I had one of those déjà vu moments last week where I found myself in a constantly recurring set of conversations with the same theme. These tend to happen a lot (to me anyway) where I no sooner get off the phone with one person and another calls with the same issue.
In this one I had been chatting with a buddy who started a new job last year and is loving life. The company is doing well and he is happily a part of that success. He happens to be a talented sales exec who in his previous job had been through the classic start up dilemma where the founder just could not, no matter how much he tried and promised, ever turn sales over to the talented sales exec he had recruited to come help him. After two years of frustration when he got the call from a company offering him a new life he took it.
The next call a few hours later was from another friend, also a talented sales exec, who is suffering the same founders control dilemma. After being hired to kick the company up a notch my friend cannot make any headway due to the founder’s meddling, tinkering, procrastination, directional changes, criticism and about-faces. Coincidentally, my friend has just been contacted by an ex-colleague who now runs a company and is looking for a top-notch sales exec.
Hmmm….wonder how this will play out?
Few things slow down momentum more than constantly changing things without real merit or purpose. It’s called “rearranging the deck chairs”. Additionally, not allowing the expert people that you purposely go out and get to do what they know how to do (and you probably don’t) is wasting everyone’s time.
Most times this happens because a “leader” can’t stand for things to not be done exactly to their vision, style, font and color. They’re OK with change as long it was their idea.
If you’ve gone to the trouble to hire smart, experienced, diverse professionals to help make your company rock why would you constantly slow them down because they say “tow-MAY-toe” and you say “tow-MAH-toe”. It’s one of the toughest things entrepreneurs wrestle with since no one is ultimately as smart as they are.
Well Columbo, let me tell you something. Yes they are. In fact, in their area of expertise they’re smarter. Be careful or you’ll find yourself the monkey at the top of the tree looking down at all the smiling faces. Just remember what the monkeys below you see when they look up.
The books are full of failed companies who couldn’t grow past the founder’s reach. If it’s your company, you’d better pay attention. If you’re in one….you’d better pay attention.
In this one I had been chatting with a buddy who started a new job last year and is loving life. The company is doing well and he is happily a part of that success. He happens to be a talented sales exec who in his previous job had been through the classic start up dilemma where the founder just could not, no matter how much he tried and promised, ever turn sales over to the talented sales exec he had recruited to come help him. After two years of frustration when he got the call from a company offering him a new life he took it.
The next call a few hours later was from another friend, also a talented sales exec, who is suffering the same founders control dilemma. After being hired to kick the company up a notch my friend cannot make any headway due to the founder’s meddling, tinkering, procrastination, directional changes, criticism and about-faces. Coincidentally, my friend has just been contacted by an ex-colleague who now runs a company and is looking for a top-notch sales exec.
Hmmm….wonder how this will play out?
Few things slow down momentum more than constantly changing things without real merit or purpose. It’s called “rearranging the deck chairs”. Additionally, not allowing the expert people that you purposely go out and get to do what they know how to do (and you probably don’t) is wasting everyone’s time.
Most times this happens because a “leader” can’t stand for things to not be done exactly to their vision, style, font and color. They’re OK with change as long it was their idea.
If you’ve gone to the trouble to hire smart, experienced, diverse professionals to help make your company rock why would you constantly slow them down because they say “tow-MAY-toe” and you say “tow-MAH-toe”. It’s one of the toughest things entrepreneurs wrestle with since no one is ultimately as smart as they are.
Well Columbo, let me tell you something. Yes they are. In fact, in their area of expertise they’re smarter. Be careful or you’ll find yourself the monkey at the top of the tree looking down at all the smiling faces. Just remember what the monkeys below you see when they look up.
The books are full of failed companies who couldn’t grow past the founder’s reach. If it’s your company, you’d better pay attention. If you’re in one….you’d better pay attention.
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3 comments:
Greg, great advice. I've seen this play out a few times myself. When founders meddle it not only slows down the momentum but also kills morale and ends up costing lots of money (and sometimes the company).
If I were to pick one word that describes this 'founder's condition' I would use pride. When founders are humble enough to let the professionals they hired run their company, great things (usually) happen. -Michael
I can't for the life of me understand executives who "hang on to their babies" as long as they can. May every CxO who doesn't "get it" have a chance to read this from a former CxO, and not devalue talent, morale,experience and success for personal pride and short-sidednesss.
And again you give us a pearl of your wisdom. I believe it was Erma Bombeck who said that a child is like a kite - you love it and nurture it, but you must let it go to allow it to truly soar. That is indeed the same with businesses. It is too easy for founders to want to solve every perceived problem; to want to always jump in and "be the hero". But, as you so rightly put it, doing so leaves you with a kite that will never fly on its own.
So ends my cheesy mixed metaphor. Thanks for writing, and for reading.
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