So the single most important piece of leadership advice I'd give a business owner is this: embrace the volatility.

Volatility goes in two directions. There are good times and bad times, and from a leadership perspective, it should be embraced more than feared. That's where the possibilities open up, for you and for your team. The fallacy is thinking leadership means everything is smooth sailing. It doesn't, and it shouldn't.

You have to enjoy the game. Going in and assuming somebody is going to bail you out, or bail your team out, is completely false. At the end of the day, it stops with you. The success of you, your family, your team, and their families rides on your leadership. Looking at that as a negative can be dangerous. Looking at it as something you enjoy is what makes the difference.

That mindset is also what gets passed down to your team. If you treat volatility as the threat, they will too. If you treat it as the opening, they'll start looking for openings.

The way you build a business that can withstand volatility is to embrace it, and move fast.

– Stephan Shipe, Founder & CEO, Scholar Financial Advising; Faculty, Wake Forest Executive Education