The singular most important decision any board of directors will make is that of selecting the chief executive of the organization.  In particular, the challenge of replacing the long-term or founding Executive Director can be daunting for a number of legitimate reasons.

Among those reasons:

• The organization is highly identified with the chief executive.
• The chief executive has crafted and created a unique culture, narrative story, programs, relationships and vision.
• The special combination of skills, competencies, temperament, leadership personality and alignment with the vision is difficult to see in another individual.
• The board has never had to deal with this issue before and they don’t know where to start.

Adding to this the challenge of not only finding the right person, but finding the right person with the right process, one can understand why most boards tend to avoid addressing this issue until they absolutely have no choice.  One of the unique challenges of executive transition in the nonprofit sector is that there are so many stakeholders; board, staff, clients, funders- and they all have legitimate concerns about who the next leader will be, and how that person will be chosen.

Enter the Board Executive Transition Committee.

The entire board is not equipped, nor is it appropriate for the full board to run the search and transition.  It is an intensive, time-consuming process that requires the focused attention of a select group of board members who will provide guidance and oversight of a carefully crafted process. Often, the support of outside assistance is critical to a successful process.

Nothing is more frustrating and potentially harmful to a nonprofit organization than selecting the wrong leader, or selecting the right leader with a poor process that debilitates the new leader’s ability to get traction and move forward in an intentional and effective manner.  It is best to do it once well than twice poorly.

The issues are many and the amount of work it takes to understand the organization and the required competencies to find and select the right candidate and orient/assist/ integrate the incoming leader into the organization is a staggering amount of work for a board to take on alone.

Responsibilities of the Executive Transition Committee include:

• Select and supervise outside consultant
• Work with the consultant to craft a thoughtful and intentional process
• Develop internal and external communication strategies
• Identify key competencies and capacities of leadership
• Help identify potential sources and candidates
• Work with consultant to screen top tier candidates
• Act as interview panel
• Identify the appropriate roles of stakeholders
• Develop a process of identification of finalists and selection
• Negotiate offer letter with finalists
• Provide guidance on the work-plan, metrics and incoming executive orientation
• Acts as liaison to board and external constituents
• Help define and celebrate departing executive legacy

The ETC is responsible for being a partner and collaborator in what we understand as the three phase executive search and leadership process.