The Gift and Curse of Being a Founder
Building your business probably feels like life or death. Because it feels like everything is at stake.
And that is BOTH the greatest curse and gift of being a founder.
Because when we build a business, we are driven by untameable inner forces:
Wealth, a life of our dreams, freedom, our reputation / image, or the feeling of meaningfully contributing to the world.
The curse lives in every business stagnation, setback, or obstacle, when we feel them as if WE are failures.
The curse also lives in every achievement or milestone, when we feel them as if WE are now finally validated.
The curse of being a founder means being motivated by AND living at the mercy of these wild swings.
But the gift lives in a commitment to the belief that we will be better off for having tried than not tried, even if it doesn’t go our way.
The gift lives in those moments when we slow down enough, if only for glimpses at a time, to see who we are becoming as a result of our pursuits.
And the gift is knowing whether or not we like, perhaps even love, that person apart from the business itself.
Because that’s the only thing that can break us free from the curse.
That’s why being a founder means that we are signing up not just for a business journey, but a deep personal one.
And until we recognize it as such, we are doomed to live or die at the mercy of our businesses.
Reflection Questions:
How do you experience the gift and curse of being a Founder?
Who do you feel like you’re becoming along the way?
Who can support you in your growth as both a leader and a human?