Modern life is about comfort.
Growth is about discomfort.
I recently received bad news from one of our customers: they’d found a lower-cost alternative and may move their business elsewhere. As I write this, I have no idea how the situation will play out.
What do you do in moments like these?
Do you wallow? Do you have self-pity? Do you get mad? Do you blame?
While I understand these mechanisms, I want to offer something different.
What if you sat in the discomfort?
I did.
Instead of wallowing, I spent time contemplating.
I allowed this reality to sting. The potential of losing the business hurt, and the potential of losing relationships hurt more.
Instead of self-pity, I asked myself hard questions: What could I have done differently? How could I have led differently? After all, any business I lost was ultimately my fault as co-CEO.
Instead of anger, I let the burn reinvigorate my energy. Yes, it reinvigorated me! I found myself digging a little deeper than I had before this realization. Strangely, it refilled my energy tank at the end of last year.
Instead of blaming others, I emailed our team and told them we would not blame each other for our predicament. In fact, if anyone were going to be blamed, it would be me.
My sister Charlotte said we all shared in it. She is a co-CEO, so I expect nothing less. But the point remained that I would rather be blamed than for the team to spend one unproductive, wasteful second on blame. Besides, as I pointed out above, I AM ACCOUNTABLE.
That is THE job.
What happened next?
The team came together.
The discomfort made us grow closer to one another.
Our product designer began working on an incredible design that fit the customer’s needs.
Our product specialist organized clear communication with the customer that addressed their customer’s needs — the ultimate decider in the situation.
Again, as I write these words, I don’t know how this will play out.
But I already know that we have won.
Why?
Because our team used the discomfort to grow.