Are you a senior executive? Do you employ one? If so, watch out. You/he may be dangerous to your company’s bottom line.

The problem is Senior Executive Syndrome (SES): the tendency for a senior executive – someone who has climbed to the top of his business or department – to kick back and goof off.

It happens all the time, but we don’t talk about it. Why? For one of two reasons: Either (a) we work for the lazy bastard or (b) we are the lazy bastard.

I’ve seen it happen to dozens of very good people and in just about every company I’ve owned or worked for. It usually doesn’t happen in the beginning, when everybody is busy and the business is growing. But when things get fat, watch out!

It can happen to anyone. Your boss. His boss. The boss of the business you count on. The boss you are trying to strike a deal with. The perfectly suited senior executive you just hired to run one of your divisions. Your best and most loyal crew leader.

And, yes, it can happen to you too.

“Senior Executive Syndrome”: The Anatomy of a Business Disease 

A bright, ambitious person comes into a business and does everything right from day one. Comes in early and leaves late. Emails you on Sunday. Has great ideas. Builds a clutch team. He becomes THE guy.

And so he’s promoted. And he keeps on performing over the years until he gets into a position in which, finally, there is no one looking over his shoulder. He is responsible for the company’s bottom line.

It is expected that he will continue to work as hard and as smart as ever. And for a while, he does just that. Executing new ideas. Streamlining expenses. Improving the executive staff. Business is good, and everybody is happy.

But something happens. Somewhere along the line, he burns out a little. He tries not to show it, because he wants the troops to keep trooping. But inside, he’s tired of the grind and dreaming of a less stressful life.

Several years may go by like this, during which time he refines his key-management team and fine-tunes operating procedures. Then one day he decides (all by himself and without speaking to anyone) that the business can run fine – at least for a while – without so much involvement on his part.

But rather than make that clear so that the proper adjustments can be made, he simply starts to do less. He gets into the office later. He takes long lunch hours. And he may spend an inordinate amount of time traveling to industry seminars.

Meanwhile, the business IS doing fine. But because nobody knows he is doing less, some of the most important stuff he used to do may no longer be getting done.

Let’s take a look at that. To rise to the top of a growing, profitable business, you usually need three things:

1. A hardcore commitment to growth.

There are basically two kinds of leaders: tenders and growers. Tenders solve problems, clarify goals, and improve communications. Growers create problems because their primary interest is in growing the business – the number of products, the number of employees, and, most importantly the bottom line.

2. A hardcore commitment to quality.

Once the business is up and growing and the cash flow is strong enough to continue that growth, the CEO (and other senior executives) must put on their tender hats and begin to solve the problems that have arisen and will arise from future growth. Tending to these problems and challenges is not easy. It takes the same level of commitment that growing does.

3. The willingness to find leaders that can replace you.

This is just as important as a commitment to growth and to quality. If you are not willing to find people to take over all the key parts of the business as it grows, there will come a point where the business will stop growing and you won’t know why. Unless you look in the mirror.

So here’s the problem – how SES comes into play.

If you do a good job at growing, tending, and finding superstars to continue the growing and tending, you will end up with a large business that seems to be running itself.

And as a founder and/or CEO, you may be okay with that.

But if you sit back and allow your superstars to grow and manage your business for you, there will come a time when they themselves will be in a position to follow your lead and kick back.

And if they do, others will follow. The business may do well for a while. But eventually, the growth will slow and so will the profits. Growth will slow because your growers will no longer feel the urgency to grow the business. And profits will diminish because you will be paying big salaries to former growers that are on cruise control.

So how do you solve this problem?

It’s actually easier than you might think. If and when you decide to let up on yourself, don’t allow the senior executives that report to you to feel any less pressure.

You don’t need to have daily meetings and thumb through dozens of weekly and monthly reports. Just make sure that when you meet with your senior staff you come to those meetings with high expectations. Ask questions. Be critical of the answers you get. But most importantly, don’t take on any responsibility during the meetings.

Think of any problems and challenges the business faces as playful monkeys. When you go to an important executive meeting there are problems and challenges you must face. Your job is to listen to the problems and make comments. It’s not your job to solve those problems. So make a mental note to “make sure all the monkeys are on everyone else’s back.”

You probably won’t have to do any more than that because you will be talking to people that made it to where they are by having a strong work ethic, a good deal of personal pride, and a desire to excel. These are your superstars. Your power plant people. They don’t need to be rebuilt from scratch. They just need a spark to get the fire burning again.

One final thought: If your boss has SES, you’re in luck. This is your big opportunity to take over. Volunteer to do what it is clear he doesn’t want to do. Convince him that you can do a great job of it. Promise him the world. And ask him for a cut of the action. If he’s got a really bad case of SES, he’ll be very tempted by your offer.