I recently heard about an issue that affects business owners called Founder’s Syndrome. I was curious and wanted to do a bit more research on the subject. According to author Carter McNamara of Authenticity Consulting, here are some of the characteristics of business owners with this syndrome:
- Are highly skeptical about planning, policies, and procedures. They claim “they’re overhead and just bog me down”. They often believe they’ve found a new way to get things done.
- Make reactive, crisis-driven decisions with little input from others. React to most problems with the lament “if only I had more money.”
- Hand-pick their Board members and staff. See these people as working for the founder as much as working for the organization’s mission.
- Attract Board members through founder’s dynamic, often charismatic personality — not through focus on organization’s mission.
- Count on whomever seems most loyal and accessible, and motivate by fear and guilt, often without realizing it.
- Hold occasional staff meetings to report crises and rally the troops.
- Have a very difficult time letting go of the strategies that worked to quickly grow the organization, despite evidence that the organization can no longer absorb this rapid growth without major changes.
If you’ve worked for a small company, chances are you may have run into someone that possesses some of these qualities. When a new idea/company/organization starts, many of the qualities that are required to make it successful such as everyone jumping in to help (despite title or role), making quick decisions, and being easily adaptable need to change. As the company grows it moves from people being able to yell over the cubicle to make a decision to a well-planned, proactive approach. This requires taking individual ideas and actions and building them into systems and strategies that will take the organization to the next level.
The good news is that as long as the founder is aware, there are steps that can be taken to get the company back on the right path. Here are a few ideas:
- Become self-aware. Everyone needs to realize that the founder has no desire to self-sabotage. If they are self-aware and willing to accept and ask for help and feedback, they can implement the changes they need to combat this syndrome.
- Know the mission and goals of the company and resist making quick and/or unsupported changes. They need to move from individually making decisions to a consensus-based organization.
- Develop infrastructure. Employees are no longer “jacks and jills of all trades”. People that are used to doing whatever the company needs at the time need to specialize and fulfill more specific roles and functions.
- Develop accountability/regular check-ins. Once infrastructure and systems are built, it must be regularly monitored to be sure the company is staying on track.
- Hire based on experience and fit rather than on the founder’s personal preference. When the organization grows, the founder should not be still doing all or most of the hiring or should at least have a team overseeing this function to be sure the right people are brought in for the right reasons.
- Develop a customer-focused approach. When you focus on the customer rather than internally, the perspective changes. Decisions can then be made that are outwardly focused to position the company to expect and exceed the needs of their customers rather than the founder.
- Motivate staff. The founder created an organization based on passion. Channel that passion towards motivating the staff. Have the founder promoting the goals of the organization so that employees’ jobs become not only about completing tasks but about the passion of the mission.
The key with Founder’s Syndrome is awareness. If the founder listens and accepts help, that will be the beginning of the catapult to the next level…which is exactly what will help them realize their original dream.