I have been writing daily about small business topics for eight years and I can honestly say that I had not ever thought about the potential of our emotions to interfere with our ability to make business decisions. This despite the fact that as a coach I help my clients deal with this everyday.

I was reading the Edmonton Journal, the local daily paper yesterday and I came across an article titled, "Emotions have no place in investment decisions" and the subtext said "Road map will help you stay on track and find success and security in the long-term". Immediately I saw how those two statements could be equally valid in a small business context.

I see two sides to the role of emotion in the decision making process for business owners and entrepreneurs. Passion and emotion create the tension that gets an entrepreneur moving and keeps them pressing forward during difficult times. Introducing logic to a business decision provides perspective and a healthy dose of reality.

Emotions and Passions

Owning and operating a small business in Canada or anywhere else for that matter, is emotional and so it should be. In my experience business owners who do not exhibit intense enthusiasm or desire i.e. passion for their business really concerns me. Passion is the fuel that starts businesses and keeps them going when problems and challenges arise.

Role of Logic in Making Business Decisions

As a business coach I also see that emotions create unnecessary interference and bias when it comes time to make an important business decision. The importance of using logic to balance your perspective cannot be overstated.

Applying logic puts distance between you and the issue which allows you to look at it from a fresh perspective.

Blind Man Makes a Decision to Climb Mount Everest

I am reminded of a movie I saw a couple of months ago, it was based on the true story of Erik Weihenmayer, Touch the Top, to learn more about this inspirational movie check out the videos page.

Erik was joined by several of his climbing buddies who risked their own lives in this pursuit. Along the journey, the team faced unbearably treacherous conditions and witnessed the frozen remains of those who had failed in similar attempts years earlier. Finally, Erik and his colleagues made it to the top of Mount Everest, quite literally the top of the world.

There is a point in the movie where Erik and the team have to cross a dangerous crevasse by walking across an aluminum ladder, a challenging task even for the sighted let alone a sight impaired climber.

The scene is full of tension as Erik carefully and slowly makes his way across the ladder with encouragement and instructions from his fellow climbers and makes it safely to the other side. The scene that follows is one of the best in the entire show (IMO) because after successfully getting across the crevasse Erik starts to doubt his decision to climb Mount Everest.

Not only is he putting his own life at risk but also the lives of his friends and fellow climbers. He voices his concern to his climbing friend who provides spectacular advice, "Its ambition that keeps you moving up the mountain and fear of stepping off into space that keeps you alive. Come on lets get going."

Since that famous 2001 ascent to the summit of Mount Everest Erik has completed his 7-year quest to climb the Seven Summits - the highest mountains on each of the seven continents, joining only 100 mountaineers who have accomplished that feat. At age 33, he was also one of the youngest. Additionally, he has scaled El Capitan, a 3300-foot overhanging rock wall in Yosemite; and Polar Circus, a 3000-foot ice waterfall in The Canadian Rockies.

Emotion Keeps You Moving and Logic Keeps Your Business Afloat

In no way do I mean to demean Erik's accomplishments but I cannot resist using the observations by this outstanding athlete to make my point.

The emotion and passion you feel for your business is what keeps you pressing forward through challenging and difficult ascent to your own 'business summit' but it is logic that will keep you alert and focused so you do not make too many stupid mistakes.

Business Owner Know Thyself

1. Know your financial boundaries and the true cost (reputation, distraction, money etc.) of your decisions.

2. Know how long it will take and how much it will cost before you make any major business decision.

3. Know your Key Performance Indicators and how the decisions you make will impact your equity, profitability, and liquidity. Schedule reality sessions with you accountant or business coach. Review your financial statements monthly and do quarterly reviews with your professional advisors.

4. Know your limits. If you do not understand an issue and need to make a decision, do not do it. Wait for clarity and understanding because ignorance will not protect you from making a really good, bad decision.

5. Know the impact of your decisions. How will the decision you are about to make affect other parts of the business?

6. Know how you will apply logic to making a decision. Being disciplined in the way you make decisions means aligning with your personal philosophy to maintain personal integrity in every decision.

7. Know yourself. Identify your beliefs, values, goals, and objectives. Stay on course, be true to yourself.

8. When you make a quality decision (balance emotion and logic) stick with it and stay in control regardless what others might say about you or your decision.

9. Understand that you are not the only game in town and never openly criticize your competitors.

10. Know that to own a balanced business you will need to diversify. Look for opportunities to add new profit centers to your business, do so carefully making sure that you can afford the expansion and can quantify the risk.

Follow your dreams and keep your ego in check. Keep pressing ahead, maintain a healthy perspective, and a dose of reality and someday you too will be standing atop of your own "Mount Everest".