Succession planning – I wish we’d done it

The executive director of one nonprofit, who had served for five years, told his board chair in confidence that in another three years he would like to return to his home state. The board chair fired the executive director on the spot and announced to the board that he would like to be the next executive director. There was no formal search, no assessment of what the organization needed now and no evaluation of the board chair’s ability to be an executive director. The board agreed but 18 months later fired this executive director. While this board obviously had many problems, a succession planning discussion could have lead to a more orderly executive transition and a strengthening of other areas of governance.

In another nonprofit, that had never discussed succession planning, the executive director secretly interviewed for other positions and only let his board know when he had accepted one. With very short notice and no one from the organization ready to assume leadership, the board had to conduct a search for an interim executive director. Fortunately they hired well and the interim leader restored staff morale, provided professional development for the staff and the board and discovered financial irregularities. While this board had members who were pillars of the community it did not have board members who were meeting their governance obligations for financial oversight or developing a relationship with the executive director.