Startup founders excel, in part, because of their megawatt charisma, optimism, and self-assurance.

But these very traits can morph into problematic behavior when times get tough, according to a recent article in Harvard Business Review by Carter Cast, a clinical professor of strategy, and Brooke Vuckovic, a clinical professor of management and organizations.

Of course, today’s economy, with its volatile markets and skeptical investors, can be a major stressor for founders. “Becoming increasingly aware of their stress-related behaviors and self-destructive patterns is increasingly important for entrepreneurs today, especially those who have never lived through an economic downcycle before,” they write.

We’ll dig into the ways that entrepreneurial traits can backfire under stress. And we’ll hear from Cast about some more general career derailers for those of us who aren’t leading startups.

From Asset to Liability

The tendency for our strengths to become our weaknesses isn’t limited to founders and CEOs, of course. But in their HBR article, Cast and Vuckovic discuss some categories of behavior that are specific to these leaders, all of which, they argue, “are coping mechanisms that attempt to regain control.” Here’s a look at two of them:

Denying the severity of the problem: Optimism is a key trait of startup founders. After all, you need to believe in yourself and your company if you’re going to succeed in attracting investors and inspiring employees. But the flip side of optimism, which can emerge in stressful conditions, is “willful blindness,” Vuckovic and Cast write, where leaders turn a blind eye to unpleasant realities. And that is not what an organization needs from its leader in difficult times. Founders who exhibit this may deny that there are problems or rapid-fire ideate to come up with solutions that don’t do anything other than waste employees’ time and energy since they aren’t tackling the problems head-on. The antidote, Cast and Vuckovic write, “is to listen closely to customers, don’t over promise, and own business issues.”

Defaulting to what’s comfortable: Founders were generally really good at something before they started their company. Under stress, it can feel comfortable for them to revert to that domain. So the former software engineer obsesses over code or the former marketing manager can’t stop fiddling with the website. And while CEOs often need to dive into the nitty-gritty during challenging times, this can easily slide into micromanaging. “This behavior speaks to a need for control, often by reverting to a founder’s technical skill set where they once felt very competent,” Cast and Vuckovic write. It’s also often a way to avoid looking at the big picture—a deliberate attempt to focus on the trees and not the forest. For founders, knowing where you uniquely add value, and delegating work where you do not, are among the solutions here.

The full article, which you can read here, goes into more detail on these problematic behaviors and offers tips for how leaders can gain self-awareness to hopefully avoid falling prey to them.

Other Common Career Derailers

Cast has studied derailers more broadly for his book, The Right—and Wrong—Stuff: How Brilliant Careers Are Made and Unmade. He discussed the five biggest ones in this The Insightful Leader podcast episode.

Among those:

Relational issues: This is the biggest reason by far that people derail, Cast says. “You’re defensive. You’re overly ambitious, and you sort of bruise people on your way to the corner office.” The antidote, he says, is a healthy dose of self-awareness to keep your worst instincts in check. Working with an executive coach or seeking counsel from friends who will tell it to you straight can be a big help.

You can’t say “no”: In an effort to do a great job and make others happy, you say yes to everything. In short order, you are overcommitted and likely overwhelmed and failing to follow through on what you’ve committed to. If this is you, Cast encourages you to remember that saying “no” to one thing means saying “yes” to something else, whether that is dinner with your family or time spent on a higher priority project.

You can listen to the full episode about career derailers here.

LEADERSHIP TIP

“Recent data shows that working from home is associated with higher productivity, consistent with the survey evidence where workers say that they’re actually more productive working from home in addition to saving on commuting time.”

—Professor Janice Eberly in Forbes, on whether some form of remote work is here to stay.