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The freedom and curse of self-management
Welcome to the Founders Matter Podcast.
The podcast where we talk openly about what it really means to build a business on your own terms.
In this episode, Jase Smith speaks with Kat Sykes about KPIs, targets and goals, and why so many founders end up measuring their businesses in ways that do not reflect what really matters to them.
Drawing on her experience in the corporate world, including project work in the NHS, Kat explains how traditional KPIs often measure the wrong things. In many organisations, there is a disconnect between the targets handed down from above and the actions that actually create meaningful change. When founders leave employment and start their own businesses, they often carry those same inherited ideas about performance with them, even though they now have the freedom to define success differently.
The conversation explores what happens when founders rely on goals that are shaped by investor expectations, external advice or societal conditioning rather than their own values. When business owners try to make themselves or their businesses fit someone else’s model of success, it can create frustration, misalignment and a loss of purpose.
Instead, Jase and Kat discuss how founders can start with their values and their “why”, then work outward to create goals and KPIs that genuinely support the business and life they want to build. By focusing on the parts of the process they can actually influence, rather than outcomes that sit outside their control, founders can create measures of success that feel more meaningful, motivating and sustainable.
Access the episode resources here:
https://acrobat.adobe.com/id/urn:aaid:sc:eu:7dd6294f-c6a1-4b7b-8889-db6c7f7ac45c
Connect with the hosts on LinkedIn:
Jase Smith: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jase-smith-zero78training/
Pablo Munez: https://www.linkedin.com/in/pablomunozroman/
Kat Sykes: https://www.linkedin.com/in/kat-sykes-business-not-as-usual/
View all episodes
By Mind Your BusinessWelcome to the Founders Matter Podcast.
The podcast where we talk openly about what it really means to build a business on your own terms.
In this episode, Jase Smith speaks with Kat Sykes about KPIs, targets and goals, and why so many founders end up measuring their businesses in ways that do not reflect what really matters to them.
Drawing on her experience in the corporate world, including project work in the NHS, Kat explains how traditional KPIs often measure the wrong things. In many organisations, there is a disconnect between the targets handed down from above and the actions that actually create meaningful change. When founders leave employment and start their own businesses, they often carry those same inherited ideas about performance with them, even though they now have the freedom to define success differently.
The conversation explores what happens when founders rely on goals that are shaped by investor expectations, external advice or societal conditioning rather than their own values. When business owners try to make themselves or their businesses fit someone else’s model of success, it can create frustration, misalignment and a loss of purpose.
Instead, Jase and Kat discuss how founders can start with their values and their “why”, then work outward to create goals and KPIs that genuinely support the business and life they want to build. By focusing on the parts of the process they can actually influence, rather than outcomes that sit outside their control, founders can create measures of success that feel more meaningful, motivating and sustainable.
Access the episode resources here:
https://acrobat.adobe.com/id/urn:aaid:sc:eu:7dd6294f-c6a1-4b7b-8889-db6c7f7ac45c
Connect with the hosts on LinkedIn:
Jase Smith: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jase-smith-zero78training/
Pablo Munez: https://www.linkedin.com/in/pablomunozroman/
Kat Sykes: https://www.linkedin.com/in/kat-sykes-business-not-as-usual/