In recent years, India has shown an electrifying entrepreneurial spirit. As per available data, as of February 2022, India is home to 88 unicorns with a total valuation of $ 295.99 Bn. Moreover, the past three years saw the birth of the maximum number of Indian unicorns.
Alongside such success, we witnessed recent ugly spats between start-up founders and stakeholders, mostly VC and private equity led board members. For example, the recent controversy of a founder in the fintech start-up space that led to his ouster could have been avoided. Instead, lots of dirty linen got washed in public and ultimately led to the separation of an entrepreneur who was critical to the company’s success. Similarly, the news of another recently listed digital payments founder being arrested and then released on bail for rash driving made headline news. If we rewind a little, similar instances of a founder of a real estate housing portal and many such skirmishes among founders and financial investors have led to unprofessional and ugly separation at an individual level.
Start-up entrepreneurs have gained celebrity status. However, news stories of them displaying reckless and prude behaviour does a disservice to their achievements.
So why does successful start-up entrepreneurs who have built unicorns and disrupted the normal through innovation suddenly get caught in such controversies? Unlike a corporate employee who rises through the ranks after getting nurtured and trained in a more holistic environment to achieve the topmost leadership position, entrepreneurs rarely get the time and opportunity to be coached or mentored to be a leader. Instead, they are invested heavily into growth & scale-up orientation and in navigating a highly competitive world. As a result, energy runs high, and emotions run loose, and often, there comes a tipping point.
Managing success sometimes is difficult as managing failures.
A business coach can be an ideal person to guide start-up entrepreneurs to avoid such mishaps. After tasting success early on, often they get consumed by the fame trap, and one of their biggest fears is to fail from that point. Entrepreneurs experience similar anxieties all the time. They also have fewer people to open up to without being judged at the top.
The following are the three top reasons coaching can make a difference to entrepreneurs.
Preparing entrepreneurs for leadership roles. Business success does not define a leader; how they lead their enterprise does. Entrepreneurs are hardly sensitized to the roles they have assumed in the process of chasing their dream. Good leaders show a different character altogether, which helps them avoid conflicts or navigate them with poise. Coaching can help inculcate such values and nurture leaders’ sensitivities in today’s entrepreneurs. Start-up founders need to spend time on non-financial metric-driven issues that affect valuations in the long run.
Fosters psychological and emotional wellbeing. A coach’s job is not to give business advice but to counsel their subjects. In the absence of avenues to express and deal with their vulnerabilities, entrepreneurs can depend upon their coaches to express themselves, be motivated, regain focus on the right priories with, clarity. Coaching plays an essential role in fostering psychological and emotional wellbeing and helps them display a calm demeanour. It can possibly shape the course of their businesses towards growth.
Helping them establish the organizational culture. Founders often get consumed with business profitability and competition as they build their start-ups. As a result, operational success and scaling up takes precedence over developing good corporate culture. Understandably so, it is crucial to establish a business first. However, progressive and healthy company culture is non-negotiable to build world-class companies. With the help of coaching, entrepreneurs can create an organizational culture that is positive, inclusive, and welcoming. It has a far-reaching impact on the people they are employing and is crucial for their start-ups’ long-term health.
It will be a good practice if Boards and financial investors alongside entrepreneurs think of compulsorily hiring a business coach (similar to auditors) to ensure a balance between entrepreneurial energy, personal stability, and professional success.
F1 racing includes a concept of a ‘driver-coach’ to ensure that the racers maintain their high performance and avoid accidents from start to finish. Maybe it’s time to implement the same for our high-performance driven entrepreneurial leaders to build a less accident-prone journey.
