Things at your start-up are going horribly wrong. People quitting, contracts being lost to competitors and as a leader you keep blaming just about everything else in this world apart from your own ability. The fact of the matter is, that the path your company is on is a core responsibility of a leader. To correct your start-up’s course, if it is going down the wrong path, requires one to start getting as much feedback as possible from your investors, colleagues, customers and advisors. One needs to get a reality check on the type of job they are doing, and what the company can do to put itself back on track.

Unfortunately, a lot of entrepreneurs believe they know the answers to most of these questions themselves and are afraid of making themselves vulnerable in front of their peers. We need to leave our egos at the door and make sure that we do whatever we can to get the business moving again. I have personally found that having a group of mentors who you can use as sounding boards for the problems you are facing is a great way to get perspective on the matter at hand. They say it like it is, and you get honest feedback that may be difficult for your colleagues or peers to give you.

However, to take the step to ask others for help and assistance requires one to get of one’s high horse, roll up one’s sleeves, and get our hands dirty. Delegation is a key part of leadership, but sometimes you need to become a role model for others to push themselves further, by closing deals, making sales and boosting your team’s spirit from the ground up. The longer we keep our head buried in the sand, the closer the startup or business comes to shutting down.