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How To Lead A Business When You're Dealing With Loss

Forbes Nonprofit Council
POST WRITTEN BY
Gloria Horsley

Having a bereavement policy in place lets your employees know they can grieve without guilt and worry over work. But what if you are the sum total of your team and company but have just been dealt an emotional blow? How can you keep your business running while handling the emotional roller coaster that comes with losing a loved one?

Everyone handles loss differently based on their upbringing and personalities. I've come across many entrepreneurs who are struggling with loss and the confusion over whether they should stop in their tracks and address the mixed emotions, or move forward with a business that needs them. While there is understanding for a time, a person’s business can be impacted by dissatisfied customers or clients that believe it is time to get back to work and deliver on expectations. Eventually, the business owner could ruin their reputation.

Here are some recommendations for entrepreneurs who may be struggling with this very issue, based on how our organization has helped others in the same position.

Working Through The Grief

The first step is to take at least a week to process the initial shock of your loss. Make sure to let your clients and customers know that you will be out for a week and why, especially since it was unexpected and you don’t want to leave them wondering.

You may not have a plan in place for unexpected times where you need to step away from your business. Let go of the reins and let those around you help if they offer to pitch in, whether they're a co-founder or a family member.

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While you can eventually work through grief, you shouldn’t work through it by still going to work every day. Throwing yourself into your work is not going to be an effective alternative for a healing process where you can step away and actually go through the various stages of grief.

Although you may not feel ready to go back, part of you may feel guilty about leaving your business. If you're needed after a week or so, you can still work through your grief during this time. Here's how:

• Delegate work to team or family members who are willing to step in. You might even consider actively seeking out some freelancers to help for a few months while you take more time outside of the office to deal with the loss.

• Be honest with clients. Let them know you have been dealt a blow with the loss and are working through it. Your clients will appreciate your candor and most likely will understand how you feel.

• Recognize that you will have days that the loss hits you harder than others. If that happens, take the time to process it, contact a friend, or seek the support of a grief counselor to discuss those down times so they don’t become all-consuming.

• Don’t put a deadline on the end of your grief. You won’t know when and if it will ever be ever. Let it be and see how time eventually changes those heart-wrenching pains into sadness and then into nostalgia and a focus on good memories with that loved one.

•Get involved in helping others in the community to help the healing process. Part of grief is dealing with the frustration of not being able to control or stop what happened to your loved one. Seek opportunities where you can help someone by volunteering and making a difference in someone’s life.

• Look toward your spirituality for guidance and strength. While not everyone is religious, it doesn’t mean you still can’t be spiritual. It’s a state of mind as well as a physical benefit — both of which can provide the support you need to keep going with your business and life.

• Discover any therapeutic activities you can do in your spare time to provide comfort. For some people, it’s writing or painting, while others turn to exercise. These activities help the mind and body to focus on other things outside your grief and heal so you can return to your company and continue working.

• Set goals for work and life as a roadmap that also helps you refocus on a need for action and purpose. Not only does it provide a good distraction, but it also keeps your business running and growing. When you start achieving these goals, you’ll realize your coping mechanism is operating at optimum levels.

Loss is difficult, but you will recognize the need to go on. Your lost loved one would want that for you, and those around you, including your business and team members, colleagues and family deserve that from you. The good thing is that you can view being a business owner as having the perfect reason to keep going whereas some people don’t have such an option and may have a tougher time with recovery since they don’t have as big a purpose staring at them every day.