3 Ways to Burnout-Proof Your Founder Journey
After spending close to 15 years as an entrepreneur with five companies under my belt, I've come to see some patterns in the mindsets of myself and my fellow founders. One of those is that despite the odds telling us otherwise, we go in wide-eyed and hopeful that we will be able to take this seed of an idea and turn it into something real, lasting, and profitable.
Another is that we often ride the wave of our adrenaline-fueled fervor for the early stage of growth and development, perhaps noticing our founder friends around us who have hit walls because of exhaustion, but not slowing down to consider how that might catch up to us, too.
Whether you're building a lifestyle-led business or a high-growth, investor-backed one, pressures mount. Your livelihood (and perhaps the livelihoods of others if you have a team) is on the line. Add to that the unpredictable ups and downs of market conditions and economic forces you may or may not have been able to predict and it's a recipe for stress and anxiety.
According to Startup Snapshot's April 2023 report "The Untold Toll: The Impact of Stress on the Well-Being of Startup Founders and CEOs," 72 percent of founders report an impact on their mental health. That's a familiar story to executive coach Mandy Lehto, who helps high achievers avoid burnout. She says, "The pressure and perpetual sense of urgency that founders feel can lead them to self-destruct unless they recognize the red flags and put support structures in place to protect their mental well-being."
Here are three ways to burnout-proof your founder journey so you emerge with your sanity, as well as your business, intact.
1. Manage Your Stress Levels
Low-level anxiety is part and parcel of being a founder. As serial entrepreneur and ClearScore CEO Justin Basini said on the podcast How to Fail With Elizabeth Day, "Anxiety is the price you pay for responsibility." Anxiety means you care and it can be productive, but Lehto advises "watching out for those red flags that indicate that your nervous system has become dysregulated by chronic, unmanaged stress. The signs include sleep, skin and gut problems, irritability, and [feeling] overwhelmed."
Lehto advises building micro-moments of spaciousness into your schedule. She suggests: "Try to schedule small periods of quietness into each day, whether that means a 20-minute nature walk without your phone, meditation practice, or journaling with a pen and paper. Our 'hardaholic' culture of pushing ourselves to ever-increasing levels of productivity doesn't actually equate to success. Founders need to slow down in order to think creatively and strategically. The magic happens when you let your mind wander."
2. Don't Be a Lone Wolf
Apple CEO Tim Cook described his role as "sort of a lonely job," and U.K. research shows that founders are 5.5 times lonelier than the average person. Building a business can be an isolating endeavor and cracks will soon start to show if you bear all the weight of responsibility without the right support networks.
It's vital to place trust in your employees and learn how to delegate so that your startup feels like a team effort rather than a one-person mission. Lehto advises entrepreneurs to open up to others, especially if the business is going through a tough time. She says, "Don't suffer in silence if things aren't going to plan. Be honest about what's happening in the business, get support from a coach or therapist, and talk to peers, friends, and family. External perspectives bring a healthy dose of perspective."
Lehto goes on to say: "As a founder, it's easy to tie your whole identity to your business. However, if your entire self-esteem is linked to achievement, it can make any failures feel utterly devastating. Try to disassociate to some degree and see yourself as a separate entity from your company. Any setbacks (and there will be setbacks!) don't reflect you personally as an individual or mean that you've let people down."
Failure goes hand in hand with being a founder. Accept it, talk about it, learn from it, and try again with the benefits of wisdom and experience.
3. Lean Into Difficult Conversations
Founders often feel responsible for making everyone happy, from customers and investors to suppliers and employees.
If problems need to be addressed, difficult conversations can be one of the most stressful and draining tasks facing founders who are already maxed out with other responsibilities. Executive coach Kevin Rice helps entrepreneurs deal with underperformance conversations. He says, "One of the most prevalent issues for any founder is addressing poor performance. It can be especially difficult as they often manage leaders of functions where they themselves don't have expertise. That's why they've hired someone to do it, and in a startup, that person needs to do it well."
Rice's advice is to be respectful but truthful and always keep in mind the end goal of having that employee perform at a high level. He advises: "Take time to prepare for a difficult conversation. Stick to the facts, allow for their reaction, clear up any misunderstandings, and then focus on collaborating to create a positive path forward together. Don't let your own fears of being disliked or upsetting people get in the way. Honesty and openness pave the way for understanding and collaboration." He goes on to say, "The best thing you can do for the employee and for yourself is to avoid delaying this conversation so they can begin working on performing better."
Getting everything out on the table stops the pressure from building up. A healthy balance of communication and quiet moments of reflection are guiding principles when it comes to avoiding founder burnout.