Jan 10, 2019

Advise to an Introverted Entrepreneur Struggling with the Fear of Leading People

Advise given to a young entrepreneur named Jamal, who reached out to me yesterday, seeking advise from me struggling with recruiting and leading a team due to fear and feelings of being an introvert and not qualified.


Jamal,
Happy to help!
Have you taken the Meyer Briggs test by chance? I'm sometimes an ENTJ (extrovert) and other times I've taken it, an INTJ (introvert). So in a sense, I know how you feel...sometimes.
I would suggest 3 things:
1) join another nonprofit (other than the one you're trying to build currently) and volunteer to lead a committee - this will force you out of your comfort zone.
2) Spend 15-30 mins per day, first thing in the morning, visualizing the process of enthusiastically enjoying interacting with, and leading and recruiting people. Do this for 30-45 days (or however long it takes) consistently, and you should have no inner struggles.
3) In your heart, be willing to do EVERY job required in your company, but seek to hire skilled professionals to do the activities you either hate the most, or that you're not good at.
Hope this helps!