Sustainability. It's something that everyone wants for their business. But where does the word come from.

In this free-form episode, I talk about just that! I also explore two concepts I'm playing with...

The Manager & The Talent and how they influence sustainability.

A Note On Transcriptions - In the interest of simplicity, I'm using Descript* to make podcast publishing as easy as possible. This means that sometimes the transcript won't match what I'm saying, and sometimes it'll be hilariously different (tag me on Twitter telling me the funniest transcription you've found).

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Simplicity create sustainability, but what does it mean

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to actually have a sustainable business?

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That was a question that I had as I was talking to a client recently.

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They weren't struggling with the managerial part of running a business and.

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Quite frankly, most creatives myself included.

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Also struggle with the same thing.

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And as I was going through and having the conversation with my client, they were

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talking about how there's been a number of issues that have come up for them,

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where the team haven't worked in a way.

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And she feels like that there's something wrong.

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And they haven't done something right!

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And it's their fault.

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And the whole point is to create safety in the business.

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One of the things that so many business owners are looking for,

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and myself included is safety, security, and sustainability.

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Earning enough money to keep the business going and keep things moving.

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Now, unfortunately, a lot of entrepreneurship.

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Isn't exactly the most safest it's far safer just to get a normal job.

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However, we're in it for the long haul.

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So I wanted to look at sustainability again or to sustain.

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And of course, as always the atomology boogies coming straight up here.

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And what it says is that sustained comes from the 13 hundreds

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from the stern of old French.

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And it means to give support to.

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Going from the early 14 century, it moves into endure without failing or yielding.

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And that's fascinating to me.

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It doesn't talk about sustaining or sustainability as a

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thing that is only positive.

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It is being able to hold up.

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Too bad to endure without falling.

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Meaning things can go wrong, but you'll still be able to move forward.

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And I find that a little bit fascinating when it comes to finding

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sustainability in your business systems is one of those things that

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really support and can help with that.

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But also having a manager's mindset whilst also being the creative.

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I was also having that moment of talent.

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Recently, I have been struggling in my own business, managing the talent

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side, the bit where my creative flow and the excitement and all of the

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things that show up when I'm talking directly to clients and actually

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helping them solve their problems.

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The verse simplicity specialist, part of me and the manager who helps

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keep the team up and running and helps me to sustain my business.

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The manager's role is to help, to sustain, to create the safety.

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And that manager is me.

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But being a manager is not very easy.

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It's annoying and frustrating.

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Another way of thinking about the manager is something that rod reads calls 10 K.

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Task management around things that are not the most fun and 10 K work is like.

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The big stuff, the stuff that doesn't really.

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Give you that which feels so good.

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The manager is working on things that are long term.

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There is no instant punch of dopamine when you do it.

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This is including things like creating systems in your business.

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This includes things like writing SOP is training team members, and all of

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it is boring especially for the talent.

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Especially for the talent.

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But for the manager, they always create the biggest long term.

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Sustainability.

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Because just the state is to be able to enjoy things.

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If you have team members who end up passing on their work to someone else,

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if you don't have the systems in place and you don't know what everyone needs

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to be doing, it's not sustainable.

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It's all in your head.

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And if it stays in your head, then no one, but you can do it.

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So the talent can't do that job because they're always thinking about

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the management that always being the manager, because they always have

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to move pieces around for others.

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Instead of allowing the talent or the skilled person or

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whatever you want to call it.

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Talent is a word I don't exactly like, but the person who is

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performing and creating and.

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Really loving it.

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I can actually come to life more instead of allowing the creator, the creative

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or the talent to manage everything, get the manager, to manage things, get

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them, to create the options, get them to do the sustainable work, whether

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it be sending an email when you're away for a week going okay, here are

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the pieces that you've got to do.

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Here's where everything is and having that brain dump how people

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overcomplicate standard operating procedures, people over Compli.

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Complicate systems.

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It's so easy to get in the strategic mind of how to do this in the most

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efficient way, the most efficient ways to get it out of your head.

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Start by getting the things that you do out of your head.

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We often keep it stuck in our head and when it's in our head, the talent

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and the manager are fighting for.

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Control our fighting to do the work and know the one of them likes the

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other one and it becomes difficult.

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Whereas if the manager just managers and the talent just does all the beautiful,

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sexy stuff that you want to do, the stuff that lights you up as a business

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owner, it allows you to really create something that lasts so much longer.

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It creates something that is sustainable.

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So I've been talking about the manager and the talent.

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What do I mean by those things?

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So a manager is the person who does the management is the.

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CEO is the person who's at the top.

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Now you can, of course outsource this to an actual fractional CEO or someone

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who does the project management.

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If that is something that you want to do.

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Absolutely do that.

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But if you are at a point in your business where that is not sustainable and possible

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for you to hire that out, Then you have to do that, whether you like it or not.

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But that doesn't mean it has to be hard.

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Now I will say now, if you let the talent do it, then yes, it

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will be hard and you will not be able to achieve sustainability.

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So if we start with the manager, the manager's responsibility

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is to manage things.

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It is to think beyond the next couple of weeks or the next client it's to see

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all of the moving pieces of the business and see where we're going in the future.

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The manager is the one who really does work on the $10,000 an hour work.

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It's the one who starts creating the systems and recruiting

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and training and all of the.

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Part like everything, all of the big stuff that is, that takes ages to get something

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out, the manager does not need the big delicious dopamine hits at the talent.

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Does.

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We all love a bit of dopamine.

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We all love that.

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And it was.

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Yummy.

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It was delicious, but it sucks.

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And it's boring.

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If you are the talent.

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It is boring.

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If you are the talent.

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What you have as a manager is you're the one who keeps the thing going.

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It keeps things sustainable.

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It's sustains you, it sustains your business and allows you to

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work in integrity with yourself.

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Because.

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The talent.

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Is a little bit nuts and is a little bit crazy.

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And it's highly emotional.

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At least my talent is, I don't know whether yours is

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the same, but often it is.

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So it's the tongue.

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The talent is the reason you got into business.

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The stuff that is your life's work, the stuff that lights you up.

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Whenever you see that it's the teacher, the one who comes to your clients

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and goes, Hey, have you noticed this?

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And the bit that makes them, let them go.

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Oh, that's cool.

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Oh, I like that.

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Oh my God.

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You've made my life better.

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It's the coach.

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That's the talent.

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I hate the word talent.

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Because I have a whole thing about what talent is, but for

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me, it's the best explanation.

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The talent is the coach.

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It's the one who makes the.

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Things change.

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It's the exciting stuff that you love to do.

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If you're a coach, it's when you're coaching where your client and

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why they keep coming back to you.

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If you're a consultant, it's the way you tell people what to do and

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they get the results that they need.

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If you are the simplicity specialist, which are not.

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Cause that's me.

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It's the one who can bring all of the pieces of you together and create

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something pretty magical for your clients.

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That is what the talent is.

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Whereas the manager is the one who helps to keep the talent

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going in a direction that fits.

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Sometimes what's really hard is when the talent takes over your brain

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is scattered everywhere and you're trying to do everything and all of the

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things all of the time, all at once.

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And that makes it far harder to create a business that is sustainable.

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That does not mean need one offer to clarify, because one offer

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may not be sustainable for the talent because the talent needs

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something as well as the manager.

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The talent needs to explore and play, but there has to be some limitations,

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some boundaries, some constraints that helps the talent to stay focused.

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Otherwise it moves everywhere.

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One of the big things that I have struggled with in the past of my

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business is when the talent is running the business, because in that towns is

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running the business, it's throwing out.

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Too many offers that are really confusing for your people.

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This is where niching is often thought about a niche is one way

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of putting clear constraints.

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Into the talents way to help direct it into action and moving forward it

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helps to create a clearer context that your potential clients and customers

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can see and what you can see and allows you to direct the talent in a way that

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keeps the business sustainable that is the manager's responsibility and role