'Step back, engage a coach': How to manage startup stress and encourage employee well-being
File photo / Jim Neuger
Steve Tenney, founding partner and CEO of Portland-based wealth management firm Great Diamond Partners, switches off from work in part through activities including trail running and sailing.
Great Diamond Partners, a Portland-based wealth management firm founded in 2019, today has nine employees and around $600 million in assets under management. Mainebiz caught up with founding partner and CEO Steve Tenney to talk about navigating stress as a startup, the topic of our latest cover story.
Mainebiz: What are some of the biggest stresses you have faced in starting and/or growing your business and any ‘coping’ strategies you’ve learned along the way?
Steve Tenney: When we launched Great Diamond Partners, the most significant internal stress we faced was a result of a difference in perspectives. As a growth-oriented entrepreneur, I was focused on new opportunities while much of the team was appropriately concentrating on establishing the basic foundation of the firm. This impacted communication and led to frustrations. To address the issue, we took two actions. First, we relied on outside coaches and advisors to make observations and recommendations. Second, we refined our internal structure so that my new ideas were filtered into one of three groups — yes, not now, and no.
MB: How do you ‘switch off’ from work, and how big a priority is that for you and your team?
ST: Well-being is one of our core values and we encourage everyone to switch things off. Personally, I look for a couple of extended times each year where I completely disconnect from work, not even checking email. On a more regular basis, I work in other activities like sailing and trail running where I can get mentally lost. While it’s our nature to keep grinding away, turning things off creates critical space for big ideas and critical perspectives to emerge. That’s where true growth opportunities come from.
MB: What's your advice to budding business owners about handling the stresses and strains of entrepreneurship, and does it get easier or at least more manageable with experience?
ST: Owners of new businesses should take a step back, engage a coach and identify their strengths and weaknesses. There are plenty of online tools for this such as DISC, Kolbe and Strength Finders. Focus as much of your time on your strengths and have someone who’s good at the other stuff take it over. The key here, however, is to completely let go of those responsibilities. These stresses typically do not recede simply with the passage of time — they need to be proactively addressed and continually nurtured.
The business backstory
Listen to the story of how Great Diamond Partners was founded in an episode of "The Day That Changed Everything," a podcast by Mainebiz, released in April 2021 and archived here.
Most Recent
Most Recent
0 Comments