Founder’s Syndrome: Is It Affecting Your Organization?

Our culture worships entrepreneurs, go-getters, self-starters, and hustlers. At some point, we even decided that being a disruptor was a good thing.

On one hand, it makes sense. These are the people who come up with new ideas, new technology, and new businesses. They're confident and charismatic. Making big decisions doesn't bother them; they seem to thrive in chaotic, high-pressure environments.

On the other hand, these very same individuals and qualities can pose a risk to the long-term health of your organization. How, you ask? In the form of FounFounder'sdrome.

Wait, what?

Most people would consider the characteristics we listed great for business. And they are, especially in the beginning.

Think about all the conditions present in start-ups: high levels of risk-taking, lots of unknowns, big decisions on short timelines, and small teams that have to move lightning-fast.

There is often one person in particular who IS the brand. Without that individual on the team, there would be no team. And this is where things can get tricky.

What is Founder's Syndrome?

Founder's Syndrome is a phenomenon that occurs when your awesome, inspired, fearless leader becomes more of a liability than an asset. (For our purposes here, we will refer to this person as the founder or leader, but it could be a President, CEO, Board member, or another powerful person within the organization.)

Your founder's affinity for making solo decisions, operating on the fly, and being inseparable from the core of the company may have been a huge asset at one point, but these traits aren't necessarily going to be helpful or sustainable as the company grows and changes over time.

Expanding organizations need to evolve in thoughtful ways. Gone are the days of one or two people making lightning-fast decisions over energy drinks. As organizations grow and develop, things like collaboration, process, planning, and consensus must come into play.

As passionate and motivated as your founder or CEO may be, no one person should be the heart, soul, and supreme leader of an organization. Think about that person were to suddenly disappear? It could very well be the end of the organization.

What happens if they stick around? An individual vision becomes the company vision. Alternative ideas are stifled, and the business becomes more about the charismatic leader than the organizational mission.

Have you ever worked on a group project where one person used their influence to hijack the original idea and take it in a different direction, ultimately making everyone but them unhappy and producing a sub-par result?

Founder's Syndrome is much the same but on an organization-wide level.

Warning signs of Founder's Syndrome

While Founder's Syndrome is more common in non-profit organizations, for-profit companies (especially small to mid-sized ones) can also easily suffer.

So, how can you tell if your organization has issues? Here are some common warning signs:

The organization is primarily associated with one key person
Strategy and planning are limited; infrastructure is weak or undefined
Decisions are often made in a vacuum and with a lack of collaboration and buy-in
Few systems and processes are in place or implemented; problems tend to repeat
Lack of communication
Irregular staff meetings that focus on task assignments, crisis management, and troop-rallying
Motivation is primarily through fear and guilt
Excessive micromanagement and squashing of new ideas
Capable employees feel unable to contribute
A leader is unwilling to ask for or accept help, and there is no succession plan.
Support people (advisors, staff, board members) are chosen primarily based on their loyalty to the leader.
Organizational focus is more on serving the leader than the mission

If any of these are ringing bells for you, you may be an organization suffering from leadership dysfunction. But if the fire alarms are shrieking, you could be experiencing the effects of Founder's Syndrome.

How to deal with Founder's Syndrome

The key to fixing Founder's Syndrome lies within the founder or leader. Will this person be able to recognize what's happening, accept their role in it, and be willing to make changes?

Not if everyone keeps pretending everything is fine.

The first and most important step to recovering from Founder's Syndrome is identifying it as an important issue and helping others do the same.

Yes, this may sound terrifying, especially if you're afraid of the founder. But one thing to remember is that your leader's passion for the organization is genuine and might serve you well here.

To recover from and deal with Founder's Syndrome:

Speak up. Be firm and direct but not mean or vindictive. Use concrete examples to illustrate Founder's Syndrome symptoms and point out ongoing issues that hold the organization back.
Offer support. Most founders play an integral role in organizational success and achieve great things. Acknowledge them for that, and recognize that they may need professional mentorship to help pinpoint problems and transition to a new leadership model.
Ask for help. Just as no one person should have too much power in an organization, no one person should be expected to solve challenging organizational problems. Seek outside experts as needed. Involve all key leaders and managers in the change process. Conduct staff and customer surveys to gather additional observations and feedback from all levels.
Get back to your mission. Remember why the company started. Revisit or redefine core company values. Remind everyone that achieving the vision is more important than any one person but that everyone in the organization is critical to making it happen.
Motivate through collaboration and collective buy-in. It's time to get the entire team back on track and working toward the same goals. It's also time to start taking advantage of your talented staff. Ask for ideas and get good at not immediately swatting them down.
Go from reactive to proactive. Once you've focused back on the mission, it's time to set goals, build infrastructure, and put processes in place. Then, start planning for the future. Strategic planning. Workforce planning. Succession planning. Sales processes. Customer service processes. Project management. Having these systems in place will create a sustainable, predictable, and less stressful model.
Monitor your progress. Determine your success indicators and monitor them religiously.
Embrace your new culture. If you've done things right, you might feel like you're working in a whole new company. In a very good way. Take those positive changes and make them part of your organizational DNA.

When it comes to Founder's Syndrome, discovering it and recovering from it can both be a bit tricky, but that doesn't mean it's a lost cause.

There are reasons why so many founders get so wrapped up in every detail of the businesses they run. They love them. They believe in them. And they want them to be successful. Tap into those desires and help make those dreams come true.

Download our Agency Annual Planning Guide, and step onto the path of getting the agency of your dreams.