Managing Executive Transitions

by Wolfred, Tim

• ISBN13: 9780940069572
• ISBN10: 0940069571
• Format: Paperback
• Copyright: 2009-06-09
• Publisher: Fieldstone Alliance

Summary

A leadership transition can be a time of high vulnerability for a nonprofit organization. On the other hand, an executive turnover offers unique opportunities for renewal and fresh thinking. Managing Executive Transitions shows how this state of transition can give board and staff members a chance to put things back together in new and creative ways¿to discard some old pieces and to bring in fresh elements. Nonprofit boards and executive directors will find practical advice on how to manage leadership turnovers in ways that can heighten mission impact while avoiding potential downsides. Author Tim Wolfred recommends a transformational process of three phases: Prepare, Pivot, and Thrive. * In the Prepare phase board members, staff, volunteers, and funders engage in an efficient process for updating the agency's strategic directions and crafting a profile of the skills needed in the next executive. * In the Pivot phase a search ensues, conducted by a board reinvigorated and excited about the agency's future impact. * In the Thrive phase the board engages the newly hired executive as a leadership partner and gives him or her clear performance priorities derived from the strategic directions. Engaging case studies and hands-on tools such as planning agendas, timelines, sample letters, and communication tips will smooth the transition to new executive leadership.

Author Biography

Before founding the Executive Transitions program at CompassPoint Nonprofit Services in 1997, Tim Wolfred served sixteen times as interim executive director of San Francisco Bay Area nonprofits. He is a coauthor of Daring to Lead and Daring to Lead 2006, and he is the author of Interim Executive Directors: The Power in the Middle and Building Leaderful Organizations: Succession Planning for Nonprofits.

Table of Contents

List of Tools	p. vii
About the Author	p. ix
About CompassPoint Nonprofit Services	p. ix
Acknowledgments	p. xi
Introduction	p. 1
Goals of the Book	p. 2
Who This Book Is For	p. 3
How to Use This Book	p. 4
Where to Start Reading	p. 6
Leadership Transitions as Opportunities for Agency Renewal	p. 9
Model and Rationale	p. 9
Types of Transitions	p. 14
Essential Elements of a Successful Leadership Transition	p. 23
The Three Phases of Executive Transition Management	p. 23
The Essential Elements for a Successful Transition	p. 26
Prepare	p. 31
Getting Organized	p. 31
Updating the Agency's Leadership Agenda	p. 44
Creating the Candidate Profile	p. 58
Pivot	p. 61
Upgrading Organizational Capacity	p. 61
Attending to Staff Transition Needs	p. 62
The Search	p. 63
Screening and Hiring	p. 77
Thrive	p. 103
Getting Started	p. 103
Orientation	p. 104
Performance Goals and Evaluation	p. 107
Building the Board and Executive Team	p. 114
Professional Development for the New Executive	p. 116
Transition Topics	p. 119
Considerations for the Long-Tenured Executive	p. 119
The Role of the Departing Executive	p. 123
Dealing with Internal Candidates	p. 125
Crafting Exit Packages	p. 126
Grooming a Successor	p. 127
Embracing Diversity and Difference	p. 128
Using an Interim Executive Director	p. 129
Choosing and Using Consultants and Recruiters	p. 131
Afterword	p. 135
Stepping Up: A Board's Challenge in Leadership Transition	p. 139
Emergency Succession-Planning Template	p. 149
Emergency Succession Plan	p. 149
Resources	p. 155
Web Sites	p. 155
Bibliography	p. 156
Notes	p. 159
Index	p. 161
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