The Question Most Founders Can’t Answer

I’ve worked with, and coached, a lot of leaders. Different industries, different company sizes, vastly different operational challenges.

Yet, I open almost every initial coaching conversation the exact same way. I ask two simple questions.

The first: What is your goal for your business?

Most leaders have a reasonable, well-rehearsed answer to this. They can quickly rattle off revenue targets, headcount projections, market expansion plans, or product milestones. It’s tangible. It’s on a spreadsheet. It’s something they can point to.

Then comes the second question—and this is where it gets interesting: What is your goal for yourself?

Not for the business. Not for your executive team. Not for your board or investors. For you.

The silence that follows that question tells me everything I need to know.

The Identity Trap of the SME Leader

Many leaders—especially founders and SME owners running $5M to $25M companies—have spent years so intensely focused on building a business that they’ve completely stopped asking what they want from the experience of building it.

Over time, the boundary dissolves. They confuse their personal identity with their business identity. Ask them what they want for themselves, and they will instinctively answer with the company’s three-year strategy.

That isn't a criticism. It’s completely understandable. Building a high-growth business takes every ounce of energy, focus, and grit you have.

But it matters deeply.

When a leader has no clear vision for themselves, they make decisions that serve the business's momentum rather than its actual direction. They optimise for growth without stepping back to ask:

• Growth toward what?

• To what end?

• And at what cost?

  
  

All too often, founders and senior leaders default to sacrificing their personal health, relationships, time, and mental capacity just to meet the immediate, endless demands of the organization. They become the ultimate bottleneck to their own business—and the primary victim of its success.

Why the Two Goals Are Inseparable

Your business goal and your personal goal are not opposing forces. They are structurally connected.

A business built on endless founder sacrifice is not a scalable asset; it's a high-risk liability. When you get clear on what you need from the business—whether that’s operational freedom, 10 hours back a week, strategic clarity, or long-term wealth creation—your decision-making undergoes a fundamental shift.

You stop fighting daily operational fires. You start building the leadership capability, team architecture, and systems required to let the business run without your constant intervention.

When a leader can answer both questions with absolute clarity, everything changes:

1. Strategic alignment replaces busyness: You stop saying "yes" to low-leverage opportunities that drain your capacity.

2. Management execution improves: You build a genuine executive layer because you need them to own outcomes, not just execute tasks.

3. Leading becomes sustainable again: You shift from being owned by your company to intentionally steering it.

   
   

A Question for Your Desk Today

If you’re a founder, CEO, or senior business leader reading this, take two minutes to step away from your inbox and reflect:

• What is your goal for your business?

• And what is your goal for yourself?

If the second answer takes a long time to surface—or if you realize you’ve been sacrificing your own direction to keep the engine running—you don't have to navigate that alone.

Every leader needs a confidential, strategic sounding board—the conversation you simply cannot have with your internal team or your board.

I partner with Sydney founders and executives through fractional Chief People Officer support and high-impact leadership coaching. If you’re ready to gain your strategic bandwidth back and build an organisation that executes cleanly, send me an email at brooke@brookehayes.com.au  to start the conversation.