Time to fold

John Elway left on the top of his game. Jerry Sienfeld called it quits when his show was wildly successful. And Opah Winfrey threw in the towel when her show had record viewers to move on to other ventures.

This is about knowing when it is time to step down, gracefully. As Jim Collins references in his Good to Great and the Social Sector, 2005, are you [still] on the right bus in the right seat. If not, maybe it is time to move on. This is much easier said than done. We are invested in the organization we started or have served for many years and it is hard to let go. We often think others do not have the commitment we do to carry on or cannot do the work as well as us. However, hanging is not good. Know when it is time to leave and make sure you are leaving your nonprofit in good hands, this is your legacy.

I have been diagnosed with founder’s syndrome but I learned to let go, let the new people take the lead and grow the organization. When this realization came for me it was a relief. I wish for others the same actualization.

Standford University’s Entrepreneurship Center, http://ecorner.stanford.edu/authorMaterialInfo.html?mid=2233