How to eliminate your emotional baggage when managing people

Do you dread getting a message from a team member asking for a quick chat? Does a staff member handing in their notice feel like a personal failure, even though you can't quite explain why? If past experiences with your team are affecting the decisions you make today, this episode is for you.I share what I've learned from my own journey with the emotional baggage that builds up when you manage people in a small firm - including why I finally decided to seek professional help. In this episode, I talk about why growing firms are such fertile ground for this kind of baggage, how to spot the signs that it's influencing your leadership, and the practical steps you can take to start unpacking it. You won't need a therapist to benefit from this episode - though I wouldn't blame you if you decided to book one.What you'll learn in the podcast episode:- The seven signs that emotional baggage from past people management experiences is still affecting how you lead and make decisions today - including some that are easy to miss- Why small firm owners are far more vulnerable to accumulating this kind of baggage than managers in a corporate environment, and why inexperience isn't the whole story- How unprocessed emotions get turned into stories and limiting beliefs that distort your perception of what's really happening with your team- A practical root cause approach to understanding what actually went wrong in difficult people situations - so you can stop blaming yourself and start preventing the same problems from repeating- How to make friends with anxiety rather than fighting it, including a simple checklist technique for separating fact from fiction when your brain starts catastrophising- Why acknowledging your feelings - through journalling, coaching or working with a therapist - is the first and most important step to ditching the baggage for goodRelated episodesHow to finally have the conversation you've been too scared to have https://startuptogrownup.substack.com/p/4-things-to-do-before-the-conversationHow to deal with your firm’s Dysfunctional Star (without losing your sanity) https://startuptogrownup.substack.com/p/how-to-deal-with-your-firms-dysfunctionalThe seven habits that keep me standing when most business owners quit https://startuptogrownup.substack.com/p/the-seven-habits-that-keep-me-standing6 ways to overcome fear when ‘feel the fear and do it anyway’ isn’t working - https://startuptogrownup.substack.com/p/6-ways-to-overcome-fear-when-feelAre you being gas lit by clients or staff? How to spot and stop it https://startuptogrownup.substack.com/p/are-you-being-gaslit-by-clients-orWhen emails turn ugly: my response to a bully https://startuptogrownup.substack.com/p/when-emails-turn-ugly-my-responseUseful links:- sign up as a paid subscriber and use this link to get 20% off an annual membership of Start Up To Grown UpWelcome to a free podcast episode of Start Up To Grown Up: Your source for ideas, insights and tactics to take back control of your business and scale it sustainably and profitably by Heather Townsend, award-winning author of The Accountants’ Millionaires’ Club and Founder of The Accountants’ Growth ClubEach episode of the Start Up To Growth Up Podcast is based on my weekly Substack Article on the same topic. Head over to my substack to subscribe https://substack.com/@startuptogrownup so you never miss an article or episode again. Get full access to Start Up To Grown Up at startuptogrownup.substack.com/subscribe