What Kind of Startup Founder Are You?

When it comes to getting a new venture off the ground, a sense of collective ownership is vital — but it’s not always clear how founders should go about fostering that shared ownership in their teams. In this piece, the authors describe recent research that looked at how different types of leaders attempt to cultivate a sense of ownership in their people, ultimately concluding that a careful balance between delegation and dictation is most likely to be effective. They go on to suggest that the best way founders can keep their teams engaged and their businesses on track is by proactively deciding which elements of their idea are open for discussion, and which are fixed — and then clearly communicating those distinctions to everyone involved.