Purpose

Effective succession planning is a necessity to ensure stability of an agency during a period of leadership transition.  It also provides an opportunity for strategic thinking regarding future agency priorities and needs.

Description

Please LET US KNOW if you have suggestions of any SUCCESSION PLANNING AND EMERGING LEADERSHIP items that might be added.

The following Succession Planning and Emerging Leadership items are featured in this posting:

• Succession Planning Draft Policy - Washington County EOC
• Succession Planning Workshops - State CAP Associations
• Executive Transition Program - CompassPoint Nonprofit Services
• Executive Transitions Monograph Series - Annie E. Casey Foundation
• TransitionGuides
• Other Helpful Resources
• Books, Reports and Articles

Succession Planning Draft Policy
Washington County EOC

Washington County EOC established a Succession Planning Draft Policy based on a template developed by the Center for Nonprofit Advancement.  Provisions are included both for temporary unplanned absences (short-term and long-term) and for permanent changes in (a) the Executive Director, (b) Program Director positions, and (c) administrative staff.

The template also includes:

• Checklist for Acceptance of All Types of Emergency Succession Plans (p. 11)
• Information and Contact Inventory (pp. 12 - 20)

Succession Planning Workshops
State CAP Associations

A number of State CAP Associations have offered training on succession planning such as:

• Leadership, Executive Management, & Succession Planning Retreat – Florida Association for Community Action
• Building Leaderful Organizations: Succession Planning for Nonprofits – Indiana Community Action Association

Executive Transitions Program
CompassPoint Nonprofit Services

The Executive Transitions Program under CompassPoint features a number of items including:

• Managing Executive Transitions: A Guide for Nonprofits – Recommends a transformational process of three phases: Prepare, Pivot, and Thrive. The Guide includes 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 – Table of Contents and List of Tools.
  Emergency Succession Plan – Sample plan special  with emphasis given to identifying the key leadership functions carried by the executive, identifying the agency managers best qualified to step into the executive role in an emergency, and prescribing the cross-training necessary to prepare the back-up managers to cover the leadership functions.  One major side benefit to implementing this plan is a management team with enhanced leadership skills.
• Sustainability Audit: Anonymous Staff Survey – A powerful tool for identifying both high priority organizational challenges and the skills needed in the next executive is a staff questionnaire.
• Sustainability Audit: Stakeholder Interview Questions – Essential to valid agency assessment are the views of persons external to the organization – funders, peer agencies, community members.
• Sabbaticals: A Checklist for Preparing, Managing, and Re-Entering for planning and mining the learnings of an executive sabbatical--a way of testing the bench strength of your organization. 

Executive Transitions Monograph Series
Annie E. Casey Foundation

Annie E. Casey Foundation Executive Transitions Monograph Series

• Volume 1: Capturing the Power of Leadership Change: Using Executive Transition Management to Strengthen Organizational Capacity (2004) – This report highlights the challenges associated with executive transitions and describes the model of executive management transition that has been used in the last decade.  It also details opportunities for funders to further develop and implement strategies to better cope with executive management transitions.
• Volume 2: Interim Executive Directors: The Power in the Middle (2005) – This paper explores the benefits and basics of using an interim executive director during a leadership transition. It also highlights some considerations that organizations should take into account when deciding whether or not to use an interim executive director.
• Volume 3: Founder Transitions: Creating Good Endings and New Beginnings: A Guide for Executive Directors and Boards (2005) – This guide examines the unique challenges presented by transitions involving founders or long-term executives. It provides clear advice for executives and their boards in confronting the complex issues these transitions present.
• Volume 4: Up Next: Generation Change and the Leadership of Nonprofit Organizations (2005) – Research indicates that leadership transitions from the Baby Boom generation to Generations X and Y will become more common within the nonprofit sector.  This report delivers a series of recommendations on how a variety of stakeholders can improve the hand-off from this generation of leaders to the next.
• Volume 5: Staying Engaged, Stepping Up: Succession Planning and Executive Transition Management for Nonprofit Boards of Directors (2006) – This publication focuses particularly on board leaders.  It provides a set of practical perspectives, hands-on tools, brief case studies, and useful resources to help board chairs, officers, and members take a proactive approach to preparing their organizations for a transition.  Includes A Practical Self-Assessment, Succession Planning on Your Own, and Transition Management on Your Own.
• Volume 6: Building Leaderful Organizations: Succession Planning for Nonprofits (2008) – The development of leadership skills throughout an organization is a key strategy for succession planning and strengthening capacity.  This publication presents emergency succession planning tools (an important “risk management” practice).  It offers executive directors concrete guidance for thinking about when and how to leave an organization. It also includes suggestions for boards in being proactive in assuring the sustainability of the organizations for which they are responsible.  Includes Preparing for the Inevitable: A Succession Readiness Checklist, Key Steps for Emergency Succession Planning, The Nuts and Bolts of Departure-Defined Succession Planning, and Am I Still a Leader This Agency Needs (questions for self-reflection). 

Other Related Publications from the Annie E. Casey Foundation

• Ready-to-Lead? Next Generation Leaders Speak Out (2008)
• Next Shift: Beyond the Nonprofit Leadership Crisis (2008)
• Leadership Transitions: A Rough Wave to Ride (2007)
• What’s Next? Baby Boom-Age Leaders in Social Nonprofits (2006)
• Nonprofit Executive Leadership and Transitions Report - Summary (2004)
• Finding Opportunity in Transition – Casey Connects (Fall 2004)

TransitionGuides

TransitionGuides is dedicated to sustaining and strengthening nonprofits through better managed leadership transitions and related organizational development.

• Leadership Guide - Free e-newsletter for those interested in helping to strengthen nonprofit organizations during leadership change.
• FAQs About Executive Transition and Succession Planning
• Transition Tips for Departing Executives
• Transition Success Factors
• Preparing for an Executive Transition - A Step-by-Step Approach to the "Getting Ready" Phase
• Elements of a Succession Plan Policy including a Sample Executive Succession Plan Policy
• Leader Development & Emergency Succession Planning: An Organizational Planning Workbook
• Emergency Succession Planning: A Tool for Preparing for the Executive Director’s Absence
• Abramson Center Case Study
• From Maryland Food Bank Case Study – After working with hundreds of founder/long-term executives, TransitionGuides has identified the biggest danger zones:
  • Poor communication between executive and Board about when and how the executive will leave.  How things begin are often the way they end.  If the executive feels disrespected or pushed by the Board or if the Board feels trampled or manipulated by the executive, communication breaks down and may never fully recover.  These are emotionally loaded conversations that require an executive to be clear about his/her plans and to want the Board to be ready to step up and guide the organization through this major milestone.  A strained start at the beginning of a transition often gets amplified without help and attention.
  • Lack of appreciation about the full impact of the executive’s departure on the organization.  How will the departure impact funding and the organization’s ability to get things done?
  • Failed searches.  Poorly managed searches sometimes do not allow enough time to release an attachment to departing leader or become an effort to find an exact replica of a departing leader.
  • Lack of attention to how hard it is to be a successor.  The successor role is challenging.  Without sufficient support from the Board and positive transition management, a successor can easily stumble.

Other Helpful Resources

• Strategic Leadership Development Toolkit - Greater Milwaukee Foundation
  Managing Executive Transitions Handbook (1998) from the National Reinvestment Corporation outlines steps to follow during three major phases of an executive director’s transition: Getting Ready, Recruiting and Hiring, and Post-Hiring.
• Nonprofit Succession Planning: Workshop Toolkit from the Initiative Foundation includes workshop presentation, workshop handouts, and Emergency Succession Plan Template.
• Executive Director Transitions: An Organizational Development Approach from Organizational Development Practitioner.
• Guidelines for Hiring/Transitioning to a New Chief Executive in Nonprofit or For-Profit Organizations from the Free Management Library.
• Sample Succession Plan from the Association of Baltimore Area Grantmakers.
• Succession Planning Checklist for the Chief Executive from the United Way of King County.
• Hiring Toolkit: Navigating the Hiring Process – Bridgestar provides a Hiring Toolkit for no charge to help nonprofit organizations develop and implement an effective hiring process for senior management positions.
• Four Critical Aspects of Negotiating CEO Employment Contracts (includes sample contract) from Nonprofitlaw.com. 

Books, Reports and Articles

• BoardSource Books
  • Chief Executive Transitions: How to Hire and Support a Nonprofit CEO – When a nonprofit finds itself in need of a new chief executive, managing the transition effectively is crucial to the organization’s future impact and continued success.  Properly handled, the process can be an opportunity to enhance the organization and add to its effectiveness.  Chief Executive Transitions by Don Tebbe will not only help boards navigate the hiring process but also oversee a successful leadership transition.  It includes checklists, key questions board members will need to answer as they go through the process, and practical real-life examples.  The accompanying CD-ROM includes 13 helpful documents, including a resume scoring sheet, sample timeline, sample interview questions, and a sample 90-day entry plan to help ensure the success of the newly hired chief executive.
  • Chief Executive Succession Planning: The Board’s Role in Securing Your Organization’s Future – How ready are you for a leadership transition?  In Chief Executive Succession Planning, author Nancy R. Axelrod explains why it is important for your board to have a leadership transition plan whether or not you anticipate an upcoming executive search.  Learn how to devise an ongoing chief executive officer succession plan that is linked to the strategic planning, mission, and vision of your organization.  Help your board prepare for the future by tying the needs of the organization into the chief executive officer job description and chief executive officer evaluation.
• Board Café Articles
  • Succession Planning for Nonprofits of All Sizes
  • When the Executive Director Leaves: The Job Of The Board's Executive Transition Committee
• The Mejorando Group
  • Succession Planning: An Idea Whose Time Has Come
  • The Myths and Realities of Succession Planning
  • Incorporating Succession Planning Into Your Organization includes a Twenty Question Self-Assessment for Your Organization.
• Departing? Arriving? Surviving and Thriving: Lessons for Seasoned and New Executives (2002) from the NonProfit Quarterly – This article provides practical guidance for CEO succession planning, with a particular focus on founders and executive directors of long tenure.
• Interim Executives: When What You Planned No Longer Works from TransitionCEO.
• Succession Planning Project Final Report – Summary (2006) from The Neighborhood Partnership Fund.
• Report on Perspectives on Executive Succession in Nonprofit Organizations from the Center for Nonprofit Strategy and Management.
• Stepping Up: A Board’s Challenge in Leadership Transition from the Support Center for Nonprofit Management.
• Planning Successful Transitions: Preparing for a Leader’s Departure Can Prevent Problems from The Chronicle of Philanthropy.
• Losing Your Executive Director Without Losing Your Way (2004) – Information and tools needed to make a smooth and successful transition when an executive director leaves.  Outlines a seven-step program that can be used by the Board to make an optimal transition that will ensure the continued success of the organization.
• Help4Nonprofits Articles
  • Succession Planning: The Elephant in the Room
  • Executive Transition as a Celebration of What’s Possible (or How Standard Executive Hiring is Set Up to Fail)
  • Searching for Key Employees: The 7 No-No’s of Hiring
• Emergency Succession Planning for Nonprofits from the Donors Forum of Wisconsin.

Outcomes

Effective succession planning is a necessity to ensure stability of an agency during a period of leadership transition.  It also provides an opportunity for strategic thinking regarding future agency priorities and needs. 

Staff involvement with leadership development helps promote a strong commitment toward the mission of Community Action.  Participation in leadership development across all departments increases knowledge about the agency’s overall efforts and fosters working relationships among staff.  Support for leadership development skills also helps equip staff for future job promotion opportunities.