Praxis Series Paper No. 9: Leadership Transition – Overcoming the threat of Founder’s Syndrome

A change in leadership is “usually rocky, painful, risky and sometimes even fatal”, particularly when founders are involved. This Praxis Paper, written by Rick James, expands on a series of INTRAC blogs from 2016 and focuses on the challenging, but normal process of leadership transition, particularly with founder leaders. By drawing on the experiences of a number of CSOs which have undergone the process, the paper explores how it can be made as smooth as possible.