From pioneer to strategic leader
About how your role changes as your business grows.
As an entrepreneur, you want to grow. More sales. More employees. More impact. But what does that growth actually mean for you personally? Many entrepreneurs don’t think enough about that. Because growth means change. And that’s easier said than done.
9 out of 10 entrepreneurs are not managers
I regularly throw this statement on the table during conversations with DGAs. It often produces laughter or recognition, sometimes some resistance. But it is true. There is a big difference between doing business and managing. After all, managers are good at processes, structure and letting people grow. Sharing attention, giving attention, letting go. They can deal with people who have different opinions. Entrepreneurs are usually not cut out for that. They did not become entrepreneurs for that. Entrepreneurship is mainly about seeing opportunities, taking risks, thinking ahead.
Take, for example, a client of mine with about 25 employees. As a director-owner, he is a typical whirlwind entrepreneur. Not a manager at all. He brings everything to himself and interferes in everything. The result? Islets within the company. Unclear structure. Different measurements by which to measure. People not being developed.
If you have a business with 8 to about 50 employees, you will inevitably face the first stages of growth that require you as an entrepreneur to change your role. The question is not whether this will happen, but when – and how you can grow toward it step by step.
From do-gooder to leader, a gradual shift
In the start-up phase, you are the ultimate pioneer. You do everything yourself. Playing cowboy, no rules. You know exactly how to do everything and you know your business inside out. That works just fine … Until it doesn’t work anymore. Because at some point, you become the bottleneck. Then you get in the way of yourself and your business.
The biggest pitfall of all?
Thinking that you are the only one who can do it well. As you grow, you need to start delegating little by little. The trick is to gradually shift the balance by starting to let go of small things, tasks that you know others can also do well. Preferably even better than you.
Honestly, that’s really the bottom line: find people around you who add something to your business because they can do something better than you.
When it squeaks and creaks
There are 2 typical transition moments that I often encounter with my clients. First, with companies coming out of the pioneering phase and wanting to grow to about 25 employees. You then need more structure. A first layer of management and the first teams start to form. The second transition comes when you have between 25 and 50 employees. Then you really need to start building departments. Teams get more independence. And as an entrepreneur, you no longer hold all the strings then.
When do you know you’ve entered that next phase? When it starts squeaking and creaking. When there’s a drain on people. When your employee satisfaction drops. When your business is stagnant because everything is with that one person.
Who notices this first? Often the entrepreneur’s partner. She or he sees where the struggle is at home. An external consultant who dares to be constructively critical. Or a director/manager who has just been hired and, as an outsider, has a better idea of the overdue maintenance.
Only then does the realization sink in: this can’t go on like this.
– Reinout Janssens
Small steps to change
If you decide to let go more, you can start with one specific area that you know is not your strong suit. Maybe that’s administration, HR or marketing? Find someone who is better than you in that and give them space.
You will find that it can be confronting to see that others are doing certain things better than you. That’s normal. See it as an opportunity to grow and focus on what you do best.
Your identity as an entrepreneur changes gradually. You remain the driving force, but in a different way. Your attitude shifts from “I fix everything” to “I get everything fixed.” A subtle but important difference.
Letting go = guts + trust + step by step
Why is letting go so hard? It’s in that identity of “I’m going to fix that, I’m going to do that.” Self-conceit in a positive sense has gotten you where you are today. But that same self-conceit makes it hard to let go, to share.
I also often find that because of previous disappointments, entrepreneurs have trouble trusting. They have hired people who were disappointing. Therefore, trusting a new colleague can be difficult in the beginning and all the more so to give them freedom and space.
Start with clear frameworks. Give someone responsibility for a project or task, but agree on concrete check-in times. Evaluate together how things are going and give more and more space as trust grows. This is how you build a bridge as you walk across it.
You can also experiment with a hybrid model: for example, hire a deputy director who will be in your “slipstream” for a while at first. After 6 to 8 months, you can then let go more. Or start with an interim manager for one specific area before hiring a full director.
What it gives you and your company
If you take these steps, what will you get in return? Space. Space to do things you enjoy and excel at.
As an entrepreneur, you get more time for business, for the vision and strategy of the company. You can look at new products, at innovation, at acquisitions. Especially in technical companies, you see entrepreneurs getting back to what they once started for: the technology, the products.
A great quote I heard was, “I no longer work IN my company, I work ON my company.” Your role gradually changes from operational to more strategic. You remain the compass, but give others room to navigate.
Regaining freedom through greater autonomy
For your business, it also brings great benefits. It brings a breath of fresh air if all goes well. More modern management, more space for people, more autonomy, more responsibilities. Finally structure. More grip on things, future orientation, clout. A stronger foundation.
Not to mention, you become more attractive in the job market. Young talents want room for development. If it becomes known that at your company the director is pulling everything to himself, that talks itself around in the market. “I don’t know if you should work there, because that director still interferes with every detail.”
Are you the bottleneck?
Do you doubt that you are the bottleneck in your own business? It can be difficult to see this objectively. Below are five clear signals that indicate it’s time for change.
Be honest with yourself – do you recognize several points?
Checklist: 5 signs that you are becoming the bottleneck:
- Your workdays get longer and longer without accomplishing more
- Decisions cannot be made without your input
- Employees get stuck because they are waiting for your approval
- You are more concerned with firefighting than entrepreneurship
- Talented employees leave for other companies
Practical first steps you can take today
You don’t have to turn everything around all at once. Here are 4 concrete first steps you can take today:
- Do a time audit: For one week, keep track of what you spend time on. Which tasks cost you the most energy? Which ones give you energy? This will give insight into what you could delegate first.
- Identify one task to let go of: Choose one aspect of your work that you don’t necessarily have to do yourself. Maybe administration, HR, scheduling or customer service? Start there.
- Ask for feedback: Engage in conversation with a trusted employee or outside consultant. Ask honestly, “Where do you think I am the bottleneck in our company?” Listen without responding directly.
- Talk to an entrepreneur who has already taken this step: Nothing works as well as learning from someone who has already walked the path. Ask how they went about it and what small steps had the most impact.
What does this step require of you as an entrepreneur?
The gist is actually simple: you don’t have to do it all yourself. And you don’t have to change all at once, either. Step by step, you grow further in your role.
This requires conscious self-reflection: where are you really strong and where are you not? Dare to look at yourself honestly. It requires courage to not want to be the best in some areas, and to let others excel there.
Patience is also essential in this process. Building trust takes time – both your trust in others and their trust in the new role assignment. Don’t expect everything to go smoothly right away.
And most importantly: get that train moving. Because the danger is that you talk about it every time, but the train stays stationary in the meantime. Somewhere you have to make a start. Take a step. Take a step anyway.
Where are you right now? Are you still the all doer, while your company is actually already in a different phase? Or do you dare to change step by step so that your business can grow?
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