Something I’ve wondered about for quite a while as an executive coach and leader is whether the dynamics of startup culture — the delusionally high expectations, the short time scales, the focus on return, the unintended burnout of talent — all are preventing great leaders from entering the culture or staying in it, at all.

The strong majority of servant leaders I know don’t resonate with the startup game. So I wonder if it’s not that startup culture hasn’t developed that insists on a culture of virtue, but that it can’t while still being what it is. I’m not saying that particular companies and leaders can’t turn into companies of virtue — I’m looking at the system, not the outliers.

For clarity, I do not have a business vs. virtue assumption; I’m just noting that there are unique aspects of the startup business culture that may be counter-productive to the development of the very leaders that are most needed.