Avoid The "Founder's Trap"
One
of the problems that can affect many small businesses is where the original
founder (owner) of the business isn’t prepared to “let go” of the way that
he/she has done things in the past. This
is known as the “Founder’s Trap” and may also apply to people who have worked
with the founder since the business originally started.
The results of the inability to delegate may
manifest themselves in:
Inability to Delegate:
The main reason that businesses fall into
the Founder’s Trap often lies in the founder’s inability to delegate. This usually stems from the founder’s sense
that only he/she knows the “right” way of doing things in “his” or “her”
business. It may also arise from a lack
of confidence that someone else’s approach can be just as valid and/or an
inability/lack of time to train.
Founders tend to forget that they too once made mistakes…
Lack of Trust:
Frequently related to inability to
delegate; the founder doesn’t trust staff to look after the company’s interests
(especially, perhaps, in the case of his/her children). He/she frequently overrides decisions without
consultation or explanation, resulting in demoralised staff who feel they
aren’t valued, respected or trusted.
Autocracy:
The founder insists on his/her way without
appreciating that he/she may have lost touch with changing customer attitudes
or market conditions. He/she may feel
threatened (as well as genuinely concerned) by the potentially detrimental
impact of any “new” approach. Customers become confused by the apparent lack of
staff ability to commit and either insist on speaking only to the founder
(preserving the latter’s autocratic approach and sense of “rightness”) or go
elsewhere.
Failure to Invest:
The founder fails to understand how the
business environment is changing and fails to invest or to invest sufficiently
in new premises, processes, technology or skills to drive the business
forward. Staff become frustrated,
customers start to leave.
Unhappy Staff/Low Staff Morale:
Staff may find themselves more in touch
with customer needs and/or expectations.
The problem is, the founder won’t let them try new approaches because
it’s not the way that he/she has done things so far. Staff start to criticise the founder behind
his/her back and may well start looking for other jobs.
Declining Business Levels:
As the owner/founder insists on “doing it
their way”, and the problems above become more apparent, customers, business (and
eventually staff) move to other suppliers who are seen as more “in touch” with
their needs.
How does a founder (and/or their
long-serving and trusted staff) avoid all the above when faced with new
(possibly) younger managers who have been hired in for their expertise but who
clearly “don’t understand the way we do things”? The first and foremost lesson is to learn to
delegate effectively. This means
knowing:
·
What to delegate;
·
To whom it should be delegated (not just the first person you see);
·
How it should be delegated (e.g.
framework, approach, any limits of authority or rules to follow);
·
How to trust others;
·
Allowing others to make small mistakes – they’ll never learn,
otherwise;
Essentially, they are accepting that a
different way of doing things may be just
as valid (if not better).
One of the reasons businesses struggle, if
not fail, after the founder leaves or passes away is that the latter has failed
to develop successors until it’s too late.
At this point, either the business fails, or it’s taken over by a new
owner who isn’t afraid of forcing change.
I have spent more than half my life delivering change in different world markets from the most developed to “emerging” economies. With more than 20 years in the world financial services industry running different service, operations and lending businesses, I started my own Performance Management Consultancy to offer solutions for improving performance, productivity and risk management. I work with individuals, small businesses, charities, quoted companies and academic institutions across the world. An international speaker, trainer, author and fund-raiser, I can be contacted by email . My website provides a full picture of my portfolio of services. For strategic questions that you should be asking yourself, follow me at @wkm610.
Labels: Crisis Management, Customer Care, Strategy
posted by William Martin @ 09:38
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