According to Wikipedia, “Founder's syndrome (also founderitis) is the difficulty faced by organizations, and in particular young companies such as start-ups, where one or more founders maintain disproportionate power and influence following the effective initial establishment of the organization, leading to a wide range of problems. The syndrome occurs in both nonprofit and for-profit organizations or companies.”

The decision-making and behaviors of a founder can have either a draining or energizing effect on the rest of the team. While the challenge of teamwork is no easy obstacle, there are tools and techniques for improving team communication, workplace collaborations, and scaling effective leadership. When decisions, strategy, and vision all end with the founder, that's where bottlenecks can happen. 

I recently worked with a client who was a founder/CEO trying to get out of their own way. This leader was in the process of stepping back and supporting the executive team. He knew it needed to happen. He had realized the limitations of trying to lead everything himself. He’d been told by the board that he must step back. He'd been asked by the team to give them more trust. But that can be difficult. 

Fortunately, the team this person had surrounded himself with was highly skilled and had been in positions before (at other companies) where they’d seen the effects of Founder’s Syndrome.

In fact, some of them said, “It’s great that we're doing this work now because I've worked with CEOs before who couldn't do it.”

Those failed CEOs couldn’t admit the problem started with them. They couldn’t scale themselves. They couldn't even face the fact that this was a necessary and challenging part of the role. 

Step one is realizing that stopping the bad habit of doing everything yourself is central to your work as a founder, and an issue we all deal with as people. We're all trying to make the best decisions with the information we have.

But why is it so hard for founders with great teams to let go? 

When you’ve been the visionary trailblazer and are used to taking all the risks, responsibility, and rewards for yourself, trusting other people to lead can be hard. 

Guess what? They will step up and act if you communicate well and let them execute.

Trusting others to do things the way you would is hard. 

Guess what? They won’t. They will have their own way of leading and communicating in the workplace that will look nothing like yours. Focus on the “what” and the “why.” Let them focus on the “how.” 

Having faith that things will go in the right direction without evidence or having something demonstrated or modeled for you is difficult. 

Guess what? It may go differently than you planned. That’s what an innovative, growth mindset – and plans B and C – are for.

It's hard to fall backward off the stage and believe that the hands of your adoring crowd will appear and crowd-surf you to glory. The best you can do is surround yourself with people who are highly skilled and better at these things than you are. 

That's the name of the game in founder's syndrome – believe and communicate, then measure.

At an offsite with the Executive Team, I drew several pictures of musical instruments on the wall – a microphone, guitar, drum set, bass guitar, keyboard, saxophone, and turntable. 

I asked the group, “What instrument in the band are you playing?” and asked them to go stand next to it. Then, we had a conversation about what those instruments represent. Everyone had different reasons for playing the instruments they chose, but each one communicated in confidence and strength when explaining why they chose it.

I told the story about Herbie Hancock and Miles Davis. 

Herbie had joined Miles’ touring band in 1963. In late ‘63 or ‘64, they played a festival in Germany. Herbie was still new to the group. There was a lot at stake and he still felt he had something to prove. 

On stage, during one of Miles’ famously lyrical trumpet solos, Herbie played the wrong chord on the piano. 

Herbie winced. He placed his hands over his ears. He knew he had messed up and he froze. He thought for sure he had just destroyed the performance and was potentially getting fired from the band.

In the mere seconds that followed, Miles took a breath and played a series of notes on the trumpet that resolved the chord (or made the chord “correct”). 

Herbie was stunned. “What just happened?” he thought. It wasn’t until later that he realized the importance of that lesson. Miles wasn’t judging the chord Herbie played. In Miles’ mind, it wasn’t “wrong;” it was simply new information – a new event that required a choice to be made. 

In jazz, as in business, to succeed as leaders, we must be able to forget the idea of “failure” or “mistakes” and simply accept situations for what they are. We need to turn that poison into medicine and be able to add value no matter what. As executives and people we must lift each other up as we climb.

So then, it’s not just a matter of what instrument you’re playing in the band, but what notes you are playing. As a founder, what chords are your talented team members playing – and what notes can you add to resolve or stabilize the business?

As a leader, how do you treat yourself when you make mistakes? Do you have a hard time turning the poison of failure into the medicine of learning? 

Finally, in music as in life, it comes down to listening. The singer is listening to the bass player to stay in key. The bass player is listening to the drummer to keep the tempo. If we hear the sounds the other person is playing, we can respond in kind. If we aren’t listening to one another in the business (or in the marketplace), there will be chaos. 

Communication at work is a journey, not a destination. It’s a circuitous relationship that requires both active and reflective listening from moment to moment. 

If you're leading an organization today, ask yourself the following questions: 

• How are you team building with a great band of skilled players?
• How are you making them better (through practice and accountability) so that you can step out of the spotlight and let them lead?
• Where are you causing bottlenecks in communication at the workplace? 
• How are you becoming a better listener?
• What is the one thing you could do to turn the tension and uncertainty of the moment into something beautiful? 

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You can learn more about leadership by downloading the first three chapters of my Visionary Leadership book here.

Are your team members aligned with the company vision or does it seem as if everyone on the team is working towards different goals? 

Do you experience stable, long-term professional relationships with your employees? Or are you experiencing high rates of churn and staff turnover? 

Do you believe your strategy is understood and implemented across all departments? Or is there poor communication between different areas of the leadership team?
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Interpersonal skills in the workplace take time to develop. While the challenge of teamwork is no easy obstacle, there are tools and techniques for improving team communication, workplace collaborations, and implementing effective, company-wide strategies for growth. At Illustrious, some of the tools we reach for most are visual maps and metaphors.

I recently consulted with a client where I drew several pictures of musical instruments on the wall – a microphone, guitar, drum set, bass guitar, keyboard, saxophone, and turntable. 

I asked the group, “What instrument in the band are you playing?” and asked them to stand next to it.

What followed was a rich conversation about what those instruments represent, how those players have an impact on the business, and how this framework can improve your collaboration in the workplace.

The Microphone - Most people think of the lead singer as someone who wants to be in the spotlight. You like to hear yourself talk, and you love being on stage. You are a gifted storyteller and we can find you holding court in any sales pen, boardroom, or pitch session. Singers lead with their voices, not their hands. When their voice gets amplified, people respond.

Lead/Electric Guitar - You may not use your voice to lead, but you make this instrument (and all of the tools around you) sing. People may refer to you as a “whiz” or a “rock star.” When the tools of the business are in your hand, you are like Eddie Van Halen – wailing away, getting amazing results, and driving the audience (your clients) to their feet. You also take care of this instrument, making sure your data is clean, and that your tools and dashboards are finely tuned.

Keyboard - If you take the more classical, grand piano approach, the keyboard player can be seen as the organization's advocate for traditionalism and conservatism. You may study the Old Masters like Bach, Beethoven, Drucker, or Covey. Or you may resonate with the modern synthesizer and its ability to emulate and modulate new sounds. The synthesizer can mimic a piano, trumpet, or violin. It can also sample existing sounds or create soothing white noise – providing a sense of psychological safety for the business culture.

Bass Guitar - The low end, the big bottom, the vibrant pulse of the rhythm section. The bass guitar doesn’t play chords, it primarily plays one big, round, root note. It’s this note (not the sounds created by the guitar, keyboard, or drums) that the singer is listening for so that they can lock in and know they're singing in pitch. You might seem like the silent type or as if you’re operating in the background, but you can also be the “person behind the person” - a trusted expert or advisor.

Saxophone - Frank Zappa once said, “On a sax, you can play sleaze, on a bass you can play balls. But on a guitar, you can be truly obscene.” From the orchestra chair to the busker on the street corner, the saxophone works as a solo instrument because it’s gritty and compelling. You keep it real – it’s the only way you know how to do things. You connect with an audience and (from Talent Acquisition to Marketing) can draw people in with your passionate energy. And, if you don’t think Kenny G is sleazy, you should probably re-listen to Kenny G.

Drums - If the bass is the pulse, think of the drums as the heartbeat – providing the stability, framework, meter, rhythm, routine, and cadence for the group to follow. From meeting flow to finance, you may be someone who’s into consistency, systems, or operations. Music is a series of numbers that repeat and you have those numbers so deeply ingrained in your head that you’ve become unconsciously competent. 

Turntable - If you are looking around at all of the instruments and can’t decide on just one, or if you are thinking that all of these instruments are a thing of the past, it may be that you are a remix artist. The turntables, mixer, and sampler are for those who need to take something old and make it new. Like turning two vinyl records into an incendiary mashup, you may take old ways of thinking (see Drucker and Covey) and bring them into the modern age. You may long to chop up that old VHS training video and repurpose it for TikTok or YouTube. You are usually the innovator, dragging the business kicking and screaming into the future.

Interplay

In case you missed it, being in a band (and a business) requires lots of listening, responding, and effective team communication in every direction. 

Everybody's listening to the drummer to keep up with the tempo. The lead singer is listening to the bass player to stay on pitch. The bass player is listening to the drummer to create groove (a swinging energy) and pocket (room for other players to contribute). The guitar player is listening to the keyboard player to make sure they haven’t fallen out of tune. 

Communication at work is a journey, not a destination. It’s a circuitous relationship that requires both active and reflective listening from moment to moment. 

• Who are you getting your most important musical cues from in the business? 
• Who is your lead singer or bandleader? 
• Is there another role – like a promoter, publicist, sound engineer, or roadie that seems more appropriate for you?
• How does the instrument you’re playing relate to your vision and strategy for the organization?
• Are you reading from sheet music or improvising? Who wrote the music?
• Where are you struggling with communication skills in the workplace?
• Which notes or melodies are you adding in order to create something more compelling or beautiful?
• How are you playing against others to create drama or tension? 
• How are you playing in concert with others to create harmony and coherence in workplace collaborations?

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Learn more by downloading the first three chapters of my Visionary Leadership book here:
www.illustri.us/visionary-leadership.html