My CEO “aha” moment: If you think like a cleaning tech, you’ll always be in the way of your own business growth.
As an immigrant and business owner, America changed my life. When I was a kid in Poland, my father was a business owner. It is because of him I learned the business owner’s way of life – being my own boss and working my tail off. That’s how I learned that there is no instant gratification for a business owner. You have to work for your success. Nobody gives you something for nothing. You have to apply yourself to be the best at what you do.
I thought the challenges I faced as a business owner in New York stemmed from the fact that I was not born in the United States. In addition, I have a thick accent when I speak English. Sometimes it is difficult to express myself in the same way I would in my own language. But my thinking changed when I enrolled in the Foundations of Success business coaching program by Cleaning Business Builders.
A Clean Start
I had started a new life in New York. Everything was new and different. I loved it instantly – I think I should have been born here. But since my English was poor, the only job I could get was in the cleaning business. That is where my journey started.
The first week on the job I said to myself, “I am going make this into a business.” I started hiring, but it was so difficult to let go. I thought I was the best cleaner on Earth and that nobody else could do as good job as I could. As an employee – a cleaning technician – I could afford to think that way, that no one I could ever hire will do as good a job as I can at any part of my business. But then I also didn’t have time to do all of those necessary parts of my business.
A New Way of Thinking
It took me a few years to realize that I was not going to get far with this approach, and I was making the same mistakes my father did. He was the best at what he did; nobody even came close. However, he never looked for someone who was or could be as good as him. His business was his life. But I want my business to be a part of my life.
I had to change my way of thinking to become a leader and a real CEO of my company.
And I got the coaching support and tools for that from Foundations of Success, especially the week-long Jump Start that is the beginning of this 6-month coaching program.
What I learned was invaluable: how to be the CEO of my company, not an employee of my company.
The process of becoming a CEO is not going to happen overnight. I am prepared for the long haul and with the support of my coach and my accountability partner, the road ahead will be easier as I dedicate myself to my success.
Gallery: Marzena and her husband Michal at the Foundations of Success Jump Start event, Isle of Palms, SC; the beachfront view at The Mansion; Derek Christian provides one-on-one business coaching to Sandy Valdivieso; business coaches Tom Stewart, Liz Trotter, Derek Christian and Joe Walsh
