In both the nonprofit and for profit sectors of business, an organization cannot thrive unless it has strong leadership throughout, but especially at the top.
In any organization there is a founder and sometimes this founder has a way of creating problems for the organization because they are not ready to step down when it is their time to do so. They have a sense of where they want the organization to go, and they stay until it is almost too late.
Every one of us has a purpose, and it’s important for a leader who is also a founder to recognize theirs and appreciate there may come a point in the growth and development of the business where it’s time to step down and let new leadership come in and take the organisation through the next phase.
Some will fight this, or ignore their true strengths and attempt to carry on. A few will try and manipulate the process so that it becomes more single minded than shared. When this happens, you no longer have a leader, but someone who is attempting to make the organization into something they own.
Strong leadership understands that being a leader is about developing not only their skills but the skills of others in their organization. As the old cliché says, Rome wasn’t built in a day and organizations are not built with out the help of strong leadership at the helm.
Sometimes leaders found an organization and drive it for awhile, but are afraid to turn it over to others because they don’t have the same vision. However, strong leaders have the ability to communicate their vision to others in the organizations and rally them around the purpose and mission.
There is a point in all organizations when leadership needs to change or step down. When you own an organization that you have built from the beginning, you have to assess it at every interval. There comes the time when you are no longer the best person for the job, and this is the time when it is time to step down.
All leaders face this at one time or another and it is nothing to be ashamed of but it does take courage to do. Allowing others to take the vision and run with it can be difficult, but the better leaders understand that for the good of the company, this is what needs to happen. And stepping down doesn’t mean stepping out. Remember what makes you good at what you do. Someone who has built something from scratch has a wealth of experience they can share whether it’s mentoring other start ups, developing written material etc. Whatever happens, it is a very positive step in their leadership and the continued success of something they gave birth to, and nurtured along the way.