Navigating Lonely Leadership - Reflections of a Sole Founder
Matt Wilden
Partnering with Founders to deliver their business scale-up ambitions, through NED Advisory and Business Consulting. Strategy Leadership Coaching / Organisational Design / Operational Excellence
Leaders often walk a solitary path, shouldering the weight of responsibility and decision-making. As a sole director in my business, I've come face-to-face with the reality of lonely leadership, and I’m sure many of you can relate?
This was not in the plan!
When you design how to build a ‘great’ business, being a sole founder is not something to stick on your business model canvas..
I am not here through choice but through the circumstance of a previous co-founder REALLY screwing me over but that is another story…
At times the struggle is sometimes VERY VERY real!
During the last 10yrs there have been moments in my journey where the silence of solitude felt deafening. The pressure to chart the course forward, make tough decisions, and innovate in line with my ambitions and can be overwhelming, especially without a team of peers to lean on for support and guidance.
Has it ever been too much?
Have I considered the periodic head-hunter calls, started to look at jobs on Linkedin, to daydream about someone else taking the pressure and me clocking off on a Friday..
Well YES
Those thoughts are in conflict with my entrepreneurial passion and vision, so we take a breath go for a long run or bike ride and we get refocused.
Gratitude for the education and support
Over the years we’ve had many great team members, associates and strategic partners that I’ve enjoyed working with and have learned a lot from.
At present, in our third reincarnation, or Rencai 3.0 as I like to call it, we’ve had some great additions to the team, with more to come and I’m excited to develop new solutions and realise our shared vision together.
There have been many times however where that support and partnership has not been there at a time when it would be most valued, on reflection this has certainly delayed our growth.
Lessons In Resilience
Through it all, I've learned the importance of resilience and reaching out for support when you need it most. Building a network of mentors and peers has been a game-changer for me, offering different perspectives, accountability checks, and a shoulder to lean on when times get tough and I’m struggling to make the big decisions needed.
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Our New Solution – To help you but I’m sure me also!
We’ve developed our – Leadership Impact Cohort solution - to help leaders who may be feeling their own sense of loneliness at this point in their journey.
This program is not only designed for solo founders like me. If that is you, however, join our next cohort as it will be great, and we can’t wait to learn from your hard-fought lessons.
This programme is also designed for co-founders and leaders who have internal peers but seek to explore new ways of doing things, explore new perspectives, and take time to reflect, so they can show up to be a more present and impactful member of their own leadership team.
Voice of the customer
The catalyst for the design of this development programme came from leaders feedback in our regular coaching sessions. When expressing challenge, stress or a sense of misalignment with their role the conversation had a strong engagement with areas such as:
Do any of these resonate with you at this time?
If the answer is yes joining the cohort journey with myself, Andy Hall , and a group of other like-minded leaders to form a new leader community could be the answer to the loneliness you are looking for!
You can review the solution overview via the link below.
Follow the link to register your interest, complete an onboarding call with one of the team, complete your GC Index, and join us for five interactive workshops where you support each other to define your purpose and plan for the future impact you wish to make personally, for your business, and the people you inspire!
We cannot wait to learn from you!
Driving positive change in recruitment and inclusion for Charities, Arts and HE outside London 💚 Committed to creating impactful recruitment campaigns, always with compassionate candidate experiences at their centre.
11moLove this ❤️ great read and I know many of my #charity sector founder connections will understand!
Navigating leadership's tightrope can indeed feel isolating. Aristotle once implied that companionship in ventures fuels the soul’s growth. Remember, evolution in leadership often blooms in solitude’s soil. Let’s turn these solitary walks into bridges for connection. 💡 #leadershipgrowth
Business Trends and Analysis with a Focus on Founders and Startups. 🇨🇦🇺🇸
11moLonely leadership is a tough reality for many of us. Whether you're a sole founder or part of a team, feeling disconnected or unheard can be overwhelming.
Financial Coach & Mentor. I help people with money.
11moHaving been the captain of my own ship, it can certainly be lonely at times. Even those closest back at home don't have the foggiest what you are talking about !!! My solution is to have 4 or 5 peers, we are all at similar stages of life and situation. We are able to talk freely and each of us understand what the others are going through. I have been fortunate enough to be a part of one of these peer to peer groups led by Andy and couldn't recommend highly enough.
Purpose, Executive and Leadership Coach | Faciltator | "The Mentors Mentor" | Speaker | Other Half | Dad | Friend | Future Athlete
11moThank Matt Wilden, for sharing this. So many leaders feel isolated and don't share or process their feelings for fear of judgment or appearing weak in others' eyes. We all need a space to speak and express our thoughts and concerns, whether with friends, peers, coaches, or mentors. We can't do everything alone.