If one of your family members was diagnosed with late onset Alzheimer’s disease a form of dementia have you thought about how you will run your business and managing the stress of a poorly loved one. As a CEO of a large  corporation  you are already used to making big decisions and having a team support and report to you.

Having a parent diagnosed with any form of memory loss can impact on your daily function and stress you to the hill when a clear head at work is absolutely vital.

So here are 3 tips for you to think about from my own personal experience as a daughter and as a business owner.

• 1.  As a CEO of your own company your business will only evolve if you learn to delegate and give others responsibility to which they are accountable to you for.

Your role as you are already aware is to manage them or stress manage them (or invest in someone who will) as and when by giving them the tools to do their job well and support you in your endeavour as you climb the ladder to success. The team you choose and the investment you make into them will be the deciding factor when it comes to their loyalty to you should you need to cope with a parent diagnosed with any form of dementia and continue to run your business at the same time.

We remain forever surprised and grateful to those who step up when we are in need of a kind word or support especially when an employee goes above and beyond your expectation of them when you are having a bad day or are called to the hospital at short notice due to a parents failing health. It is a no brainer- go to the hospital. It can feel really overwhelming when you notice who steps up rarely is it the person you expect!

• 2.  Trying to keep all the balls in the air channels your focus. You will be surprised as what you can achieve and just how much ground you can cover when the pressure is on, so make it count its an opportunity for you to now do your best work.

I learned that I do my best work in a crisis, something I did not know about myself until I was in the chaos of the crisis of trying to manage one parent who needed my help and who I would naturally want to help and the other who played for my attention because the other was receiving all the attention. That’s tough to manage considering the one – non dementia was more difficult to cope with than the one who had been diagnosed with late onset Alzheimer’s.

• 3.  Keep a journal especially if you have sought the intervention of social services in case you need to refer back to it later on, just like a journal of the last meeting you undertook with your staff.

If, you need more information then please email me