Skill: alirezarezvani/cs-founder-coach (version 1.0.0)

--- name: "founder-coach" description: "Personal leadership development for founders and first-time CEOs. Covers founder archetype identification, delegation frameworks, energy management, CEO calendar audits, leadership style evolution, blind spot identification, imposter syndrome, founder mental health, and succession planning. Use when a founder feels like the bottleneck, struggles to delegate, is burning out, transitioning from IC to executive, managing a board, or when user mentions founder mode, CEO growth, leadership development, delegation, burnout, or imposter syndrome." license: MIT metadata: version: 1.0.0 author: Alireza Rezvani category: c-level domain: founder-development updated: 2026-03-05 frameworks: leadership-growth, founder-toolkit --- # Founder Development Coach Your company can only grow as fast as you do. This skill treats founder development as a strategic priority — not a personal indulgence. ## Keywords founder, CEO, founder mode, delegation, burnout, imposter syndrome, leadership growth, energy management, calendar audit, executive team, board management, succession planning, IC to manager, leadership style, founder trap, blind spots, personal OKRs, CEO reflection ## Core Truth The founder is always the constraint. Not intentionally — it's structural. You built the company. You know everything. Decisions flow through you. This works until it doesn't. At ~15 people, you hit the first ceiling: you can't be in every meeting and still think. At ~50 people, the second: your style starts creating culture problems. At ~150 people, the third: you need a real executive team or you become the reason the company can't scale. The earlier you address this, the better. --- ## 1. Founder Archetype Identification Most founders are primarily one archetype. Knowing yours predicts what you'll struggle with. | Archetype | Strength | Blind spot | What they need | |-----------|----------|------------|----------------| | **Builder** | Product, engineering, technical depth | Go-to-market, storytelling, people | A seller / GTM partner | | **Seller** | Revenue, relationships, vision communication | Operations, follow-through, process | An operator / COO | | **Operator** | Execution, process, reliability | Vision, product intuition, risk | A visionary / strategic co-founder | | **Visionary** | Strategy, narrative, pattern-recognition | Execution, details, grounding | An integrator / COO | **Self-assessment questions:** - What do you do when you have a free hour? - What do you procrastinate on most? - What do your co-founders or early team complain you don't do? - What's the best feedback you've received about your leadership? Most founders are Builder or Visionary. Most scaling problems happen because they don't hire their complementary type early enough. --- ## 2. Delegation Framework Founders fail to delegate for four reasons: 1. "Nobody does it as well as I do" (often true short-term, fatal long-term) 2. "It takes longer to explain than to do it" (true once; not true the 10th time) 3. "I lose control if I don't do it myself" (control is an illusion at scale) 4. "If it fails, it's my fault" (it's your fault if you never let anyone else try) ### The Skill × Will Matrix | | High Skill | Low Skill | |---|-----------|----------| | **High Will** | Delegate fully | Coach and develop | | **Low Will** | Motivate or reassign | Manage out or redesign role | **Rules:** - High skill + high will → Give the work and get out of the way - High will + low skill → Invest in them. They want to grow. - High skill + low will → Find out why. Fix the environment or accept the mismatch. - Low skill + low will → Don't delegate to them. Address the performance issue. ### The Delegation Ladder Not all delegation is equal. Build up gradually: 1. "Do exactly what I tell you" — not delegation, instruction 2. "Research this and report back" — information gathering 3. "Propose a solution and I'll decide" — thinking delegation 4. "Decide and tell me what you decided" — decision delegation with review 5. "Handle it completely — update me if it's outside these parameters" — full delegation Start at level 2–3. Move people up as trust is established. Most founders never get past level 3 with their team — that's the bottleneck. ### What to delegate first **Delegate first (high volume, low stakes):** - Recurring operational tasks you do the same way every time - Information gathering and synthesis - Meeting coordination and scheduling - Reports and updates you produce regularly **Delegate next (skill-buildable):** - Customer interactions (with clear principles) - Hiring screens (after you've trained judgment) - Partner relationship management - Budget management within parameters **Delegate last (strategic, irreversible):** - Major strategic pivots - Executive hires - Large financial commitments - M&A decisions --- ## 3. Energy Management Founders manage energy, not just time. Time is fixed. Energy is renewable — but only if you manage it. ### The Energy Audit Map your week by energy, not tasks. See `references/founder-toolkit.md` for the full template. **Categories:** - 🟢 **Energizing:** Activities that leave you sharper after doing them - 🟡 **Neutral:** Neither energizing nor draining - 🔴 **Draining:** Activities that leave you depleted **Common founder energy patterns:** - **Builders:** Energized by creating, drained by politics and process - **Sellers:** Energized by people and wins, drained by detail work and admin - **Operators:** Energized by solving, drained by ambiguity and indecision - **Visionaries:** Energized by strategy and ideas, drained by execution and repetition **The rule:** Maximize green. Eliminate or delegate red. Accept yellow as the price of leadership. ### Energy management practices **Protect deep work time.** 2–4 hours of uninterrupted thinking time, 3–5 days per week. Schedule it. Defend it. This is where strategy happens. **Batch shallow work.** Email, Slack, administrative tasks — twice a day maximum. **Single-task during recovery.** If you're depleted, don't try to do your best work. Do tasks that don't require your best. **Identify your peak window.** Most people have 4–6 peak hours per day. Schedule your hardest work in those windows. --- ## 4. CEO Calendar Audit The calendar is the most honest document in a founder's life. It shows what you actually prioritize, not what you say you prioritize. ### Running the audit Pull the last 4 weeks of calendar data. Categorize every meeting/block: | Category | Description | Target % | |----------|-------------|----------| | Strategy | Thinking, planning, direction-setting | 20–25% | | People | 1:1s, coaching, recruiting | 20–25% | | External | Customers, investors, partners | 20% | | Execution | Direct work, decisions | 15% | | Admin | Email, scheduling, overhead | < 15% | | Recovery | Exercise, meals, thinking | 10–15% | **Red flags in the audit:** - Admin > 20%: You're a coordinator, not a CEO. Fix your systems. - Execution > 30%: You're still an IC. Build the team. - People < 10%: Your team is running on empty. They need more of you. - No recovery blocks: You're running on adrenaline. It ends badly. - Strategy < 10%: You're running the company, not leading it. ### The CEO's primary job at each stage | Stage | CEO should spend most time on... | |-------|--------------------------------| | Seed | Product and customers. Directly. | | Series A | Hiring the executive team. Recruiting is your job. | | Series B | Culture, strategy, and external (investors/partners/customers) | | Series C+ | Vision, board, external narrative, executive development | If you're spending time on things from two stages ago, you haven't made the transition. --- ## 5. Leadership Style Evolution The job changes at every stage. Most founders don't change with it. **IC → Manager (0 to ~10 people):** You need to teach and build trust. People are watching how you treat failure. The skill: give clear context, set expectations, check in frequently. **Manager → Leader (~10 to ~50 people):** You can't manage everyone directly. You need people who manage people. The skill: hire managers you trust, let them manage. **Leader → Executive (~50 to ~200 people):** You're now setting culture and direction, not managing work. The skill: communicate obsessively, decide at the right altitude, develop your leadership team. **Executive → Institutional CEO (200+):** You're a symbol as much as a manager. The skill: build systems that work without you; focus on board, investors, and external narrative. **The hardest transition:** Manager → Leader. You have to stop doing things yourself and trust people you're still getting to know. --- ## 6. Blind Spot Identification Everyone has them. Founders more than most — because nobody in the early company had the authority or safety to tell you. ### Common founder blind spots - **Communication:** "I said it once, they should know" — you said it; they didn't hear it or didn't believe it - **Decision speed:** Moving so fast that teams can't orient or build on your direction - **Context hoarding:** Knowing what's happening without sharing it, then being frustrated that teams make bad decisions - **Optimism bias:** Consistently underestimating timelines, cost, and difficulty - **Founder exceptionalism:** Rules that apply to everyone don't apply to you - **Feedback avoidance:** Creating an environment where no one gives you honest feedback ### How to find your blind spots 1. **360 feedback (anonymous):** Once a year. Ask direct reports, peers, board members. Include "What does [name] do that gets in the way of our success?" 2. **Exit interview analysis:** What do departing employees consistently say? Find the pattern. 3. **Failure post-mortems:** What do your worst decisions have in common? What were you assuming that wasn't true? 4. **The energy audit:** Where do you consistently drain the people around you? --- ## 7. Imposter Syndrome Toolkit It doesn't go away. It evolves. The founder who was scared to pitch to investors is now scared to manage a board. The founder who was scared to hire is now scared to fire. **The reframe:** Imposter syndrome is proportional to stretch. If you never feel it, you're not growing. **Practical tools:** - **Evidence file:** Document wins, compliments, decisions that worked. Read it when the doubt hits. - **Normalize the feeling:** "I feel underprepared for this" ≠ "I am an imposter." Feeling and fact are different. - **Do the thing anyway.** Competence comes from doing, not from feeling ready. - **Name it:** Saying "I'm feeling imposter syndrome about this investor meeting" to a trusted person removes 50% of its power. --- ## 8. Founder Mental Health Burnout isn't weakness. It's a predictable outcome of high-demand + low-recovery + no control over inputs. ### Burnout signals Early: Irritability, difficulty sleeping, decisions feel harder than they should, loss of enthusiasm for the mission. Mid: Physical symptoms (headaches, illness), cynicism about the company, social withdrawal, all tasks feel equally important (priority paralysis). Late: Can't function, decisions have stopped, team notices before you do. **If you're in late burnout:** Stop performing. Get support. The company needs a functioning founder more than it needs a martyred one. ### Structural prevention - **Protect recovery time.** Not weekends — protected time during the week where you're not available. - **Therapy or coaching.** Not optional for founders. The job is isolating and the stakes are high. - **Peer group.** Other founders at similar stages. They're the only people who actually understand the job. - **Clear off-ramps.** Know what "enough for today" looks like. Don't let the work be infinite. --- ## 9. The Founder Mode Trap Paul Graham's "Founder Mode" essay made the case that great founders stay deeply involved in operations — skip middle management and go direct. It resonated because it's sometimes true. **When founder mode helps:** - Crisis recovery (company needs direct leadership) - Product-market fit search (speed matters more than org health) - High-value, irreversible decisions (you should be in the room) - Early stages when the team is small **When founder mode hurts:** - When it undermines managers you've hired (they can't lead if you override them) - When it's driven by distrust rather than strategy - When it prevents the team from developing judgment - When you're doing it because you miss doing, not because the company needs you to **The test:** Are you going deep because the situation requires it, or because you're uncomfortable with the loss of control? The first is leadership. The second is the trap. --- ## 10. Succession Planning Building a company that works without you is not disloyalty — it's the ultimate expression of leadership. **Succession is not just about exit.** It's about resilience. What happens if you're sick? On sabbatical? Acquired? **Succession readiness levels:** - Level 1: You've documented your key knowledge and processes - Level 2: At least one person can cover each of your key functions for 2 weeks - Level 3: Your leadership team can run the company for a quarter without you - Level 4: You've identified and developed your potential successor Most founders are at Level 0. Level 2 is a reasonable target. Level 3 is a strategic asset. --- ## Key Questions for Founder Development - "What decisions did you make last week that someone else could have made?" - "What are you still doing that you should have delegated 6 months ago?" - "When did you last get honest, critical feedback? From whom? What did it say?" - "What would need to be true for the company to run for a week without you?" - "What's draining your energy that you've accepted as unavoidable?" ## Detailed References - `references/leadership-growth.md` — Maxwell levels, situational leadership, founder-to-CEO transition - `references/founder-toolkit.md` — Weekly reflection, energy audit, delegation matrix, 1:1 templates

path: references/founder-toolkit.md
content: # Founder Toolkit

Practical tools for founder self-management and leadership development.

---

## 1. Weekly CEO Reflection Template

**15 minutes. Every Friday. No excuses.**

This is the most important meeting of the week. You with yourself.

```
DATE: _______________

## This Week

**1. What was my most important contribution this week?**
(Not the longest meeting or the hardest problem — the thing that will matter in 90 days.)

_______________________________________________

**2. Where did I add the least value? Why was I involved?**
(Be honest. Where were you in the room out of habit, not necessity?)

_______________________________________________

**3. What should I have delegated but didn't?**
(Name the specific task and the person you could have delegated it to.)

_______________________________________________

**4. What decision am I avoiding? Why?**
(Fear of being wrong? Not enough information? Conflict avoidance?)

_______________________________________________

**5. What would I do differently this week if I could do it over?**
(One thing. Make it specific.)

_______________________________________________

## Next Week

**My one most important outcome for next week:**
_______________________________________________

**What will I stop doing / not start / protect myself from?**
_______________________________________________
```

---

## 2. Energy Audit Template

Map your week by energy, not tasks. Do this for one full work week.

### Step 1: Time block mapping

For each 30-minute block in your week, record:
- What you did
- Energy level: 🟢 Energizing / 🟡 Neutral / 🔴 Draining

```
Monday:
08:00-08:30: __________________ [🟢/🟡/🔴]
08:30-09:00: __________________ [🟢/🟡/🔴]
09:00-09:30: __________________ [🟢/🟡/🔴]
... (continue through the day)
```

### Step 2: Pattern analysis

After one week, categorize activities:

| Activity type | Energy level | Total hours | % of week |
|--------------|-------------|-------------|-----------|
| Customer calls | | | |
| Investor meetings | | | |
| Team 1:1s | | | |
| Product decisions | | | |
| Strategy/planning | | | |
| Email/Slack | | | |
| Recruiting | | | |
| Financial review | | | |
| External talks/events | | | |
| Administrative tasks | | | |
| Deep work/building | | | |
| Recovery/breaks | | | |

### Step 3: Optimization plan

**Green activities to protect (min 40% of week):**
- _______________________________________________

**Red activities to eliminate or delegate (target: < 15% of week):**
- Activity: __________________ → Delegate to: __________________
- Activity: __________________ → Eliminate via: __________________

**Your personal energy peak hours:**
I do my best thinking: _______ to _______
Schedule this time as: Protected deep work (no meetings)

---

## 3. Delegation Matrix

For every task you regularly do, run it through this matrix.

### Assessment

| Task | Skill level needed | My will to keep it | Decision |
|------|-------------------|-------------------|----------|
| | High / Med / Low | High / Med / Low | Keep / Coach / Delegate / Kill |

### Delegation scoring

| My Skill | My Will | Decision |
|----------|---------|----------|
| High | High | Keep — this is your zone of genius |
| High | Low | Delegate — you can do it, but it drains you. Train someone. |
| Low | High | Develop — learn it or hire for it |
| Low | Low | Kill or outsource — why is this on your plate? |

### The 70% rule

If someone can do a task 70% as well as you, delegate it. Trying to get to 100% is a trap:
- Their 70% will grow to 90% with practice
- Your 30% extra effort costs more than the quality gap
- You free up time for things only you can do

---

## 4. 1:1 Template for Direct Reports

Weekly or biweekly. 30 minutes. Their agenda, not yours.

```
DATE: _______________
PERSON: _______________

## Their Section (first 20 min)

**What's on their mind? (open the meeting with this)**
(No agenda from you first — let them lead)

**What are they working on? Where are they stuck?**

**What do they need from me?**

**Anything they wanted to raise but haven't had the chance to?**

## Your Section (last 10 min)

**Context to share (strategy, changes, what they should know):**

**Direct feedback to give (if any):**
- Be specific: "In Tuesday's meeting, when you [did X], the impact was [Y]"
- Make it actionable: "Next time, I'd suggest [Z]"

**Career/growth check-in (monthly, not every meeting):**
- How are they feeling about their growth?
- What do they want to be doing more of?
- What are they interested in that they're not currently doing?

## Follow-ups

| Commitment | Owner | Due |
|------------|-------|-----|
| | | |
```

### Rules for effective 1:1s

- **Their agenda first.** If you dominate with your updates, they stop bringing theirs.
- **No status updates.** That's what tools are for. This time is for their thinking, blockers, and development.
- **Consistent time.** Rescheduled 1:1s signal that they're not a priority.
- **Take notes.** Review them before the next meeting. It signals that you listened.
- **Follow up on commitments.** If you say "I'll get you that answer by Thursday," get it by Thursday.

---

## 5. Personal OKRs for the Founder

Most founders hold their team accountable to goals but have none themselves. Fix that.

### Template: Quarterly Personal OKRs

```
Q[X] YYYY | FOUNDER OKRs

## My One Priority This Quarter
(The single most important thing I personally must accomplish)
_______________________________________________

## Objective 1: [Leadership Development]
What I'm trying to achieve: _______________________________________________

KR 1.1: [Measurable outcome by EoQ]
KR 1.2: [Measurable outcome by EoQ]
KR 1.3: [Measurable outcome by EoQ]

Progress check (mid-quarter): _______________________________________________

## Objective 2: [Delegation / Team Building]
What I'm trying to achieve: _______________________________________________

KR 2.1: [Measurable outcome by EoQ]
KR 2.2: [Measurable outcome by EoQ]

## Objective 3: [External Impact — Investors / Customers / Market]
What I'm trying to achieve: _______________________________________________

KR 3.1: [Measurable outcome by EoQ]
KR 3.2: [Measurable outcome by EoQ]

## The "Stop Doing" List (equally important)
Things I'm committing to stop doing this quarter:
- Stop: _______________________________________________
- Stop: _______________________________________________
- Stop: _______________________________________________
```

### Personal OKR examples

**Objective: Become a better coach, not just a decision-maker**
- KR: 90% of my direct reports can make their top 3 recurring decisions without me by EoQ
- KR: In 1:1 reviews, 80% of team rates me as "helps me think through problems" vs "tells me what to do"
- KR: Conduct quarterly 360 feedback session with all direct reports

**Objective: Build investor trust before I need it**
- KR: Monthly investor updates sent within 5 days of month-end, every month this quarter
- KR: 1:1 calls with each board member, once per quarter, outside of board meetings
- KR: Create and share 3-year financial model with board by EoQ

**Objective: Protect my energy and performance**
- KR: 3+ hours of protected deep work time per day, 4+ days per week
- KR: Complete weekly CEO reflection every Friday (track: 0/13 weeks → 13/13)
- KR: Zero email after 8pm, zero weekends unless explicit crisis

---

## 6. The "Stop Doing" List

The hardest list to make and the most valuable to keep.

Most founders have clear to-do lists. Few have stop-doing lists. The asymmetry is the problem.

### The stop-doing audit

**Things to stop doing immediately (decision you can make today):**
- Attending meetings you don't add value to
- Being the default person for decisions that should be made by others
- Redoing work that your team completed
- Checking email/Slack during deep work blocks
- Starting tasks you know you'll delegate partway through

**Things to stop doing by delegating (need to train someone):**
- _______________________________________________
- _______________________________________________
- _______________________________________________

**Things to stop doing by building systems:**
- Recurring manual tasks → automate
- Recurring decisions → write decision criteria so others can decide
- Recurring explanations → document once, reference always

### The decision filter

Before accepting new responsibilities, run through:
1. Does this require something only I can do?
2. Is this the highest and best use of my time?
3. If I say yes to this, what am I saying no to?

If the answers are no, no, and something important — say no.

---

## 7. Evidence File

For when imposter syndrome hits. Keep a running file of:

**Wins** (monthly minimum)
- Company milestones you led
- Decisions that worked out well
- Feedback you received that was genuinely positive

**Quotes** (capture as they happen)
- Direct quotes from team members, customers, investors about your impact
- Emails or messages that reflect trust or appreciation

**The hard calls that paid off**
- Decisions you were scared to make that turned out well
- Times you said no to something that would have hurt the company

**When to read it:** When you're doubting yourself before a board meeting, a hard conversation, a big pitch. The feeling isn't fact. The evidence file is.


path: references/leadership-growth.md
content: # Leadership Growth Reference

Frameworks for founder and executive leadership development.

---

## 1. The 5 Levels of Leadership (Maxwell)

John Maxwell's model describes leadership development as a ladder. Most founders start at Level 2–3 and need to reach Level 4–5 to scale effectively.

| Level | Name | People follow because... | What it looks like |
|-------|------|--------------------------|-------------------|
| 1 | Position | They have to (title/authority) | "Do this because I'm the CEO" |
| 2 | Permission | They want to (relationship) | People choose to work with you beyond the job requirement |
| 3 | Production | You produce results | Team rallies because you deliver; your track record gives credibility |
| 4 | People Development | You develop others | You're multiplying leaders; your success is measured by others' growth |
| 5 | Pinnacle | Who you are (reputation) | People follow because of what you've built and who you've become |

**Most founders are at Level 3.** They got here by building and shipping. The path to scaling is Level 4: developing other leaders.

**The Level 3 trap:** Production-focused founders attract doers, not leaders. They value results over growth. Their teams are effective but dependent. Every decision still goes through the founder.

**The Level 4 shift:** Measure your success by how well your team succeeds without you. Your job is to make the people around you better.

---

## 2. Situational Leadership Model

Ken Blanchard's model says effective leadership style shifts based on the person and the task — not the leader's preference.

Four styles based on the follower's development level:

| Development Level | Competence | Commitment | Leadership Style | What to do |
|------------------|------------|------------|-----------------|------------|
| D1 — Enthusiastic Beginner | Low | High | S1: Directing | High direction, low support. Tell them what to do. |
| D2 — Disillusioned Learner | Low/Med | Low | S2: Coaching | High direction + high support. Teach and encourage. |
| D3 — Capable but Cautious | Medium/High | Variable | S3: Supporting | Low direction, high support. Collaborate and encourage. |
| D4 — Self-Reliant Achiever | High | High | S4: Delegating | Low direction, low support. Get out of the way. |

**Common founder error:** Using the same leadership style with everyone. The founder who directs a D4 will frustrate them into leaving. The founder who delegates to a D1 will watch them fail.

**Diagnosis before deciding:**
Before determining your style, ask for each person + task:
- How much do they know about this specific task? (Not in general — this task.)
- How much do they want to do this specific task?

These answers may surprise you. A senior engineer may be D4 on architecture and D1 on customer calls.

---

## 3. The Founder → CEO Transition

The hardest leadership change most founders face, and nobody prepares them for it.

### What changes

**As a founder, you were judged on:**
- What you personally built
- How fast you moved
- Your own output

**As a CEO, you're judged on:**
- What your team produced
- How effectively you set direction
- The quality of the people around you

The skills that made you a great founder — doing, deciding, building — can actively work against you as a CEO.

### The transition phases

**Phase 1: Still doing (0–15 people)**
You're right to be deep in the work. Speed requires it. Your personal output matters.
Risk: Staying here too long.

**Phase 2: Building around you (15–50 people)**
You're hiring and starting to delegate. People do work you used to do.
Challenge: Learning to trust output that doesn't look like yours.
Failure mode: Hiring people and then redoing their work.

**Phase 3: Leading through leaders (50–150 people)**
You no longer know everything happening in the company. That's correct.
Challenge: Managing people who manage people — twice removed from the work.
Failure mode: Bypassing your managers to go direct (undermines them, creates chaos).

**Phase 4: Setting the container (150+ people)**
Your job is culture, strategy, and the senior leadership team. You're a CEO, not a senior contributor.
Challenge: Staying relevant and strategic without getting lost in the weeds.
Failure mode: Retreating to execution to feel productive.

### The emotional reality

Most founders describe the transition as:
- A loss of identity ("I used to know everything that was happening")
- A loss of control ("Decisions happen without me")
- A loss of clarity ("Was I more effective before?")

These are real losses, not just discomfort. Acknowledge them. Find identity in what the CEO role is, not what the founder role was.

---

## 4. Building Your Executive Team

### When to hire your first executive

Common question: "When do I need a VP/C-suite?"

**Trigger signs:**
- The function is failing and you can't fix it by working harder
- You can't attract or develop talent in that function because you lack the expertise
- The function is growing faster than you can lead it
- You're making bad decisions in that domain because you don't have deep knowledge

**Order of first executives:**
Most companies hire in this order, but the right order depends on your archetype and what's breaking:
1. First non-founder exec is usually Sales (VP Sales) or Engineering (VP Eng / CTO)
2. Then COO/Operations when coordination becomes the bottleneck
3. Then Finance (CFO) when fundraising or financial complexity demands it
4. Then People/HR when hiring velocity and culture require dedicated ownership

### How to onboard executives

**The 30-60-90 plan:**
- Day 1–30: Listen. Meet everyone. Learn the current state. No major decisions.
- Day 31–60: Diagnose. What's working, what isn't, what's missing. Share findings.
- Day 61–90: Act. Make changes. Start building systems. Establish their leadership presence.

**The trust-building sequence:**
Start with small, visible wins. Let them prove themselves in low-stakes situations before handing over high-stakes decisions.

**The founder's role during exec onboarding:**
- Provide context generously
- Introduce them with genuine authority ("This is the decision-maker for X — go to them, not me")
- Don't override their decisions publicly
- Give feedback privately, not in front of their team

**Failure mode:** Hiring a great executive and then making them feel like a senior employee. If you override every major decision, you don't have an executive — you have an expensive advisor.

---

## 5. Managing Your Board

### The fundamental tension

You work for the board. The board elected you. They can remove you. This is a governance reality, not a threat.

And: You lead the company. The board sets governance and approves major decisions, but they're not running the business day-to-day. You are.

**Healthy dynamic:** Board holds accountability; CEO holds authority. They're not adversarial — they're complementary.

### The founder mistake

Most founders either:
1. **Over-inform:** Share every detail, create noise, invite micro-management
2. **Under-inform:** Share only wins, board is surprised by problems, trust erodes

Neither works. The goal is strategic partnership.

### What the board actually needs

- **Monthly written update:** Financial performance vs plan, key metrics, top 3 issues + proposed solutions, forward-looking risks. 1–2 pages.
- **Quarterly board meeting:** Strategic discussion, not financial recap. They've read the update. Use the time for decisions and input.
- **Real-time alerts:** Big bad news before the meeting. Never let board members be surprised by negative news they should have known earlier.

### Managing board members individually

Invest in 1:1 relationships with each board member between meetings. Understand what they care about. Use their expertise.

Board members who feel informed and useful are your allies. Board members who feel blindsided or sidelined become difficult.

**The pre-meeting call:** Before every board meeting, call each member individually. Preview the agenda, surface concerns, align on decisions. The meeting itself should have no surprises.

### When the board challenges you

"The board doesn't trust my judgment" is often really: "I haven't given them enough information to trust my judgment."

Fix the transparency gap before assuming it's a political problem.

**When the board is actually wrong:** Make the case clearly, once, with data. If they override you on something important and you can't accept it, that's a signal about fit. Founders get removed. It happens. Build board relationships before you need them to trust you on a hard call.


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