The perils of founder's syndrome and how to avoid them

Many, if not most, charities and social enterprises start up because of the inspiration, charisma and downright passion of one or two determined people who see a need or injustice in their community and want to do something about it. Many charities are born out of disasters or great personal tragedy, founded by people who want to create something positive from a life-changing situation.

Often founders battle against the odds to build up their organisation to make a real positive difference for its beneficiaries or customers. They can be strong-minded individuals who care deeply about their cause and the people who benefit from the organisation’s services and projects.

Founders should (usually) be celebrated for their achievements.

Unfortunately, these characteristics can lead to founders becoming dominant in the governance and management of the organisation, which can be a serious risk to continued success.

All too often, founders end up becoming the biggest constraint to further growth and development and in some, very sad cases, their dominance can result in beneficiaries, volunteers, staff or Trustees being put at significant risk of harm or loss.

Founder’s syndrome usually manifests itself when a founder struggles to adapt to the growth of the organisation or changing context and consequently fails to adopt the new mindset, approaches or skill set required to take the organisation through a key transition (in scale or in what it offers).

Sometimes, founder’s syndrome can manifest itself very early in the life of the organisation (even from the start). Others involved are usually content to let the founder get on and do anything they want without any meaningful oversight. But the founder may not have all the skills, knowledge or experience necessary to ensure the organisation operates safely and effectively. In many cases they are unable to understand the necessity of good governance and see it as bureaucracy that frustrates their good intentions. The result can be that inadequate safeguarding practices, ineffective risk management and even fraudulent activities go unnoticed, putting people at risk of harm or loss. Many organisations in this situation feel chaotic and always on the edge of collapse.

In the end, founder’s syndrome is almost always about power, with the founder maintaining disproportionate power and influence, even to the point that they see others as a threat and interpret criticism as jealously from those who want to share in the power.

Of course, a truly effective charity or social enterprise should outlive its founder, to carry on helping people and address injustice. To do that, the founder needs to step back, which requires trust in others and self-awareness; great leaders trust their colleagues, devolve authority and recruit people to their board and staff who have the skills, knowledge or experience they themselves lack. Founder’s syndrome is often the opposite of this.

How can founder’s syndrome be avoided?

Fundamentally the antidote is good governance. Of particular importance are Trustees or Directors (and senior staff) with time to give to the cause. They need not only to bring the skills required, they must also provide accountability, navigating the tricky balance between being supportive and challenging. Setting up an organisation with strong governance from the outset is the best way to avoid founder’s syndrome ever taking hold.

A strong board and senior team will set a culture that nurtures effective leadership and values effective risk management without getting heavy handed. Of course there will be structure and processes to support these pre-requisites of good governance, but as always, “culture will eat process for breakfast”.

Take time when starting out to put these critical building blocks in place and the chances are you’ll never encounter founder’s syndrome.

But what if it’s too late and founder’s syndrome has already taken hold?

The short answer is that you’re in for a rocky journey, but it’s by no means impossible. The hardest step is to see the problem in the first place.

Once you recognise the problem you will need external help. Someone who can help the founder see the issues and transition with dignity to the next stage of their career or life. That could be a consultant, coach or mentor or it could be one or more new board members with the right skills and experience to guide the organisation and the founder through this transition.

In many cases this will mean the founder needs to move on and leave the organisation altogether. That needs an effective exit and succession plan. If the founder won’t go in a managed and gracious way, then you may need to find a way to remove them against their will, which is always a messy and painful experience. External, objective support can really help you in these situations.

In a few cases, the revelation that they are the problem results in a founder changing things and either staying in place, or moving to a new role (such as Patron), always empowering others, devolving authority and bringing in new people (board and staff).

The sad truth is that founder’s syndrome is all too common in small and medium sized charities and social enterprises. It is a major failure of leadership and governance that can undermine the good work done by the organisation, including endangering the existence of the organisation itself. Prevention is better than cure but if it occurs, founder’s syndrome needs to be tackled, and tackled quickly before things go badly wrong. Good governance is always critical to the solution.

To find out more about good governance in charities and social enterprises, including the support and training we offer, please contact us at julian@almondtreeconsulting.co.uk to arrange free initial telephone discussion.