Leadership: Founder's Syndrome

Many organizations are created from a passion or a recognized need in society. Founders realize these needs and develop those passions into organizations. The initial responsibilities of starting an organization can be daunting. New organizations not only require vast amounts of physical resources, such as investments, property, and people, but they require a highly motivated Founder to get them going and maintain their progress.

But the passion and drive that a founder brings in the early days can become a liability over time. As the organization grows, founders often place invisible boundaries around various aspects of the organization to protect their efforts. In the early going, these restraints are a necessary part of a “controlled growth” strategy, but as the organization matures, these restraints simply hold back the natural development of the organization. This presents a challenge known as “Founder’s Syndrome”. This month, Cathedral Consulting Group, LLC provides insight on how this topic can impact a nonprofit as well as suggestions on how to minimize and ideally avoid the impact.

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