On the week prior to the third annual Conscious Entrepreneur Summit – with 250 executives, leaders and entrepreneurs coming back to Boulder June 4th and 5th, I am reflecting on why the Conscious Entrepreneur Community has been important to me since it’s inception and why it may resonate with you.
I’m reflecting on three main reasons;
It’s REAL
Our community, from its inception three years ago, is rooted in being truly open with one-another, digging deep together on the hard things, giving first and lifting one another up in the business realm. We are here to have REAL conversations, not the usual bullshit smalltalk and we are rejecting Hustle Culture as a flawed model.
So, you raised $30 million dollars recently or your business is growing 3x year over year? Great. Are you taking are of yourself and your family? How often are you spending time with them? What about your team? How are they faring? Are you sure they are thriving or are they barely surviving? What are your attrition rates? When was the last time your prioritized self-care? Have you asked the same of your leadership team ?
When the first question someone asks you when you walk into one of our events is ‘What’s keeping you up at night, and how can I help’ – instead of ‘What do you do’ or ‘Where are you from, it hits different.
Understanding that you are not alone in scaling your organization is powerful in and of itself, being surrounded by successful executives, leaders and founders that have been there and can share their experiences of how hard it can get, and how good it can be when done correctly is extraordinary. We all recognize that entrepreneurship and leadership within organizations that are scaling is really fucking hard at times, and you need not build at the cost of your wellbeing. Being able to share openly about the struggles – from missed quarterly goals to investors constantly saying no, to losing key employees and to missed kids birthdays…the struggle is unique and its REAL.
The good news is we are here for one another to foster resilience and to laugh and to cry and to grow as a community.
It’s Vulnerable
Did I mention crying? Yeah, well, there were plenty of tears during Keith Ferrazzi’s keynote last year. I learned about a decade ago that there’s a great deal of strength and courage in vulnerability. There’s certainly a time and a place for a leader to be vulnerable, but delivered well and in appropriate doses, being open with your team about your shortcomings or failures or missed opportunities with investors is empowering for all. It’s an opportunity for connection and trust building within your team that’s working so hard to make your vision a reality. Our community is nothing if it’s not vulnerable. It’s not easy to share the hard things that scare you or that you are resisting, but I assure you- vulnerability can be a leadership superpower if shared with sincerity and openness.
It’s Mission CriticalÂ
In an age where burnout is commonplace, layoffs are pervasive, attention spans are shorter than ever, investment is harder to come by, and ‘quiet quitting’ is on the rise; entrepreneurship and building healthy, resilient teams is more important than ever.
There aren’t many places you can turn to where everyone is focused on building businesses without sacrificing themselves. Where everyone is doing the deep personal work to become better humans and better leaders in their businesses and in their communities.
The Conscious Entrepreneur Summit and our ongoing monthly event series is a welcome and safe place to connect, learn, grow and build healthy businesses.
In a time of deep divisions in our country, Conscious Entrepreneur represents an opportunity for fostering common ground and understanding for folks from all over the country and all over the world.
Our community is growing – and there’s a good reason why- because it’s a powerful, real, and connected one.
We are the only community and the only Summit fully dedicated to the wellbeing of the leader, of the executive, and of the entrepreneur.
This is indeed Mission Critical work in 2024.
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I hope you will consider joining us for our capstone event on June 4th or 5th in Boulder.
You certainly won’t regret it. I promise you that. Here’s a one minute recap of last year’s event.
Thanks for reading and I hope to see you soon!
Dave
