Most summer mornings, you’ll find me outside in my garden before the Central Valley heat settles in.
I’ll have my coffee in one hand. Often the watering wand in the other catching a dry spot where the drip irrigation isn’t quite keeping up.
The garden is quiet at that hour. The tomatoes are stretching a little taller. The cucumber and butternut squash vines have found another place to climb. A few weeds have appeared overnight, and if I pull them now, they’ll never become tomorrow’s problem.
It’s rarely dramatic.
No overnight transformations. No instant harvest.
Just small moments of paying attention.
One morning, as I moved slowly between the raised beds with the smell of tomato vines clinging to my fingers, something struck me.
This little ritual wasn’t just teaching me about gardening.
It was teaching me about leadership.
The healthiest plants don’t happen because I panic once a month and dump extra water on them. They thrive because I keep showing up. I notice what’s changing. I make small adjustments before little problems become big ones.
And somewhere between the tomatoes and the basil, I realized …
My business needs the same kind of attention.
Not constant activity, but thoughtful leadership.
That realization changed the way I look at my calendar.
🌿 Welcome to the YOU, Inc. Series
This article is the first in a new leadership series for work-from-home entrepreneurs.
Over the coming weeks, we’ll explore practical ways to run your business like a CEO while leading the most important company you’ll ever build:
YOU, Inc.
Each article introduces one simple leadership practice you can begin using right away — because sustainable success starts with leading yourself first.
Together, we’ll keep returning to one simple question:
What would the CEO of YOU, Inc. choose?
✨ In This Article
If you constantly feel busy but rarely have time to think strategically, you’re not alone.
In this article, you’ll discover why a weekly CEO Meeting is one of the most valuable leadership habits a work-from-home entrepreneur can develop. You’ll also be introduced to the YOU, Inc. philosophy and learn practical questions that can help you move from reacting to leading.
The Meeting We Keep Cancelling
A few days later, I glanced at my calendar before starting work.
There were client appointments, projects, and a couple of personal errands.
And, also, there it was …
CEO Meeting.
For just a moment, I considered deleting it.
After all, nobody else was expecting me. No client would be inconvenienced. No one would send a follow-up email asking where I was. It was, after all, a meeting with myself.
As such, I could always “catch up later.”
But then I caught myself.
If I’d cancelled a client meeting simply because I felt busy, I would have thought twice. Actually, I probably wouldn’t have even considered it.
So why was I so willing to cancel the meeting with the one person responsible for leading my entire business?
That little moment stopped me in my tracks.
Because I suspect I’m not the only one.
If you’re a work-from-home entrepreneur, you’ve probably kept countless appointments with clients, customers, networking groups, doctors, hairdressers, family members, and friends.
Yet the meeting most likely to disappear from the calendar is the one you scheduled with yourself.
Not because you don’t value it. Because it doesn’t feel urgent.
Until one day you realize you’ve been so busy running your business that you haven’t actually been leading it.
Working in Your Business Isn’t the Same as Leading It
Most solo entrepreneurs wear every hat.
We’re the customer service department, the marketing department, the bookkeeper, the tech support team, the project manager, and occasionally the office maintenance crew when the dog decides to vomit next to the desk.
There’s always something that needs doing.
Emails. Invoices. Content. Laundry. Phone calls. The next item on the to-do list is always patiently waiting for its turn.
And all of those tasks matter.
But here’s the question I’ve been asking myself lately:
Who’s leading all that work?
It’s surprisingly easy to become Employee of the Month inside your own business. Every month.
You’re busy. Dedicated. Hardworking. Always crossing something else off the list.
But somewhere along the way, the CEO quietly left the room.
Not because she isn’t capable. Because nobody reserved time for her to think.
You Actually Lead Two Companies
This realization became the beginning of a new way of looking at my business.
Yes, I run a business.
But I also lead something else.
I call it YOU, Inc.
Your business is one company.
It serves clients, creates value, earns income, and fulfills your mission.
But there’s another company operating quietly behind the scenes. The one responsible for your energy. Your confidence. Your creativity. Your health. Your learning. Your relationships. Your boundaries. Your joy. Your future.
That’s YOU, Inc.
And here’s what I’ve come to believe:
Your business is only one of the companies you’re building.
The most important one is YOU, Inc. Because if YOU, Inc. isn’t healthy, rested, growing, and well-led, eventually your business feels it too.
“Your business is only one of the companies you’re building. The most important one is YOU, Inc.”
That’s why leadership isn’t just about deciding what your business needs.
It’s also about paying attention to what you need.
What Happens During a CEO Meeting?
People sometimes imagine that a CEO Meeting involves color-coded binders, complicated spreadsheets, or five-year strategic plans.
Mine usually looks much simpler than that.
It’s a quiet appointment with a notebook, a cup of coffee, and a few honest questions. Questions like:
- What’s working right now?
- What deserves my attention this week?
- What decision have I been avoiding?
- What opportunity am I noticing?
- What might Future Michele appreciate that Present Michele chooses today?
Sometimes I leave with pages of notes. Sometimes I leave with one important decision. And sometimes I simply leave feeling calmer because I’ve stopped reacting long enough to think.
That’s enough.
Leadership isn’t measured by how many pages you fill.
It’s measured by the quality of the decisions that follow.
Leadership Creates the To-Do List
For years, I thought leadership happened after I finished my work.
Once the inbox was empty. After the projects were done. Once everything else was under control.
But I’ve learned that’s backwards.
Leadership isn’t another item on your to-do list.
Leadership is what determines which items belong on your to-do list in the first place.
Employees ask, “What needs to get done today?”
CEOs ask, “What deserves my attention today?”
Those are very different questions.
One leads to reacting.
The other leads to leading.
Your Invitation This Week
This week, I’d love to invite you to schedule one recurring appointment.
Not with a client. Not with a networking group. And not even with your business.
With yourself.
Block out 30 to 60 minutes.
Give it a name. I suggest, “CEO Meeting.”
Protect it the same way you would protect your most important client appointment. Because, in many ways, it is.
It’s the meeting where you stop simply doing the work and begin leading the person doing the work.
And that person deserves your very best leadership.
Action Step
This week, schedule your first weekly CEO Meeting.
Download your CEO Meeting Agenda if you’re an Insider or VIP subscriber, or simply grab a notebook and begin with one question:
What would the CEO of YOU, Inc. choose?
You don’t have to answer every question today.
You don’t have to solve every problem this week.
Just show up for the meeting.
Just as healthy gardens are built one morning of tending at a time, thoughtful leadership is built one CEO Meeting at a time.
Reflection Questions
Before you move on to the next task today, take a minute to consider:
- Which meeting do I cancel most often — one with someone else or one with myself?
- What part of my business needs leadership instead of more hustle?
- If I held a CEO Meeting this week, what question would I most need to answer?
- What would the CEO of YOU, Inc. choose today?
🌿 Your Next Leadership Step
This month’s Mini Power Tool – the Tenacious WFH CEO Meeting Agenda – was created to help you turn today’s ideas into a weekly leadership practice.
Instead of another planner, it’s a practical leadership tool designed to help you step away from reacting and start making thoughtful CEO decisions each week.
It’s available exclusively for Tenacious WFH Entrepreneur Insider and VIP subscribers.
Instead of another planner, it’s a practical leadership tool designed to help you step away from reacting and start making thoughtful CEO decisions each week.
You’ll also unlock the complete Mini Power Tool library filled with printable worksheets, templates, and practical resources designed to help you build your business with greater clarity, confidence, connection, and sustainability.
Premium subscriptions start at just $5.83/month.
Upgrade your experience here:
Coach Michele Peterson Subscription Upgrades
or
The Tenacious WFH Entrepreneur on Substack
FAQs
Here are some frequently asked questions about Weekly CEO Meetings for WFH entrepreneurs …
A weekly CEO Meeting is a recurring appointment you schedule with yourself to step back from daily tasks, think strategically, and make thoughtful decisions about your business. It helps you move from reacting to leading.
Work-from-home entrepreneurs often spend most of their time serving clients, answering emails, creating content, and managing daily responsibilities. A CEO Meeting creates space to notice what deserves attention, make clearer decisions, and lead the business with intention.
A CEO Meeting can be 30 to 60 minutes. The goal is not to fill a certain amount of time. The goal is to create enough quiet space to reflect, think, and choose your next leadership priority.
Start with simple questions like: What’s working right now? What deserves my attention this week? What decision have I been avoiding? What opportunity am I noticing? What would the CEO of YOU, Inc. choose?
YOU, Inc. is the idea that you are leading more than your business. You are also leading the “company” responsible for your energy, confidence, creativity, health, boundaries, relationships, joy, and future.
Not exactly. Weekly planning usually focuses on tasks and schedules. A CEO Meeting focuses on leadership, reflection, decisions, and direction. It helps you decide what belongs on your to-do list before you start working through it.
Missing a CEO Meeting does not mean you failed. The goal is not perfection. The goal is returning to the appointment. Simply schedule the next meeting and come back to the table.