A person who built a company from scratch, overcoming difficulties, over time can himself become the main limitation to its growth. Mykhailo Zborovskyi Cosmobet (formerly the brand owner), an expert in the development of iGaming products, calls this phenomenon founder syndrome and claims that the danger here is not in the strong ego of the leader per se, but in the moment when he stops listening to advice and believes that his strategy is the only correct one.
Let's analyze Zborovsky's arguments about the nature of this syndrome, real cases of famous companies and practical steps that he offers to get out of the trap of excessive control.
What is founder syndrome
The term founder syndrome describes a situation when the owner or manager, who once overcame difficulties in order to build an organization, eventually becomes the biggest obstacle to its further growth. According to data published in the journal Problems and Perspectives in Management, founders who are not ready to delegate authority often limit the very processes that the business needs for development.
Mykhailo Zborovskyi emphasizes that the consequences of this syndrome go far beyond managerial inconvenience. These include a toxic corporate culture, increased staff turnover, and a gradual loss of trust within the team.
Psychological roots
According to Mykhailo Zborovskyi, the causes of founder syndrome lie not only in external circumstances, but primarily in the psychology of the leader himself. Most managers have a strong ego, and it is this that helps them overcome difficulties at the start that a less self-confident entrepreneur would be afraid of.
The problem arises not because of the ego itself, but because of the moment when it ceases to be a resource and becomes a filter that filters out any criticism.
This syndrome is most often found in leaders who are prone to an autocratic management style, and, according to Zborovsky, the founders themselves often do not even realize that there is something wrong with their management style.
Habits that betray founder syndrome
Zborovsky identifies several behavioral patterns that most often accompany founder syndrome. This is micromanagement of daily operations even when tasks have already been officially delegated to qualified employees, as well as the habit of presenting one’s own opinion as the only correct one, ignoring other arguments and not accepting criticism.
This also includes the constant desire to personally control projects even when there is a much more competent person on the team for a particular job. Each of these patterns individually may seem like a trifle, but in aggregate they gradually turn the leader’s management style into a structural constraint for the entire organization.
When autocracy saves a business, and when it destroys it
An important nuance of Mykhailo Zborovskyi argument is the recognition that these same traits are not always harmful. At certain stages of a company's development, excessive organization, responsibility, and persistence of a leader with signs of founder syndrome really help a business grow and achieve its first successes.
An autocratic leadership style can even save a business during a crisis when someone needs to quickly take responsibility. The problem arises not in the style itself, but in the leader's inability to abandon it in time when the company enters the scaling phase.
The first alarm bells
Mykhailo Zborovskyi describes a typical sequence of symptoms by which you can recognize founder syndrome before it causes serious damage to the business. The first signal is the slowing down of the company's development due to the leader's reluctance to delegate responsibilities and resistance to any changes in processes.
Then the team gradually stops taking the initiative, knowing that the leader will do everything his way anyway. Meanwhile, the leader himself begins to believe that nothing works without his personal participation, and instead of focusing on strategy, he constantly “puts out fires” himself.
Six steps to letting go of the wheel
The expert offers a specific action plan for leaders who have recognized their own management style in the description.
- Change the criterion of their own effectiveness;
- Refuse the role of a single decision-making center;
- Transfer control from people to processes;
- Focus on medium- and long-term strategy;
- Learn to accept other people’s mistakes;
- Invest in the development of managers.
“If you don’t trust anyone, why did you hire these people?” asks Mykhailo Zborovskyi.
Conclusion
Mykhailo Zborovskyi main argument can be formulated as follows. The qualities that help a founder build a business from scratch are determination, confidence, and a willingness to take responsibility, the very qualities that can later become the biggest obstacle to his growth.
The difference between a successful and a toxic leader, he argues, is not a strong ego, but a willingness to hand over some control to the system and to people you trust.
