What actually changes when a founder finally gets out of his own way?

Most founders fear that letting go will diminish the business. The opposite is more common. When founders actually step back, three things tend to happen at once. The kids find their actual capacity. The leadership team aligns around the new direction instead of orbiting the founder. The business often grows faster than under the original leader. Kris Kluver, in The Dysfunctional Family Office, has Ben Christoff describe this directly. Once he let his coach help, his kids stepped into who they were meant to be. The team aligned. The business grew faster than when he had run it. Mitchell Industries shows the same pattern at the end of the book, growing 25 percent in the year after Robert handed off to Gail.