
Why Your Business Can't Run Without You
From Business Roundtable by David W. Carr
June 2, 2026 · 40 min
About this episode
Carol Schultz discusses how business owners can overcome founder's syndrome and improve their organizational structure.
Most owners think they have a people problem, a time problem, or a strategy problem. Usually, it's none of those — the business is just built to keep everything flowing back to you. Carol Schultz, Founder & CEO of Vertical Elevation, has spent 30 years as a recruiter and executive coach, helping CEOs stop being "hostages" to their own companies. In this conversation, she unpacks founder's syndrome, why "just hire the right person" rarely works (hint: you're the common denominator), and the succession mindset that separates owners who scale from owners who stay stuck. She also walks through her Organizational Scaffold System — a roughly 12-week process that closes gaps in communication, accountability, and structure, and then places a chief of staff to act as the CEO's copilot. Plus, a simple pen-to-paper exercise you can start this week to see where your time really goes. Carol Schultz — author of "Powered By People," Inc., and CEOWORLD columnist, host of "Authentically Successful." Website: https://verticalelevation.com LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/carolbschultz/ Become a supporter of this podcast…
People in this episode
Host: David W. Carr
Guest: Carol Schultz
Topics covered
- business management
- founder's syndrome
- organizational structure
- executive coaching
- scaling businesses
Keywords
- founder's syndrome
- CEO coaching
- organizational scaffold
- business scaling
- time management
Mentioned in this episode
Organizations: Vertical Elevation
Books & works: Powered By People
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