The typical scenario is – there’s you, the founder, the head and the heart of your startup, and then there’s the team you are frustrated with. Sounds familiar, right?
The founder is the mighty untouchable and irreplaceable. The team is a bunch of money hunters to be replaced by the other money hunters.
This is a very common yet very sad predicament.
Instead of blindly following the common, try to pause and reflect on your team’s issues. How do the current issues differ from the previous? Have the previous been resolved? In what manner? Can I (as a founder) be the unconscious booster of these issues? If so, what can I change?
There’s also one more great question that you might want to use and that I borrowed from the author & coach Jerry Colonna:
How am I complicit in creating the conditions I say I don’t want?
The question contains an assumption: you aren’t an innocent party at the biggest issues in your life, because in a certain way you let these issues happen.
If you are ready to accept that, then the next question is ‘Why?’ followed by ‘How do these behaviors serve me?’ followed by ‘What can I change from my side right now?’
Hence, your product development is not slow – it’s your expectations that are unrealistic or the way you ship that wasn’t aligned with your team. Your people will give you feedback on time if you set SMART goals and boundaries. The sense of urgency will be universal for all, if you, as a founder, communicate it to all your team members in ways they can understand.
Be assertive. Don’t hide from the team. Establish SMART boundaries. Choose your team members wisely, because you are as competent as your team is.