Build #32 – Ten questions for founders

Build #32 – Ten questions for founders

Last month I spent five days on a coaching course, developing my skills in that side of my work. Self-reflection is a big part of any coach’s journey.

The skills to be able to step outside yourself and observe objectively is one worth honing.

Which got me thinking about founders and self-reflection.

I thought about the questions I discuss with founders regularly in my work.

And the founders I’ve worked with will be super familiar with versions of these 10 questions:

  1. What’s the single sentence that describes your strategy and why it’s differentiated?
  2. What problem/s are you solving in our work and who are you solving them for?
  3. How are you shaping the culture of the company you need to build?
  4. Can everyone in the business tell me their own goals, how they relate to the company’s goals and how they’re doing against their goals?
  5. What are the five simple metrics that you and your leadership team look at regularly?
  6. As founder, are you playing on the pitch or managing/coaching from the sidelines?
  7. How systemised is your approach to selling and how predictable are the results that approach delivers?
  8. What’s your established pattern of leadership team meetings and 1-to-1s that give the business strategic and tactical cadence?
  9. Are all roles in the company clearly defined with the right people in the right seats for this stage?
  10. Are you hiring for today or tomorrow?

Taking a few minutes out to reflect on these questions pays back. Every time. The answers point to the next problem to solve for founders.

About SIMON

I work as a fractional Chief Operating Officer (COO), consultant and advisor. I created the B3 framework® for company building and I also write a newsletter called Build for leaders who care about creating resilient and sustainable businesses.