Nonprofit chief executives and board chairs share the desire for their organizations to thrive. Developing a strong working relationship is essential to making this happen. Leading by example – as a cohesive team – you set a tone that can resonate organization-wide. […]
Leading a nonprofit is hard work. Internal and external issues arise that demand attention, and the solutions may not be easy. When issues go unattended, they may become so significant that they potentially endanger the organization somehow. But this doesn’t need to be the case. With strong leadership and skillful use of board meeting agendas, nonprofit executives and their boards can have important conversations so they may be proactive and responsive and not caught off guard. […]
A nonprofit executive director’s performance review is about more than how well they do their job. For the chief executive, it is about leadership, professional development, sharing accomplishments (personal and organizational), receiving feedback, and goal setting. For the board, the chief executive’s performance evaluation is about leadership, fiduciary responsibility, being a responsible employer, goal setting and achievement, and success – success for the organization and the individual. […]
Earlier this fall, an executive coaching client introduced me to the following quote by Existential psychiatrist Viktor E. Frankl, which continues to resonate in my mind:
“Between stimulus and response there is a space. In that space is our power to choose our response. In our response lies our growth and our freedom.”
You have just hired a new senior executive. Congratulations! Now what?
When the search activities conclude, the transition continues, and a well-planned onboarding process is critical. In the best scenario, a transition task force (which might be the search committee) will have contact with the new executive in the period from offer acceptance to the first day on the job. Having a plan for this “in-between” time will make onboarding go more smoothly. It will also permit the transition task force to discuss onboarding with the new executive to learn what they would like included.
Onboarding a new nonprofit executive may seem daunting. Depending on […]
Welcome to Your (New) World!
It’s 7:00 p.m. on Saturday. The doorbell rings. You open the door and greet your dinner guests. You say, “So glad to see you! The coat closet is over there (pointing). Make yourselves at home. Just go in the kitchen, I think there’s some wine and some food. You’re smart, I know you’ll figure it out and cook up something. I’m going to run upstairs and take a shower. Back soon.” […]
As the adage goes, the only constant in life is change. When a transition occurs at the top of any organization, it needs to be managed with good judgment and planning for the future success of the organization and all its stakeholders. In a nonprofit, it is the board’s role to handle this process. […]
It was not necessarily my intention to mine any further the situation put forth in my blog post, Executive Transition: Cautionary Tale #1 – Settling for Less. I had a completely different topic in mind for this post. However, it turns out that the last lines of the Cautionary Tale #1 are haunting me now. […]
Last month, I shared a cautionary tale about what can go wrong when an organization compromises in its choice of a new executive director due to search fatigue or poor preparation.
This month, I present a tale about what can happen in an executive transition when there is a lack of goodwill among the board of directors and a lapse in honoring one’s role as a trustee of an organization. […]
This post is the first of two that discuss what can go wrong when hiring a nonprofit executive.This month I’ll talk about what happens when a board of directors settles for less and the downside of fatigue with the process. Next month I’ll discuss what can happen when a board member undermines the transition process.
Hiring a nonprofit executive is too important to do with anything but the utmost of care. Even with strong planning something can go wrong. That’s real life. What is truly unfortunate is when an executive transition is not successful when, with more attention to the […]