Did you hear about the firefighter who set a building on fire so he could rush in, put the fire out and be the hero of the day?

The "arson syndrome" isn't only found in firefighters. Entrepreneurs - especially company founders - can suffer from a similar malady. It doesn't stem from a desire to sabotage the company. Rather, they see themselves as problem-solvers, and they get a charge out of coming in at just the right moment with just the right solutions. And so - consciously or subconsciously - they set up situations where the company is placed at risk and they have the opportunity to rush in and save the day.

Unfortunately, they sometimes do such a good job of establishing a scenario that is ripe for failure that their last-minute heroics are too late and they actually end up destroying their own company, or at least costing the company - and therefore themselves - a ton of money.

Because of a defect or shortcoming that sometimes goes with the entrepreneur personality, some solo operators also have a control problem, which translates into a need to be in control. This results in an even greater need to save the day. Because of the c-word, they don't delegate effectively. But because they can't be everywhere at the same time, fires start almost spontaneously. Hence, the need to rush in and put the fire out that their own negligence started.

The longer the company founder goes without an awareness of this tendency, the greater the potential problem grows. As a company begins to mature with outside board members and investors, the founder must grow as well or else this management style - or lack of management - will become a self-defeating cycle that will make the business owner feel an even greater need to be the solution to every problem.

"If I'm not there, the whole place falls apart," the controlling entrepreneur complains. Then he adds somewhat proudly: "I work longer and harder than anyone else around here." Which may be true. But he probably can't see that he has chosen through his behavior to make the business dependent upon him - and to have to work so hard.

When the founder comes in and starts over-promising to customers, he forces others to deliver under pressure, and they often fail. This tendency to over-promise and under-deliver can be as devastating to a business as a fire. But it does allow the entrepreneur to burst in like a firefighter, start throwing his weight around, often causing more problems but occasionally putting the fire out and saving the day. It gives him the opportunity to once again be the needed hero.

How can this risky behavior be avoided? The answer isn't easy.

If the founder doesn't start early in solving the real problem - himself - there are really only two answers, and the first one really doesn't count, much less work.

The first method, often employed by humane board members or investors, is to give the founder a wake-up call and then put him in charge of a new division or assign to him the infamous "special projects" title. This is an attempt to isolate him from the real action that he needs most for his attention-deficient tendencies.

The second approach - and the most humane option - is to negotiate a buy-out of the founder when he has outlasted his usefulness and is causing more problems than he is solving.

So founders of companies, beware. If you feel out of touch with your company, bored or unneeded, you have some dangerous symptoms. You'd best be careful, or you might find yourself starting fires just so you can put them out and be the hero for the day.

And if you do that you are likely to get burned yourself.