A summary of the symptoms and challenges faced by individuals who are remarkably successful at starting up entrepreneurial businesses, but face a ceiling in growing beyond the start up phase.
requires: –Extreme drive, passion, ambition, willingness to suffer, roll up sleeves. –Ability to make decisions and stick to them, to motivate others to follow. –An ego large enough to push past failure and outright, ongoing criticism. –The ability to juggle many balls and multi-task. • When small business need to grow, change is required: –The decision-making needs of the organization change. –Mechanisms for sharing responsibility and authority are now required. 2 Thursday, 28 February, 13
birth to it, it is no longer your baby. –Once kids are born, they become their own persons. –We can guide, teach, nurture them -- but they’re individual entities. –As is “your” organization. It’s no longer yours. It belongs to the stakeholders as a group, each and every employee relies on their pay cheque, every client needs the services it provides. –After many years and much input, everyone is truly an owner. • Once you give a gift, it’s no longer yours. –You created this amazing ‘gift’ for the community/clients, it’s being used and depended upon by others. –It’s no longer yours. It’s theirs. That’s the definition of a gift. 3 Thursday, 28 February, 13
who is good at keeping the business going find it almost impossible to let go of control in order to grow! –When decision-making mechanisms don’t change, Founder’s Syndrome becomes an issue. –Even when the founder understands there’s an issue, they ‘talk the talk’ but cannot voluntarily do anything about their behaviour/tendencies. –Intervention by other stakeholders is usually required to enforce ‘the transition’ or continued decline inevitable. 4 Thursday, 28 February, 13
of all decision-making: –Decisions are made with little input from others, often quickly, all parties merely rubber stamp then become immutable/unchangeable. –Decisions are still made as if the founder is clutching his/her head at the kitchen table, desperately trying to hold things together. • They react to problems with the lament "if only I had more money!" • Organization often runs in permanent ‘crisis mode’, with little forward planning to prevent problems from occurring. Reactive, not proactive. –Founders may enthusiastically embrace planning, policies and procedures at first, but then abandon them claiming "they just bog me down". • They often believe they've found a new, better way to get things done. • Ideas that do NOT come from the founder don't go very far. –Organizations facing Founder’s Syndrome often have no delegation/ management support in place because the founder does everything solo. 5 Thursday, 28 February, 13
accounting) NEVER lead, they only nod along: –(If there even IS a team) they either ‘rubber stamp’, or get ignored. –They’re unable to answer basic questions without deferring to the founder: budget size, future planning, extent of programs. –They have little understanding of the work the founder actually does day to day. • Very little organizational infrastructure in place: –Everyone has an ‘equal’ vote (Zero! The founder has the only vote). –There is no succession plan. –If anything other than cosmetic change is suggested you’ll hear the words: “That’s not how we do it.” –Training of staff isn’t planned for or even considered, the founder fixes the staff’s errors solo (further proof of his/her critical role). 6 Thursday, 28 February, 13
over and over: –Plans are rarely implemented systematically (and never exactly as originally agreed to). –There are often cash flow issues. –Good staff members, especially the ones who could contribute at a managerial level, quickly come and go, or learn to stay quiet (“numb out”). –The organization struggles from one crisis to another. –No one really seems to know what's going on (the founder keeps all plans churning in their heads). –People become afraid of the founder (“Why suggest anything? Why try hard? He/she’s just going to change it.”) and often adopt their traits. –The founder is in every aspect of every project up to his/her neck. –When they delegate, they give everyone the same instruction/task, then do it themselves before their staff can act. 7 Thursday, 28 February, 13
–“Me”, “My office”, “I’ve been working to...”, “What I believe is needed...”, “In my business...”, “My people”, “The way I see moving forward...”, etc. –“If I don’t do everything nothing will get done properly!” and “I’m SO frustrated that this place can’t run without me!” –“I have to get into all the details! No one else is as smart/concerned about the organizing/cleanliness/supplies/banking/filing as I am!” 8 Thursday, 28 February, 13
out to damage their organization! –As the business begins to lose revenue, often the founder becomes increasingly anxious and defensive. –They soon resort to blaming supporters and staff. –Without ongoing coaching and support, it's likely that for the business to reverse its fortunes, the founder will have to be replaced, or even worse, the organization will fold. 9 Thursday, 28 February, 13
delegation, lots of ‘drilling down’ into tasks most profitably left to staff. • Founder regularly walks out of client meetings to ‘take care of something’ he/she has thought of that suddenly becomes top priority. • Founder will say “But I have to drop my real work to deal with this crisis! It takes precedence over my customers, their priorities, needs, or comfort!” 10 Thursday, 28 February, 13
is typical (“Who moved my cheese?!? Since the clean-up I can’t find anything!”) –“Collecting” (aka “hoarding”) is a common related symptom. • Founders tend to cover any available surface in their offices and home with piles and piles of ‘stuff’. • Throwing things away is painful for them, related to not making decisions and not moving things forward. –Angry at everyone else, founders NEVER accept blame. • “My staff are to blame! No one cares about this business except me! I have to fire her/him/them all!” 11 Thursday, 28 February, 13
mean (perceived or actual) loss of the feeling of control. –A change in the working environment – from the comfortable little group around a kitchen table to “newcomers messing with my baby.” –The inevitable change into “something I no longer recognize” -- something fundamentally different from what the founder is comfortable with. • “NO!” is the ultimate response if change is suggested. 12 Thursday, 28 February, 13
about important business issues (doing so means giving up both control and the feeling of having a lot on the go). –Get routine tasks completed (with their heads filled with so many unresolved issues, founders turn to easy, ‘fun’ tasks to distract them). –Founders are never home. “I’m sooooo busy!” is what their kids/spouses hear every night at 7, 8 and 9 pm. –Founders make up both ‘busy work’ and cannot resist adding work where it is unnecessary and cuts into profit and ‘re-charge-energy’ time. –To make up for being late for meetings/clients, they try to do more and end up even later for the next meeting/client. –They rarely stop to eat lunch. 13 Thursday, 28 February, 13
‘normal’ people. –They all share high drive and IQ, persevering and figuring their way through things that would exasperate others. • NO ONE likes to admit to their eccentricities, flaws or failings. • Founders all share one key psychological diagnosis that: 1. Gives them the energy to work 12 hours a day, 6-7 days a week and... 2. Keeps them working on more tasks than other humans can. • The energy comes from hyperactivity. • The ability to do a lot comes from an inability to focus on one thing for long, commonly called ‘attention deficit’. ALL founders suffer from ADHD. • There is help... –It comes from their biggest supporters, their team, their staff. 14 Thursday, 28 February, 13
realize they must change. –Many go on to develop their leadership style and take it to the next level. • First, they realize they must change from within: –Understand that the recurring problems are not their fault -- they're doing the best they can, their eccentricities are simply built-in/hard-wired. –To improve them must be willing to ask for and accept help. –Start to communicate often and honestly (this is sometimes difficult for crisis-driven, "heroic" leaders). –Engage in stress management, especially forms not related to their jobs. • Work stays in the office, NEVER take it home with you. –Demonstrate patience with themselves and their support teams. –Regularly take time to reflect and learn, particularly about their value in giving service to others. 15 Thursday, 28 February, 13
live it 24/7, ADHD controls you, not you it. –Like a junkie, you start shaking at the thought of not doing it any more. • The necessary steps: 1. Acknowledge there’s a problem: • Stand up and vocalize that, to truly serve the community for decades to come, the moment will come when you are no longer control. 2. Get help. (Especially important for founders who don’t believe they have Founder’s Syndrome, but have heard it whispered about them.) • For the good of those you serve, find a coach/mentor to help work out the personal aspects of your eventual separation from the organization (even if you are not going anywhere, but are just thinking about ensuring the organization is ready in the event you do). 3. Hire a truly independent thinking, experienced business manager and advisors. 16 Thursday, 28 February, 13
c0rp_mdm
raccoon_hd_hr
umzws
re9010matsubara
takusamar
onecareer
designlabo
mabhr
harukasan
pictoria
matsuritechnologies
chiemitaki
skipperchong
carmenintech
bcantrill
philhawksworth
kastner
addyosmani
gr2m
marcelosomers
mza
ufuk
bryan
danielanewman
