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- December 19th, 2013
Most "Visionary" founders I know want to leave a legacy.
It's a fairly universal goal--in Walter Isaacson's hugely popular biography of Steve Jobs, practically the first words Jobs says to his biographer are to the effect that he wants to build a company that will outlive him.
It's a laudable goal, and even from a purely mercenary perspective, a good one--founders who build companies bigger than themselves typically end up with larger organizations, and in turn employ more people, than those who harbor no such ambition. The trick, of course, is in getting there.
I have no idea as to whether or not you will succeed in building a legacy. There are too many variables--the quality and endurance of your chosen product or service; your own skills; the support group you have around you. But I can tell within a few minutes whether or not a founder has at least started down the road to building a legacy, or if, instead, they're a bottleneck, preventing the very thing they profess to want.
Here's What You Need to Know
How so? It lies in the answer to this question: Do you still put your bear smear on everything?
Here's what I mean: Folklore has it that if a baby bear is touched by humans, the mother bear will reject the cub because it smells of the enemy, the cub will be left to fend for itself, and will almost certainly die of neglect. Visionary founders act in the opposite manner--they have a near-psychotic need to put their 'bear smear' on just about everything they see, in order to 'make it their own'.
Bring a Visionary founder the greatest solution to their biggest problem, and they'll tell you it's great--and then add a twist or a change that's entirely theirs. Bear smear. Come up with a fantastic idea for a new product or service, and they'll enthusiastically adopt it--with a vital difference that they came up with themselves. Bear smear. Emerge from the warehouse with a brilliant new inventory management plan that will save thousands and they'll eagerly implement it--after moving just a few things around to make it their own. Bear smear.
If you're bear smearing from time to time, but relatively rarely, fine--that's what your entrepreneurial experience is there for. But if you're bear smearing all the time, on everything (hint: ask your colleagues to read this then give you their opinion), then you're a barrier to your own company's growth.
Here's my simple tip: Allow yourself one bear smear a week. And use it wisely.
Want more tips on how to maximize your contributions while minimizing barriers to growth? Download a free chapter from the author's book, "The Synergist: How to Lead Your Team to Predictable Success" which provides a comprehensive model for developing yourself or others as an exceptional, world class leader.
Last updated: Dec 19, 2013
LES MCKEOWN is the President & CEO of Predictable Success, a leading adviser on accelerated business growth. He has started more than 40 companies and was the founding partner of an incubation consulting company. Les is the author of the bestseller Predictable Success: Getting Your Organization On the Growth Track - and Keeping It There. His latest book is The Synergist: How to Lead Your Team to Predictable Success.
@lesmckeown
@lesmckeown
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