Don’t Put the Founder on a Pedestal—Or Anyone Else
Resist the urge to place founders or leaders on pedestals; it hinders growth and critical thinking.
I have a deep respect for the founders at my company; otherwise, I wouldn’t still be here. From my perspective, they’re all remarkable leaders. But that doesn’t contradict the point of this article: idolizing your founder, your leader, or anyone else, even Elon Musk or Steve Jobs, is a mistake. The reason is simple: they’re not superhuman, no one is.
One common misconception is that leaders possess greater technical skill than frontline employees, and people attribute their leader’s promotion to that. But leadership is just a different role. It demands a distinct skill set, one that’s often rarer and generally more difficult, which tends to earn higher compensation. But that’s all there is to it.
In an ideal work environment, the leader shouldn’t be the one making every decision. If they are, it typically means one of two things:
- They’re micromanaging, or
- They’ve hired people who can’t outperform them in specialized areas.
Neither scenario is ideal. Instead, a good leader functions as a “provider of hidden information” and a “big-picture decision-maker.” Their value lies in vision, strategy, objective-setting, and people skills, not in expertise within every specific domain.
Recognizing that leaders are simply playing a different role clarifies why idolizing them is risky.
When we put leaders on a pedestal, we become prone to emotional extremes. If you believe your leader is right in every decision, eventually reality will show you otherwise. This disillusionment often leads people to the opposite extreme, viewing the leader as entirely flawed. I’ve seen this happen repeatedly, and it usually stems from a lack of perspective: a tendency to see leaders as all-knowing, which leaves little room for objective evaluation.
Idolizing your leader can also make you lose sight of your own position. The best organizations are made up of extraordinary people who excel in their specific areas, and a leader who brings them together and guides the big picture. If you believe your leader is a superhuman, you may start to doubt your own value, perhaps wishing they could be cloned to handle your role, too. But viewing your leader’s strengths and weaknesses realistically allows you to better complement their abilities. Great leaders are often self-aware enough to acknowledge their own weaknesses and encourage you to fill in those gaps. But many leaders lack this level of self-awareness, so it’s up to you to understand the team’s objectives, identify the leader’s blind spots, and find your best contribution.
By dropping the idolization, you can begin to learn what good leadership actually entails. Leaders make big, impactful decisions, and they also make mistakes, often ones that aren’t immediately obvious. The only way to understand their decision-making is to examine the trade-offs, anxieties, hesitations, and sometimes even the irrationality behind their choices. Attributing your leader’s decision to “genius” or “innate talent” won’t help you grow. But understanding the practical, often messy reality of leadership just might. Most of the time, you’re more like them than you might think.