You don’t get paid to make perfect investments

You get paid to apply your judgment when things don’t go as planned.
….
The average perfectionist investor gets upset when management disappoints, or when growth and margin underwhelm. “It’s a f*king problem” is the first urgent thought, as the blood pressure and tone of voice spikes. A frenzy of conference calls later, a fix is implemented and it’s onto the next fire.

If investors can reframe “problems” as ordinary course of the job, it becomes a lot more fun and less draining. It also allows you to become creative and enjoy the serendipity.

Practically, anyone who’s still reading is like “yeah but someone at my firm is going to be up in my grill.” By practicing this latter approach and managing the energy of those around you — walking them off the ledge — you can help your team get to a better result.

It’s easy and addictive to spring into the reactive frenzy, but it exhausts the team and rarely gets to the best outcome.

How can you arrest the cycle of reactivity? What would it be like to have a bit more fun with the ups and downs?

#privateequity #growthequity