Charismatic Megafounders
“Whereas many individuals have ideas about different ways to improve the human condition [and] safeguard the environment, relatively few individuals in the world are sufficiently determined to set up an organizational entity to translate their ideas into reality,” management expert Stephen R. Block writes in Why Nonprofits Fail. We honor such people, Block writes. Admire them. And sometimes witness negative effects from their continued involvement with the organizations they create. He devotes an entire chapter of Why Nonprofits Fail to “Founder’s Syndrome,” where profound conflict arises between an organization’s needs as it matures, and the tenacious, driven, high-achievement leadership style of a founder who cannot seem to share control. Less dramatic, perhaps, but just as threatening to an organization’s long-term viability, is the situation where founders seem — to themselves or to others — irreplaceable. Founders like Pilai Poonswad [who founded the Thailand Hornbill Project nearly 50 years ago] are motivated by a passion for their cause that doesn’t blink at hardship or low or no pay. If an organization operates on a shoestring, who but a founder is willing to put on those shoes, and feel their pinch? And if the organization evolved around one key person with the unique skills, knowledge bases, and relationships to keep it running, how can it develop further when such leaders reach their limits? In our Summer print issue cover story, reporter Greg Harris digs into the work of environmental visionaries like Poonswad and explores what happens when charismatic movement leaders move on.
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