Preparing for a Nonprofit CEO Transition
One of the greatest fears of a nonprofit Board of Directors is that their CEO will leave during their tenure. They are rightfully concerned with numerous issues, including:
Leadership capacity beyond the CEO
Potential departure of other staff
Potential reduction in funding
Potential disruption to mission delivery
Potential loss of confidence and support of various stakeholders
And all of this for an unknown amount of time
Given these very real fears, it is interesting that Boards often leave the business of transition to a small group of volunteers and staff who may have limited experience with executive transitions and who are not familiar with the resources available to them, of which there are many.
It’s important to note that CEO transitions aren’t just the hiring of a new leader. They involve preparation (e.g. capturing information from the current CEO, staff cross-training and alignment, communication plans), search and hire (e.g. developing the job description that reflects the needs of the organization now, making sure that the person is right fit), and onboarding (e.g. opportunity for the new CEO to listen, learn, meet, acclimate, and get set on the path to success). When done well, it’s a robust process that requires due diligence, strategy, sensitivity, staff engagement, effective communication, and more.
Of course, we at Clarity Transitions are ready and able to help. But if that’s not an option, then it behooves those involved to research how best to manage the process. Why does this matter? Because if managed poorly, those greatest fears can be realized. Difficult transitions, like those which are unanticipated, emergency or board-initiated, may leave an organization especially vulnerable. You certainly do not want to make the wrong hire and have the “unintentional interim”, the new CEO who leaves within a short period of time, leaving you to start all over again.
Where do you find these resources? Clarity Transitions has a Succession Planning Toolkit that can help you navigate this unknown territory. (www.claritytransitions.net) Also, BoardSource has numerous guides that can help. (https://boardsource.org/fundamental-topics-of-nonprofit-board-service/executive-transition)
It is definitely worth the time and effort to manage a CEO transition well so as to keep your organization strong and sustainable and its mission on track!