Leading Entrepreneurship

Nothing can tank a viable high-growth business concept faster than an ego combined with self-delusion.

We have all met the type. Full of self-appreciation, heavy on self-promotional charm, light on content.

However, we can all agree that a certain amount of ego can actually drive a firm to great heights.

It has been my experience that ego driven by self-delusion requires luck to succeed. Luck can never be relied on. If you are employed by, answering to, or responsible for reining in an entrepreneurial leader whose ego is driven by self-delusion, you can be in a tough spot.

The easy answer is to simply walk away and wait for the fireworks. The difficult, but often correct, choice is to stick around.

A couple of measures that I have seen help rein in an out of control leader include:

• make them commit their long-term vision to paper
• force them to develop a 13-week cash flow (with your assistance)
• ask for an actionable development plan for each of their key reports

If they cannot, or will not, comply - you have little option left.

Other ideas for dealing with self-delusional egos?