Founder Guilt Part 1 - the Visionary Complex

Founders - do you ever feel guilty that you don’t do enough?

‘Visionary’ founders create huge value. Normally by being the chief innovators, fund-raisers, great salespeople, leaders of culture, or by creating PR.

‘Visionary’ founders however generally do not run their business in a ‘keep-the-trains-running on-time’ kind of way.

This is not a bad thing. They have come to realise, consciously or unconsciously, that there are people out there who are better at the ‘Integrator’ role in a business than they are.

Yet these owners often tell me they feel guilty 😲

Because they attend meetings but don’t run them. Or they don’t work as hard as some of their team. They don’t get involved in last-minute, weekend work to hit client deadlines. 

Or because  *horror* they love what they do.

Here are my three spoonfuls of Founder Guilt-relief:

• Sure, sometimes leading by example is good, but not every time. 
• Secondly, if you got involved in everything, you would smother and demotivate your team
• Lastly, loving what you do is essential to being a great leader. Because if you don’t love it, you eventually won’t want to do it at all.

If you want to learn more about the Visionary/Integrator roles and ways of working, read the first chapter of 'Rocket Fuel' (available through the link on this site) or get in touch.