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Is Your Business Suffering From Founder’s Syndrome?
If you expect to grow the business you founded, the person in charge must have the skills necessary to manage and lead people through change. Your vision, willingness to roll up your sleeves, work long hours and be involved in every aspect of your business was necessary to get your enterprise up and running. However, transforming a successful start-up into a sustainable, growing business requires someone at the helm who can effectively select and motivate people. To avoid unintentionally putting your company at risk, conduct a brief assessment by honestly answering these questions:
- Do you feel you have to sign off on every decision?
- Do employees hesitate to bring you negative feedback or share “bad news?”
- Does it seem that employees are reluctant to take action, even on behalf of a customer, without first checking with you?
- Are you hesitant to take a vacation because you are concerned that things could go wrong in your absence?
- Do your employees seem disengaged, tentative and unmotivated at work?
If you answered “yes” to just two of these questions, your company may be suffering from Founder’s Syndrome. It occurs when the founder is so close to day-to-day operations that s/he doesn’t recognize success. The founder, with the best of intentions, is trying to hold it all together by keeping a tight rein on things, yet this is exactly what will cause everything to rapidly unravel.
Founder’s Syndrome is easily treated if you are willing to take an honest look at your own strengths and play a role in the business that is a good fit for those strengths. A growth phase is the ideal time to bring in people with capabilities that complement yours.
Delegating is a skill that comes naturally to a few people, but most of us need some training and coaching in order to do it well. Many businesses fail just when it seems that growth and success are around the corner because the founder is unable to delegate important management tasks. By controlling every aspect of your business, you may unintentionally alienate capable, talented employees. Employees who feel they can’t make a move without your permission are unlikely to take personal responsibility for deadlines, will be unable to satisfy customer requests in a timely manner and ultimately may leave the company.
The person leading your company during growth should be able to:
- Recognize his/her own strengths, weaknesses and blind spots.
- Hire new employees who are a good fit for the company culture and who possess the competencies to succeed in their roles.
- Delegate effectively and encourage employees to take ownership of tasks, customer service and deadlines.
- Recognize employees’ unique talents and strengths and make appropriate job assignments.
- Communicate often and effectively.
- Motivate employees and recognize them for their contributions.
- Ask employees for feedback about the work environment and act on that feedback in a positive way.
- Encourage employee input, especially in regard to any proposed growth or change.
Do these attributes describe you? If they don’t, you have a choice: You can get some coaching to develop those skills or you can bring someone on board who has a talent for it. Before making the decision, ask yourself whether you really enjoy managing people. If you don’t, then hire a skilled manager. The investment will pay you back many times over and might just save your company.
We invite you to read more in the following, related, white paper: Founder's Syndrome: An Epidemic in Start-ups and Fast Growing Companies