Who's your Home Team? How to Build your Support System

 This week on the blog I want to chat about support. Aka your home team!

If you have been an avid reader here, it is no secret that while I am so grateful for the opportunity to be able to work on my business full time now, the schedule change has been much more challenging than I thought it would be. 

When you let go of your safety net, it is super exciting and exhilarating, but also a little scary. And because I am a workaholic, sometimes bad habits creep back in (like working too much) which is exactly what I don’t want to happen. 

A few weeks ago I found myself really questioning if I was on the right path. We have some big projects coming up and recently hosted our second annual retreat in Scottsdale.  (Side note, I love retreats, and can’t wait to do more of these). 

My point, however, is pulling something like this off in addition to a really new schedule, planning for a lanch and all the other things in life were making me question everything. Not to mention doesn’t everyone have certain days of the month where they are like, is this really OK? Like should I really host 20 women in Scottsdale thousands of miles away from home? 

Most days it's a heck yes. But sometimes the doubts creep in. At this particular point of the month, I started to think about my home team. As in the people you rely on when you need confirmation you are on the right path.

Who is your home team?

For me, it is my husband (which p.s. he was on the blog last week so you can catch his opinion on this in the previous post) and then what I call my home team. In the last two years, this has been made up of women that I have had the honor to be in similar communities. I have friends that I have been in masterminds with, friends I have taken courses with, friends that I have made inside our own mastermind, and even coaches I can rely on. 

While we were navigating this schedule and challenges, I really thought, everyone needs a home team. Everyone needs a pod of support. 

You need someone that is going to support you no matter what. 

You need someone that is going to tell you like it is. 

You need someone who is going to cheer you on. 

You need someone who is going to question your next steps (in a supportive way). 

According to forbes.com, ​​"Safety, belonging, and mattering are essential to your brain and your ability to perform at work, at home, and in life overall. The greater the feeling of safety, both emotional and physical so we can take risks; the greater the feeling of connection with others, or the feeling that we’re in this together and we belong together; the greater the feeling that we personally matter and make a difference and are contributing to the greater good; then the greater the success of the company, the relationship, the family, the team, the individual."

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Christine Comaford says: 

In every communication, in every conflict, we are subconsciously either reinforcing or begging for safety, belonging, mattering, or a combination.

It’s neurological… it’s primal… there is nothing you can do to override or change this subterranean subconscious programming as much as you may try.

Safety means creating an environment where we can take risks and stretch and grow. Is it safe to take risks at your company?

Belonging + Mattering

Belonging means creating an environment where we all feel like a tight-knit tribe, we’re all equal and we’re rowing in the same direction to reach our goals. Think about gangs—where people will literally kill to stay in the tribe. That’s how powerful this stuff is.

Mattering means each of us contributes individually in a unique way. We all make a difference. We’re appreciated and publicly acknowledged. Does your company culture work this way?

Building your Support System with Different Roles

I have business besties that fill different roles at different times. My husband is the questioner. In a good way. My best friend reminds me to prioritize differently. Some of my business friends from various trainings and masterminds are my cheerleaders. 

As you navigate through the rest of the year, you have to build your home team. Who is going to fill each of those roles? We all need support. We always will. Make sure you have the right people behind you. 

You cannot do this alone. 

Looking for more on this topic and your High-Level Action items? Check out the Strategy Lab in the Crush the Rush Club!