Invite the Full Self

When starting and scaling a business, work often commands more than its fair share of hours and mental real estate. Home health matters, and it affects performance. Get to know your direct team’s spouses / significant others. Include them in the ride. Help them see what this stressful, against-the-odds journey is all about, why you are working so hard for so little near term pay. Encourage your teammates to share life updates, even as pedestrian as regular weekend recaps. EOS incorporates this in its regular check-ins, for example: each person starts with a ‘business best’ and a ‘personal best’. Home life, especially spousal relationships get little airtime in the startup zeitgeist despite the critical importance. Categorically ignoring life outside the office becomes toxic and counterproductive. Encourage people to bring their full self to work. It will foster deeper bonds and help everyone make it through the tough grinds.