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Building Startup Teams: The Challenge for Entrepreneurs

May 12, 2023
Building Startup Teams: The Challenge for Entrepreneurs

The Building Startup Teams: The Challenge for Entrepreneurs


Leadership is not a solo performance, but a partnership between leaders and their followers. No matter how visionary, charismatic, or competent a leader is, he or she will not get very far without followers willing to work hard and enthusiastically to implement the vision and create a great, even world-changing organization. The most important way this works in today’s world, in business as well as in almost every public sphere, is through teams. 


Why Teams Are Important


  • According to an internal Google study (Project Aristotle), “The team is the molecular unit where real production happens, where innovative ideas are conceived and tested, and where employees experience most of their work.” 
  • Skill in forming and leading teams is essential in leading any organization. It demands all of the competencies of an effective leader. 
  • Teams are more than just a group of individual contributors working together. Teams utilize the experience, background, and expertise of a diverse group of people, each bringing his or her own contribution to the table.
  • Individuals possess varied talents and skills, different strengths and weaknesses. What one person can’t do well, somebody else may excel at. Bringing them together on a team helps to augment the skills and negate the weaknesses – as the saying goes, “the whole is greater than the sum of the parts,” or as leadership guru Ken Blanchard said, “None of us is as smart as all of us”.
  • Teams serve the leader’s decision-making process by putting forward multiple points of view, helping to avoid bias based on narrow or limited vision.
  • Effective teams have a shared purpose, interdependency, and skill in communicating and working together. This creates a shared identity and spirit of cooperation and collaboration that allows the team to work more effectively together.
  • One of the benefits of teamwork is that it divides up the tasks to be done and increases the chance of success. On a very basic level, a team divides up the tasks and responsibilities needed to get something accomplished, whether short-term problem-solving or a large-scale, long-term project. Most projects today are too complex for one individual to handle. If the workload is shared intelligently, allocating tasks according to people’s strengths, the work gets done more efficiently and effectively. That translates to higher productivity.
  • Working collaboratively in a group people can give and receive feedback and support to each other. 
    Collaboration can help solve difficult problems. Brainstorming in a team based in trust provides a perfect opportunity to surface ideas and bring up creative ways of doing things.
  • Teams unify the energy and intelligence of individuals behind a common goal.


The Critical Importance of Teamwork for Startups


Teamwork is important for any organization, but it is especially critical for a startup. Our research shows that as companies scale, different elements of leadership differentiate great leaders from the rest of the pack. Looking at all companies – small, medium and large – as one group, the qualities and behaviors of the Inspirational Role Model form the most important differentiator characterizing great leaders. However, for early stage companies Facilitating Teamwork stands out as the key to great leadership. 


Why is this the case? In a small, scaling company the leader is often involved in everything. If this continues, the leader ends up creating a self-limiting organization that is too leader centric. He or she is involved in the details of too many things, tries to control too many decisions, and becomes a bottleneck. Such a leader has not figured out how to gain leverage by working through others. Micromanagement could become an issue. This style can dramatically impede the organization’s ability to scale.


Those leaders who learn to work through others by building high-performing teams stand out. They have learned to share leadership with strong function heads who balance their weaknesses and bring domain expertise to important decisions. They have learned that the best decisions often emerge from intense and productive dialogue that utilizes the perspectives and information provided by a diverse team of empowered experts who balance any biases the leader might have. 


This type of leader gets the most out of the team by utilizing a motivating style that makes team members feel like partners with a shared sense of ownership in the team’s decisions and actions, rather than depending on fear and intimidation to get compliance and conformity. They have learned to gel a group of individuals into a cohesive team focused on a shared direction and acting in a coordinated and collaborative manner. For these and many other reasons that will become apparent, startup leaders stand out who have the ability and know-how to get the most out their team.


The Challenge for Entrepreneurs


The entrepreneurial leader needs a genuine and strong belief that the synergy of teamwork is powerful and real. They must make the transition to a different view of their role, as the facilitator of teamwork, who greases the rails to get the most out of the team. This attitude can’t be faked. They must really believe that better-quality decisions will result from utilizing the diverse views and expertise of team members – that together we can solve problems more effectively than any one of us alone. 


This is especially important knowledge for entrepreneurs because, as our research suggests, many entrepreneurs, particularly tech entrepreneurs, are naturally independent loners who have strong needs for autonomy. Too often, they “don’t play well with others.” They tend to be non-conformists who resist restrictions on their freedom. Taking the time to get buy-in to their ideas and dealing with messy, emotional resistance doesn’t seem worth the effort. Their natural tendency is to go off to the mountain and talk to God and come down with the tablets. Making decisions by themselves is their default mode. They can be proudly – and stubbornly – self-reliant.


When they become leaders, their tendency is to trust their own judgment first and foremost. They aim to persuade people rather than engaging in open dialogue and getting all the facts and perspectives on the table. They try to control meetings and decisions, engage in micromanagement, and utilize a hub-and-spoke style of managing subordinates. Their long-standing pattern of independence keeps them from getting the benefits of teamwork and synergistic decision-making.


What they’re doing is trying to manage the team as a group of individual contributors whom they can control more easily. This translates into holding meetings one-on-one with Individuals rather than the whole team, giving individuals goals and following up with them privately. Secretly, they don’t really like group meetings and have little tolerance for open disagreement with their ideas. After all, in the past, they’ve done their best, most creative and productive work by themselves. They are skeptical whether group problem-solving and decision-making or strategic planning are going to add value.

 

Many tech entrepreneurs are very smart, but their IQs are higher than their EQs. In other words, their Emotional Intelligence and Social Intelligence need to be developed. They can rely on their intellect, see patterns, learn quickly and develop penetrating insights into problems, provided that the problems don’t require deep insight into people’s motivations and feelings or reading their impact on others. When dealing with team members they may lack empathy, tact, courtesy or sensitivity. They often damage relationships by trying to manage the organization as if it were a machine. 


Just because they may be able to persuade investors or paint an inspiring vision to promote the interests of the company, doesn’t mean they have a nuanced understanding of how people work. In general, they are task and results-oriented rather than people-oriented and are often quite unaware of the individual personality differences and group dynamics that impact a team. They get so focused on what they are trying to accomplish that they don’t see how their behavior may hurt feelings or intimidate people. In short: Social astuteness is not their strong suit. 

 

Both experience and research tell us that this style can make it difficult to create an effective, smooth-running team. It’s not enough to have a common goal. It also takes patience, perseverance, and attention to social dynamics. Because independent-minded entrepreneurs easily get frustrated with group decision-making and the need to work closely and build consensus with team members, they can become a roadblock to the creativity and effective decision making that teamwork can foster. 


A related challenge for entrepreneurs – as it is for all leaders – is the need to balance empathy, trust, empowerment of team members and a generally supportive approach, with challenging team members and demanding that they do their best work and produce results. As the leader, you need to honor the imperative to deliver results while at the same time sustaining the awareness that you need to work through your people, so it’s vital to build and maintain good relationships. 

 

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Why composure beats charisma.

The Emotional Geometry of Influence: Why Composure Beats Charisma (Part 3 of The Best Leaders Playbook — Inner Mastery Series)

By Rich Hagberg • October 28, 2025
The Charisma Illusion Charisma gets all the press. It fills conference rooms, wins funding rounds, and dominates the LinkedIn highlight reel. We treat it like the gold standard of leadership — as if volume equals vision. But charisma is a sugar high. It spikes energy, then crashes trust. Composure, on the other hand — quiet, grounded, centered composure — is the kind of influence that lasts. It doesn’t light up a room; it settles one. When things go sideways, it’s not the charismatic leader people look for. It’s the calm one. The Crisis Test Picture this. The product just failed. The client’s furious. Your team’s pacing like trapped cats. Two leaders walk in. One storms into action — loud, fast, “What the hell happened here?” The other walks in slowly, looks around, and says, “Okay, let’s breathe. What do we know so far?” The first one gets attention. The second one gets results. That’s emotional geometry — the calmest person in the room reshapes everyone else’s state. Why Calm Is the Real Power When you stay composed, you’re not just managing your emotions — you’re regulating the entire system. Here’s the neuroscience behind it: people mirror the nervous system of whoever has the most authority. If you’re grounded, they sync to your rhythm. If you’re frantic, they sync to that instead. You don’t need to lecture anyone on resilience. You just have to model it. It’s not charisma that makes people trust you; it’s the quiet sense that you’re not going to lose your mind when things get hard. Charisma’s Half-Life Charisma is a spark. It can ignite a team — but if there’s no composure beneath it, the whole thing burns out. You’ve seen this movie before: the leader who rallies everyone with a passionate all-hands speech, then disappears into reaction mode when things get messy. Charisma without composure is like caffeine without sleep. You’re awake, but you’re not steady. Composure doesn’t get the applause. It gets the loyalty. A Founder’s Story One founder I worked with — I’ll call him David — was known for being a “high-voltage” guy. He could pitch an investor, fire up a crowd, or talk anyone into anything. But his team? They were walking on eggshells. His energy filled every room, but it left no oxygen for anyone else. During one session, I asked, “When you raise your voice, what happens to theirs?” He went quiet. That was the moment he understood that his passion — the thing he was most proud of — had become the team’s anxiety. A year later, his team described him differently: “He’s still intense, but steady. We trust him more now.” He didn’t lose charisma; he layered it with composure. The Calm Before the Influence Here’s what composure actually looks like: You listen longer. Because real influence starts with attention, not argument. You breathe before reacting. That pause isn’t weakness; it’s power management. You let silence do the work. Charisma fills every space; composure creates space for others to step in. You own your tone. You realize your sighs, your speed, your face — they’re all communication tools whether you intend them or not. You choose steadiness over certainty. People don’t need you to know everything. They just need to know you’re okay not knowing. Funny But True A client once told me, “When I’m calm in a meeting, people assume I’m hiding something.” I said, “Good. Let them wonder.” That’s how unfamiliar calm has become. In some cultures, composure looks radical — even suspicious. But it’s exactly what people crave in a world that never shuts up. Why Charisma Is Easier (and More Addictive) Charisma gets feedback. You see the energy rise, you feel the applause. It’s visible. Composure feels invisible — until you lose it. No one thanks you for staying calm during a crisis. But they remember it when deciding whether to follow you into the next one. That’s why maturity in leadership means getting comfortable with the quiet wins — the meeting that didn’t spiral, the argument that didn’t happen, the team that stayed focused because you did. The Emotional Geometry in Practice Think of composure as geometry because emotions move through space. When you enter a room, you alter its emotional shape. If you radiate calm, people’s shoulders drop. Their thinking widens. They start contributing. If you radiate stress, the room contracts. People shrink. Ideas vanish. Influence isn’t what you say. It’s the energy field you create. Your Challenge This Week Before your next high-stakes meeting, pause outside the door. Take one deep breath and ask yourself: What energy does this room need from me right now? Then bring only that. Nothing more. You’ll be amazed how fast everything slows down when you do. Final Word Charisma captures attention. Composure builds trust. One is about how loudly you shine; the other is about how steadily you glow. The leader who can stay centered when everyone else is spinning doesn’t just have influence — they are the influence.  And that’s the kind of power that never burns out.

The Narcissism Paradox: Why Some Founders’ Egos Build Empires—and Others Burn Them Down

October 25, 2025
It usually starts with a familiar scene. A founder at a whiteboard, marker in hand, speaking with the conviction of someone who can see the future before anyone else does. The team leans in. The idea feels inevitable. Confidence fills the room. That’s the moment when narcissism looks like leadership. For a while, it is. Until it isn’t. The Hidden Engine Behind Ambition Every founder carries a trace of narcissism. You need it to survive the impossible odds of building something from nothing. It’s the oxygen of early-stage ambition — the irrational belief that you can win when every signal says you can’t. But narcissism isn’t a single trait. It’s a spectrum — and the version that fuels creativity early on often morphs into the one that burns teams, investors, and reputations later. The Six Faces of Narcissism Psychologist Dr. Ramani Durvasula , whose research has shaped much of the modern understanding of narcissism, describes six primary subtypes. Each of them can be adaptive when balanced, or toxic when unregulated: Grandiose: The charismatic visionary. Inspires others when confident; crushes dissent when insecure. Vulnerable: The emotionally fragile version. Craves validation but fears rejection. Communal: The “good person” narcissist. Needs to be admired for being generous or kind. Malignant: Controlling, paranoid, and willing to harm others to protect ego. Neglectful: Detached, disengaged, treats people as instruments. Self-Righteous: Morally superior, rigid, convinced they are the only adult in the room. Most founders show traces of at least two of these. And in moderation, these traits help. They create drive, resilience, and belief — qualities that investors often mistake for charisma. The problem isn’t narcissism itself. It’s when ego outpaces emotional regulation . The Data Behind the Mirror Across our database of 122 startup founders , each assessed on 46 Personality & Leadership Profile (PLP) scales and 46 360-degree leadership competencies , narcissism emerges as both a predictor of greatness and a predictor of collapse . The 10× founders — those whose companies returned exponential value — were not humble saints. They were what I call disciplined narcissists: confident, ambitious, assertive, and driven by achievement — but tempered by empathy, patience, and ethical grounding . They scored high on Achievement, Autonomy, and Risk-Taking , but also maintained elevated scores on Patience, Optimism, and Model of Values . They didn’t fight their ego. They harnessed it. By contrast, founders whose companies failed — the unsuccessful group — were equally brilliant but emotionally unregulated. They scored significantly higher on Aggression, Defensiveness, and Impulsivity , and significantly lower on Trust, Empathy, and Consideration — roughly one standard deviation lower (10 T-score points) than their successful peers. Their leadership wasn’t powered by vision anymore — it was powered by reactivity. And that’s the moment when the very engine that got them to the starting line begins to tear the vehicle apart. When Narcissism Works Healthy narcissism gives founders gravity. It creates the magnetic field that pulls investors, employees, and customers into orbit. These founders are confident but not careless; assertive but not controlling. They operate from belief, not from fear. They’re the ones who use narcissism to build something enduring — not to prove something fleeting. In our data, they excelled in 360 ratings on Creating Buy-In, Delegation & Empowerment, and Adaptability — all behaviors that require trust and composure. They convert ego into execution. Their signature behaviors: Grandiose energy channeled into purpose. Malignant competitiveness transmuted into persistence. Vulnerability transformed into openness and reflection. Self-Righteous conviction turned into moral consistency. They’re still narcissists — but their narcissism serves the mission, not their self-image. When Narcissism Fails Then there are the others — the unregulated narcissists. At first, they look similar: bold, persuasive, unstoppable. But over time, their self-belief becomes brittle. Their aggression rises as trust falls. Their perfectionism becomes paranoia. Their autonomy becomes isolation. These founders scored roughly a full standard deviation lower (10 T-score points) than successful ones on 360 measures like Openness to Input, Relationship Building, Coaching, and Emotional Control . They don’t fail because they’re arrogant. They fail because they can’t tolerate limitation. Feedback feels like rejection. Delegation feels like loss of control. And the more power they get, the less self-awareness they have. They move fast, but the faster they go, the lonelier it gets — until the organization collapses under the weight of their unmet emotional needs. The Two Versions of the Same Founder Ego Regulation • Successful Founders: Confidence moderated by reflection and humility • Unsuccessful Founders: Volatility disguised as confidence Control vs. Trust • Successful Founders: Delegates, empowers, shares power • Unsuccessful Founders: Micromanages, distrusts, isolates Aggression Pattern • Successful Founders: Channeled into performance • Unsuccessful Founders: Expressed as conflict and coercion Recognition Need • Successful Founders: Purpose-driven validation • Unsuccessful Founders: Insecure approval-seeking Ethical Compass • Successful Founders: Consistent moral modeling • Unsuccessful Founders: Expedience and rationalization So the dividing line isn’t how much narcissism a founder has — it’s whether it’s anchored by self-awareness . The successful ones use ego as a tool. The unsuccessful ones use it as armor. The Spectrum of Founder Narcissism Grandiose • Healthy Expression: Charisma, conviction, inspiration • Unhealthy Expression: Arrogance, dominance, fragility Vulnerable • Healthy Expression: Self-reflective, emotionally transparent • Unhealthy Expression: Defensive, insecure, blaming Communal • Healthy Expression: Empathy without ego • Unhealthy Expression: Performative caring Malignant • Healthy Expression: Fierce but principled • Unhealthy Expression: Punitive, controlling, distrustful Neglectful • Healthy Expression: Independent but connected • Unhealthy Expression: Detached, emotionally absent Self-Righteous • Healthy Expression: Grounded in values • Unhealthy Expression: Rigid, moralizing, unyielding Every founder oscillates along this continuum. The goal isn’t to eliminate ego but to integrate it — to move from self-importance to self-awareness. The Psychological Root The most successful founders in our research share a quiet humility beneath their confidence. They’ve learned to hold two truths simultaneously: “I am extraordinary.” “I am not the whole story.” That paradox — ego with empathy, conviction with curiosity — is the hallmark of psychological maturity. It’s what allows a founder to hold power without being consumed by it. Their unsuccessful counterparts can’t hold that tension. They oscillate between superiority and shame — between “I’m brilliant” and “No one appreciates me.” That oscillation is the engine of the vulnerable-malignant loop , the psychological pattern that wrecks both cultures and companies. Coaching the Narcissist You can’t coach ego out of a founder. But you can coach ego regulation . The process usually unfolds in five stages: Recognition: Data first, not judgment. Use 360 feedback as an emotional mirror. Narcissists can argue with people; they can’t argue with their own data. Differentiation: Separate ambition from insecurity. Help them see what’s driving their overcontrol. Containment: Teach behavioral discipline — pausing before reacting, curiosity before correction. Connection: Reinforce trust-based leadership behaviors — active listening, recognition, and collaborative decision-making. Integration: Replace ego-defense with ego-service — using their confidence to develop others rather than dominate them. The shift doesn’t happen overnight. But when it does, the founder becomes more than a leader — they become a force multiplier. The Paradox in Plain Language Our forty years of data say something simple but profound: Every founder who builds something meaningful begins with narcissism. But only those who grow beyond it sustain success. Ego, when integrated, becomes conviction. Ego, when unintegrated, becomes compulsion. One builds. The other burns. Or, as I often tell founders: Narcissism builds the rocket. Empathy keeps it from burning up on re-entry. That isn’t metaphor. That’s psychology — and physics. Because unchecked ego obeys the same law as gravity: It always pulls you back down.
Why thinking time is the most undervalued executive skill.

The Reflection Deficit: Why Thinking Time Is the Most Undervalued Executive Skill (Part 2 of The Best Leaders Playbook — Inner Mastery Series)

By Rich Hagberg • October 21, 2025
The Badge of Busyness If there were an Olympic event for back-to-back meetings, most executives I know would medal. They wear it proudly — the calendar that looks like a Tetris board, the 11:30 p.m. emails, the constant refrain of “crazy week.” Busyness has become our favorite drug. It keeps us numb, important, and conveniently distracted from the one question we don’t want to face: What am I actually doing that matters? I’m not judging; I’ve lived this. Years ago, I was “that guy” — sprinting through 14-hour days while telling myself reflection was for monks or consultants between clients. Then one day, after a particularly pointless meeting, I realized something embarrassing: I couldn’t remember the last time I’d had a single original thought. Why Thinking Feels Unproductive Here’s the irony: most leaders know they need to think more. They just can’t stand how useless it feels. Sitting in silence doesn’t produce slides or metrics. There’s no dopamine hit, no “good meeting” to log. But thinking time is like compound interest. It looks small in the moment and enormous over time. When you actually stop, patterns appear. You notice which fires you keep putting out, which meetings could’ve been emails, and which goals you’re chasing that don’t even belong to you anymore. A Simple Truth Busyness is a form of self-defense. If you never stop moving, you never have to confront the uncomfortable truths that surface when you do. That’s why reflection feels awkward at first — it threatens your illusion of momentum. But momentum without direction is just noise. A Founder’s Story One founder I coached had the classic startup badge of honor: chaos. His day started at 5:30 a.m., ended around midnight, and he bragged about being “in the weeds” with every decision. I asked, “When do you think?” He said, “All the time.” I said, “No — I mean deliberately.” He stared at me like I’d asked if he did yoga with dolphins. We scheduled two hours of thinking time a week. The first few sessions drove him nuts. He kept checking email, pacing, making lists. Then, around week four, he sent a note: “I finally realized half my problems were the result of not thinking before saying yes.” That’s the power of reflection — it turns self-inflicted chaos into clarity. The Science Behind Stillness Here’s the biology of it: when you’re rushing, your brain lives in survival mode — flooded with cortisol, locked on what’s urgent. When you slow down, another network kicks in — the one responsible for creativity, empathy, and pattern recognition. That’s why your best ideas show up in the shower or on long drives. The brain finally has enough quiet to connect dots. You don’t need more input. You need more oxygen. Why Leaders Avoid It Two reasons. It’s vulnerable. Reflection forces you to notice things you’ve been ignoring — the conversation you keep postponing, the hire you know isn’t working, the ambition that’s turned into exhaustion. It’s inefficient… at first. There’s no immediate ROI. But over time, reflection prevents the expensive rework that comes from impulsive decisions. As one client told me, “I used to say I didn’t have time to think. Turns out, not thinking was costing me time.” How to Reclaim Thinking Time (Without Quitting Your Job) Schedule “white space” like a meeting. Literally block it on the calendar. Call it “Strategy,” “Clarity,” or even “Meeting with Myself” if you’re worried someone will book over it. Change environments. Go walk, drive, sit somewhere with natural light. Different settings unlock different neural pathways. Ask bigger questions. Instead of “What needs to get done?” ask “What actually matters now?” or “What am I pretending not to know?” Capture patterns, not notes. Don’t transcribe thoughts — notice themes. What keeps repeating? That’s your mind begging for attention. End reflection with one action. Otherwise, it turns into rumination. Decide one thing to start, stop, or say no to. The Humor in It I once told an overworked exec, “Block 90 minutes a week just to think.” He said, “What should I do during that time?” That’s the problem in one sentence. Thinking is doing — it’s just quieter. What Happens When You Build the Habit At first, reflection feels indulgent. Then it feels useful. Then it becomes addictive — in a good way. Your decisions get cleaner. Your conversations sharper. Your stress lower. You stop reacting and start designing. Because clarity saves more time than hustle ever will. Your Challenge This Week Find one 60-minute window. No phone, no laptop, no music, no distractions. Just a notebook and a question: “What’s one thing I keep doing that no longer deserves my energy?” Don’t overthink it — just listen for what surfaces. That hour will tell you more about your leadership than a dozen status meetings ever could. Final Word In a world obsessed with movement, stillness is rebellion. But it’s also intelligence. The best leaders aren’t the busiest. They’re the ones who’ve learned that reflection isn’t retreat — it’s refinement. The next breakthrough won’t come from another meeting. It’ll come from the silence you’ve been avoiding. 
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