An internet search will produce a long list of links to articles describing how to set boundaries for the client/business owner relationship. Let’s go ahead and forget the “how” of it for just a moment and ask a more fundamental question – why set boundaries? What is a boundary?
A boundary is a line that defines two separate spaces. The boundary attempts to make clear to someone that, upon crossing it, the person is no longer in a space where things are good; that person has moved over into a space where it’s not so good. You can go over there to that space if you want, but there’s no protection or recourse out there like there is in here.
Think of a construction site where a skyscraper is being built. Certain safety precautions may become so routine that the danger the precaution was geared to prevent hasn’t happened in such a long time that people don’t know why the precaution is even in place. Someone thinks that the odds of something bad happening are so slim, taking a short cut is worth the time saved…until that terrible something happens that, in all likelihood, is irreversible. Or much more expensive to fix than the time it would have taken to do it right. We are unfortunately reminded the hard way that there’s a reason for the precaution.
Setting boundaries is a good idea. That’s why we should set them,both in business and in life. Understanding why we should set boundaries not only motivates us to do so, but also helps us to follow and enforce them.
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