Why Founders Must Become Teachers to Build High-Performing Teams
“If you want to go fast, go alone. If you want to go far, go together.”
Founders aren’t always the most patient individuals in my experience. Their ambition and drive results in them wanting to achieve more and sooner. Whilst these traits serve them well most of the time it can have a negative impact on their teams if there is too big a gap between their ambitions and their teams capability & capacity to deliver.
This is the hub of the work we do with our clients. Ensuring there is alignment, transparency and vulnerability in place - our three guiding principles - to keep this gap as small as possible.
Companies succeed when the gap between ambitions, capability and capacity is minimal. Targets seem reachable and the pace feels sustainable. Companies start to flounder when the gap becomes too big in reality or too big in the view of the team. Targets seem unattainable and the pace feels too quick, for them.
If you feel you might be closer to the latter rather than the former here are some suggestions for you to consider.
Reframe: Do I need to slow down?
The optimum pace is subjective and generally as the founder you get to choose it. But sometimes you will be setting a pace others can’t keep up with for various reasons. When this occurs you have 2 options: you get frustrated and put pressure on them to speed up OR you slow down and work alongside them until they are comfortable to pick the pace up.
You know more than them
You have more lived experience then them
Your confidence level is higher than theirs
Recognise that in the interest of the bigger aspiration the best thing you can do right now is to transfer some of your knowledge and to share you lived experiences so that ‘the gap’ between you and them is closed.
You speeding up or staying too far ahead will just demoralise them and frustrate you
Rethink: What do I know that they don’t know yet?
You know more than you appreciate. They know less than you realise. So just focus a consistent amount of time each week on closing that gap.
One to one mentoring sessions
Group training sessions
Creating manuals and playbooks
One of the hats you inherited when you became a founder was that of a teacher. It may not be the role you feel best suited to and it can be one that can be supplemented by contracting coaches to support you, but you know your industry best and you know what good looks like, so this role comes with the title.
Refocus: How can I lighten their load?
Are they carrying too much weight and expectation right now? If someone is struggling to keep up (and you have chosen the right person) then just narrow the brief for a while and lessen their workload. Enable them to win in one area of their role, and this will invigorate them across their role.
Work alongside them so you get to naturally impart knowledge and at the same time they get to succeed with you.
Doing it for them is the last resort as this is disempowering and demotivating for them, so try to avoid this at all costs.
Open the dialogue…”what can I do to help you reach your targets right now?”
