The Business Coronavirus: Avoiding Founder’s Syndrome

While you shouldn’t be alarmed by this post for no threat to your physical well being exists (that I know of), the future of your business could be at risk. Relax! There’s still time to act before filing bankruptcy is the topic you’re discussing with your accountants. The virus I’m talking about? Founder’s Syndrome.

To hell with the denotation of Founder’s Syndrome; it’s more important for us to get to the root cause so that you are empowered to cure this threat to business scalability & growth. To that end, we turn to psychology for a glimpse at a common flaw in us all -the narcissistic appendage.

A look at the parent/ child relationship through the lens of psychology reveals a potentially suffocating truth; parents too often see their child as an extension of themselves versus an individual. Guilty of this myself, it wasn’t until my 29 year old son asserted his individuality that I realized that (and apologized because) I still saw him as my little boy. Our relationship has since transformed into something truly friggin’ awesome as it’s now centered around mutual love and respect, with me being more of a mentor than an authoritarian.

Business founders, like parents, are often guilty of this also. They see the business as their “baby” versus an entity all it’s own for them to nurture, develop, and grow into something scalable with the potential to survive us all [think Ford or IBM]. In order to paradigm shift from seeing the business as an extension of ourselves we need a self-inflicted wake up call by checking our ego, and getting clear on what the greatest potential of the business is. This exercise is limited only by the depth & breadth of our imagination.

When we are clear on the greatest potential of the business we have built, that is when we can give it all we’ve got, AND humbly solicit the assistance of others who can give it what it requires to realize that potential. Remember, one who truly appreciates the beauty of the flower will not pluck it to put in their pocket but, they will water it to watch it blossom & grow.