you out from under your business? I got you. You’re going to love The Biz Doctor podcast, which is just a click away (available on all podcast platforms).
