Focused Structure

The Founder's Evolution culminates in Stage 7: The Visionary Founder. At this stage, the Visionary Founder's legacy is truly established. But at the end of the day, it's not about how skilled you are, how amazing your organization is, or how much you are worth. Instead, it's about something far more meaningful, something far more powerful.

Most Founders never make it to Stage 6 of their Founder's Evolution, and they never experience the joy and freedom of becoming a True Owner. They also never discover the most valuable asset a True Owner has because it certainly isn't cash (even though they have a whole lot of it).

In stage 5 of your evolution as a founder, you finally take on a title you've been using incorrectly for a long time: Chief Executive. This stage is tremendously rewarding as you lead through others and build an organization whose success will outlast you. However, some soul-searching and a few essential strategies are needed to get there.

Stage 4 of the Founder's Evolution is the single greatest shift in the entire journey. Your entire history as a founder and a leader up to this point has taught you the skill of winning the game on the field. Unfortunately, very little of that matters in Stage 4. In fact, the better you are at the earlier stages, the harder it will be for you to embrace this next phase in your journey.

We hit the ground running. It was September 2008 when we relaunched our business, and although much of the world was in the tumult of the financial crisis, we were on fire. The relaunch had gone stunningly well, even though we had inherited some severe problems from the previous owners. We had debt-ridden relationships with …

If you were to go out and ask any random startup entrepreneur how the new business is going, you would get a huge smile followed by a whole list of superlatives. “It’s wonderful.” “It’s amazing.” “I’m loving it.” Simultaneously you feel like all your life has prepared you for this moment, AND like you are way in over your head because you are. And despite the smile, you show everyone around you, inside, you are plagued by the question: What was I thinking? Did you make a mistake, or are you on your way to the success you’ve dreamt of?

The first stage of the Founder's Evolution happens before you become a Founder. Without this first stage, the journey never is. While it is existentially vital, the first stage is far from comfortable. In fact, it is marked by dissatisfaction. It is by definition uncomfortable. And it needs to be.

After enjoying the organic growth stage in your organization, you will come face to face with the reality that Ownership and Self-Accountability don't just happen at scale (that is, if you haven't already). Structuring an environment for Ownership and Self-Accountability to thrive may sound foreign and complicated. But it's not. Here's how to do it.

Before you can discover how to restore Ownership & Self-Accountability, you must first decide where you will restore it. There are two routes to Ownership & Self-Accountability, but they go in opposite directions. You need to make sure you pick the route that will get you where you want to go, but most of us try the opposite and fail.

What is the one thing you need to create, sustain, or return to the most successful period in your organization's history? Could it really be just one thing? It can, and it is. But it can be tricky, and it alludes even the best leaders.