The Importance of Keeping it Cool at a Startup
Matt Lopez
Working for a startup is great. It’s sexy, exciting, challenging, and EXHAUSTING. It’s no surprise this culture emphasizes short sleep and long work, but what about the side effects of this gogogo mentality? Recently, I found out first hand, and it wasn’t pretty. Sit back, and allow me to tell you a tale of how I lost my cool, and the valuable lesson it taught me about working in a small team environment.
It was a busy Tuesday morning, and I was coming off a 15 hour Monday. By 9:30am I was already 3 hours into my day, and I was on edge. I had previously asked three members on my team to take care of a small office matter, so I could plow through some new client work that is especially taxing.
Like any other day, all four of us had packed schedules. Like any other day, when the time came to deal with this office matter, we had all been spread to the wind with other time sensitive things to do.
I got pulled off my calls to handle the task when everyone else got pulled away. I stormed into the office, hot and pissed off, ready to roll after my day had been interrupted.
The first teammate I met got a special brand of sarcasm — a side comment of “you’re not the only one with sh** to do”, and a slam of the door as I walked out to handle the task. I handled the task, huffed back to work, and got it all done. But as I sat at my desk later that day I realized, what happened this morning cannot happen again.
Now before you think I’ve got a team full of people who only worry about themselves, let me clarify.
I work on a team full of really talented people. I work on a team where members consistently have too much to do. I work on a team full of people who care that I’m working too much, who don’t care that they’re working too much, and who will generally do anything in their power to help when I ask for it.
This overcast and freezing Tuesday morning just happened to be the perfect storm. And my response just happened to be unacceptable. Here’s what I did wrong: I didn’t keep my cool.
In sales, keeping your cool, putting on a good poker face, and rocking through the waves is what makes the money. And I had let the stress of a stupid office chore break me from this very essential principle. I had snapped at a team member because she couldn’t help me when I asked. I resented that the task fell to me when I already had ssssooooooooo much to do.
What I realized from this outburst, which is by the way uncharacteristic of me — is that keeping your cool extends beyond my chosen profession of sales. Keeping it cool is essential when working in a small office environment. The little unseen ripples of energy bounce fast off the single room of our office. We work in the traditional startup space, where open concept is the name of the game. In a work place like this, your attitude is just as likely to affect your team as your performance.
So today, when you get up for work, do yourself and those around you a favor: when you feel that teapot about to whistle, take a step back. Zip it tight and go for a walk. Grab a cup of coffee and take a break. You’ll be glad you did, and your team will too.