Comments on: Career Path & Transition http://daringtolead.org/paths/career-path-transition/ A national study of nonprofit executive leadership Fri, 27 Jan 2012 01:33:21 +0000 hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.4.1 By: Molly Cannon Stevenson, CFRE http://daringtolead.org/paths/career-path-transition/#comment-28 Molly Cannon Stevenson, CFRE Fri, 15 Jul 2011 22:51:04 +0000 http://daringtolead.org/?p=758#comment-28 I agree with Jean. And, what could we do to support local funders to support well-managed transitions, professional development and succession in their grantee organizations? I agree with Jean. And, what could we do to support local funders to support well-managed transitions, professional development and succession in their grantee organizations?

]]> By: Jean Lobell http://daringtolead.org/paths/career-path-transition/#comment-19 Jean Lobell Thu, 30 Jun 2011 19:01:54 +0000 http://daringtolead.org/?p=758#comment-19 Your study gives meaning to one elusive process for most nonprofit organizations – the challenge of succession or leadership transition planning. Boards and EDs are of course concerned about WHO would lead the organization once the current executive leaves. However, our sector has not paid as much attention to HOW and WHEN this process should take place. The data in this study attests to this with only 17% of organizations reporting having a documented succession plan. With only a third of executives feeling very confident that their boards will hire the right successor when they leave, what can be done to support Boards in exercising more thoughtful and systematic planning around leadership transitions? Board members are not necessarily schooled in this process unless they have been part of such a process in another setting. The challenge is exacerbated by the fact that this is additional work for Board members whose plates are already quite full. CRE has a healthy search practice and one of the challenges we have had to manage are Boards who are well intentioned but under-prepared to make leadership transition decisions. With about a third of leaders indicating that there would not be a credible staff candidate for the executive position should they leave today, Boards are therefore faced with external candidates whom they have to really get to know within several interactions and from resumes that are understandably written in the most positive light. To do this effectively, Boards have to be crystal clear about the criteria and success indicators for the kind of leadership the organization needs for the next 3-5 years. This plus a sharper screening and vetting process of external candidates is paramount to avoiding “mishires.” Such a process is part of a high quality leadership transition plan. Related to the dearth of succession planning is the low occurrence of effective ED performance evaluations. Effective and useful performance reviews are helpful not only for the ED but also the Board. It becomes incumbent upon the latter to get to know the responsibilities, accomplishments, and challenges of the ED, as well as the impact of the ED’s performance on the organization. It is an excellent prelude to thinking about the kind of leadership the organization needs for the future, which of course is the foundation of a good succession plan. So why don’t our nonprofits give more attention to this? What can we do to support Boards and executives take on this process? We have some thoughts which we will post in our CRE blog soon. Jean Lobell Senior Managing Director Community Resource Exchange Your study gives meaning to one elusive process for most nonprofit organizations – the challenge of succession or leadership transition planning. Boards and EDs are of course concerned about WHO would lead the organization once the current executive leaves. However, our sector has not paid as much attention to HOW and WHEN this process should take place. The data in this study attests to this with only 17% of organizations reporting having a documented succession plan.

With only a third of executives feeling very confident that their boards will hire the right successor when they leave, what can be done to support Boards in exercising more thoughtful and systematic planning around leadership transitions? Board members are not necessarily schooled in this process unless they have been part of such a process in another setting. The challenge is exacerbated by the fact that this is additional work for Board members whose plates are already quite full.

CRE has a healthy search practice and one of the challenges we have had to manage are Boards who are well intentioned but under-prepared to make leadership transition decisions. With about a third of leaders indicating that there would not be a credible staff candidate for the executive position should they leave today, Boards are therefore faced with external candidates whom they have to really get to know within several interactions and from resumes that are understandably written in the most positive light. To do this effectively, Boards have to be crystal clear about the criteria and success indicators for the kind of leadership the organization needs for the next 3-5 years. This plus a sharper screening and vetting process of external candidates is paramount to avoiding “mishires.” Such a process is part of a high quality leadership transition plan.

Related to the dearth of succession planning is the low occurrence of effective ED performance evaluations. Effective and useful performance reviews are helpful not only for the ED but also the Board. It becomes incumbent upon the latter to get to know the responsibilities, accomplishments, and challenges of the ED, as well as the impact of the ED’s performance on the organization. It is an excellent prelude to thinking about the kind of leadership the organization needs for the future, which of course is the foundation of a good succession plan.

So why don’t our nonprofits give more attention to this? What can we do to support Boards and executives take on this process? We have some thoughts which we will post in our CRE blog soon.

Jean Lobell
Senior Managing Director
Community Resource Exchange

]]>