Why you're avoiding emotional labour in your business. And why it matters.
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When we’re talking about strategy in our businesses, emotion isn’t a word that generally appears.
We talk about the numbers. We talk about the goals. We talk about the tactics we’re going to use to get there.
But we don’t really think about building an effective strategy in terms of the emotional labour that’s required.
And we should.
Because emotional labour is a requirement of successful strategy.
I’d go as far as to say that if you aren’t bringing emotion into your business, then you’re not doing it right.
Especially in small business where what we want from our day-to-day work is tied so tightly to our life goals, and we started our small businesses for something more than just a pay check.
We tend to ignore the emotional labour. We slide it into the background and pretend we’ll look at it later.
Not just small business does this. Big brands do it too.
But why do we avoid the emotional labour? And what happens when we don’t?
That’s what we’re going to explore in this article.
Why do we avoid emotional labour in our business (and what does it look like)?
Strategy is scary.
It makes us look in the dark corners of our business and asks us to think about what we really want.
Strategy can be difficult to see, and hard to get clear about.
We have to admit to ourselves that there are things we don’t know.
Answers we must find.
Then, not only do we have to be willing to do the work to find the answers - we have to know the right questions to ask in the first place.
Because the right answers to the wrong questions don’t help anybody.
Strategy requires emotional labour to mean something.
And we avoid it because it takes energy. And it’s hard. And we don’t want to be wrong. Or to admit that the emotional stuff is just as important as the metrics in our business.
Maybe even more important.
What would happen if we got brave, and embraced doing the emotional labour?
Confidence & Clarity: What you get when you do the emotional labour in your business.
I’ve had clients who have worked with me on their Brand Story Strategy tell me that it’s some of the hardest work they’ve ever done.
They’ve had to do the emotional labour, ask the hard questions, and challenge their assumptions.
They’ve had to put their customer, and themselves, at the centre of their strategy.
They’ve had to ask their clients what’s working and what’s not working and how they see themselves in the world.
They’ve had to look at their competitors, feel all the feelings and comparisonitis and pull themselves out of it at the other end, turning what they learned about the competition into something powerful.
They’ve had to work out how they fit into their brand.
They’ve had to work out how they belong.
What happens when they finally put in the emotional labour?
Clarity and confidence they haven’t had before.
Moving from uncertain to certain about how they fit into the lives of their customer.
Moving from confused to unwavering in the way they talk about their unique point of difference.
And importantly, they’re certain, sometimes for the first time, exactly why they’re doing what they’re doing and why it matters.
Doing the emotional labour of actually building a strategy has changed the way they approach their businesses.
It’s given them a plan to follow.
It was hard in all the best possible ways, because of what it created for them on the other side of the work.
When you do the emotional labour and create an aligned strategy, everything in your business becomes clear.
And you’ll make every decision with more confidence.
You need to do the emotional labour. But you don’t need to do it alone.
I recently wrote about creating a better strategy as a business owner.
My first piece of advice – don’t do the emotional labour of strategy alone.
We have to go into dark corners - but not by ourselves.
We have to process what we learn from the questions we ask - but not without support.
We have to question our identity, our positioning, our message, our mission – but not alone.
Find someone to stand with you, in your corner.
Ready to do the emotional labour? Here’s where to start.
When was the last time you had a real conversation with your favourite clients?
Not sent them a survey. Not a simple catch-up. Not an update about the project.
But an actual, vulnerable conversation about what’s happening for them right now?
The best place to find the answers to the questions we didn’t even know we should ask, are found in the real conversations we have with the people we wish to serve.
Start there.
Build on that.
But don’t skip out on doing the emotional labour in your business. Your future self will thank you for it.
Want some support to do the emotional labour of Brand Story Strategy?
That’s exactly what I deliver in the Brand Story Strategy Workshop.
Together, we’ll build a brand strategy with story at its heart — and you’ll walk away with the clarity and confidence to market your brand effectively.
Delivered via video tutorials, workbooks and live group coaching calls, this 8-week workshop-style program will show you how to harness the power of brand story strategy so you can market more easily and attract more of your ideal audience.
