Weitere ähnliche Inhalte Ähnlich wie Don’t Leap To A New Leader! (20) Kürzlich hochgeladen (20) Don’t Leap To A New Leader!1. Don’t Leap To A New Leader!
Chris Dame
Use Twitter Hashtag #npweb
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2. Helping ordinary people raise extraordinary amounts for nonprofits is all we do, and we love it.
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3. Today’s Speaker
Chris Dame
President and Founder,
Non-Profit Transitions
Hosting: Sam Frank, Synthesis Partnership
Assisting with chat questions: April Hunt, Nonprofit Webinars
5. Today’s Webinar is about
• Making Transition Time more effective
• Improve ED Hiring
• Prepare for future success
• Improve Board’s understanding of
Leadership Needs
• Create excitement - next chapter
• Help new ED - “taking care of business”
© NPT LLC
6. Leadership Transition is like
climbing a mountain
•Need Map
•Need Guide
•Need Tools
•Need Teamwork
•Need Plan
•Need Luck
© NPT LLC
9. Special Challenges
• Founders & long
term leaders
• Confusion – leader
w. mission
• Emperor’s Syndrome
• Fired Leaders
• Recovery – focus on
mission
• Attention to deficits
© NPT LLC
10. National Studies
• Annie E. Casey Foundation
• NE Executive Trans. Partnership
• Takeaways:
– many ED’s leaving soon
• ~10%/yr
• 66-71% w/i five yrs
– Boards need to be ready
– Np’s do not mentor well
– Weak bench strength
– No back up quarterback
© NPT LLC
11. Planned transitions are rare
• Large number of
non-profits (NCCS)
– 29 k in MA
– 1.5 m in US
• Every organization
changes leaders
© NPT LLC
14. The Board is busy
Focused on future & leadership
Operations = distraction
Transition influences future
© NPT LLC
15. Transition Period ≠
Stagnation
• Assessment
• Introduce change
• Strengthen Leadership
• Build the Base
• Look to Future
© NPT LLC
16. Search Consultant is NOT
enough
• Focus = Build Bright Future
• Untouched:
Daily Operations
Organizational Changes
Middle Management Leadership
• Relationship = Board only
© NPT LLC
18. Questions at Several Levels:
• Board
Do we just need another “Harry ”
What does the ED job REALLY entail
What is OUR mission tomorrow
What does that mean for leadership needs
How do we attract an exiting new leader
© NPT LLC
19. Questions - Staff
Who’s in charge?
What are we really about?
Is this FINALLY time to address
old problems?
Who cares about US(the staff)?
Is the Board really listening?
© NPT LLC
22. Unplanned
– Death of ED
– ED involuntary sudden departure
(Firing/Forced resignation)
– ED’s voluntary rapid departure
(greener pastures)
© NPT LLC
23. Special Case – The
Founder/Emporor Syndrome
– Long tenure = difficult transition
– Legacy issues
– Loyalties (div btw old and new)
– Board leadership (can be lacking/old friends)
– Legacy threats (perceived and lead to:)
– Sabotage
© NPT LLC
24. William Bridges - Managing
Transitions: Making the Most of
Change
(2nd ed. Da Capo Press, 2003)
© NPT LLC
25. Bridges says
• Old paradigm
– Beginning – middle – end
• Bridges - Flips
– Endings (saying goodbye) leads to
– Middle - the neutral zone (unfocused
wandering), leads to
– Exciting new beginnings
© NPT LLC
26. Bridges lessons for
nonprofits
• people grieve – let them
• don’t skip the neutral zone
• help staff EXPERIENCE change
– THEN get excited about new growth
© NPT LLC
27. So What’s Needed?
• Change leader – wilderness
guide
• Challenge to GROW
• Caring, not caretaking
© NPT LLC
28. How long is transition?
• Depends
• Matches search process
• Six months
© NPT LLC
29. Why caretaker is wrong
• Caretakers are blind
– loyalty to past
– protect the status quo
• No movement thru Bridges zones
• Missed change opportunities
• No re-examination of mission &
leadership needs
• Standstill means to fall back
– LaPiana – competition is reality
© NPT LLC
30. What Makes Effective Interim
Leader?
• Objectivity
• Flexibility
• Judgment
• Future focus
• Thick skin
• Humility
© NPT LLC
38. 1. Existing employee
– Pros:
– Knows agency – fast start
– Employees know
– Reassuring to public
– Link to the “golden” past
– Link to Board – high trust
– Cons:
– Temporary promotions stir jealousy
– Caretakers become candidates
– Peter principle
– Retrograde difficult
© NPT LLC
39. 2. Board member
– Pros:
• Quick & easy & maybe cheap
• Knows organization (or thinks so)
• Keeps leadership team intact
• Organization knows him/her (or thinks so)
• Good board rapport
• strong link to search
• high trust level
• Continuity to outsiders (appearance)
• Familiar with mission
© NPT LLC
40. 2. Board member
– Cons:
• Governance skills ≠ executive skills
• Conflict – search vs. operations
• Possible Time constraints
• Board Power dynamic shifts
• Search consultant
• Retrograde difficult
• new CEO inherits critic & comparison
• ED/Board relationship complicated
• Unfair comparisons set up
© NPT LLC
41. Professional IED
– Pros:
• Experienced in transition
• Deliberate change agent
now is different from then
change is uncomfortable but good
encourage rising expectations
• Sets the stage for an empowered ED
• Offers new insights to the ED
• Reassures stakeholders
• Delivers bad news to Board
• Makes hard & unpopular decisions
© NPT LLC
44. Leader & CEO
Theme maker – what are we about?
Operator, hands-on – attend to business
Movement agent - keep organization
moving forward
Troubleshooter - meet problems that
come up
© NPT LLC
45. Counselor & Therapist
– Listen to staff tell stories
– Avoid he said/she said situations
– hold up a vision of the whole
• the mission
• possibilities for the future
• the need for teamwork
– Recognize noise as necessary
– Meet emotions with confidence & vision
© NPT LLC
46. Link or transition figure
• between the staff and the Board
• between the staff and the search
consultant
• between the past and present
• between the present and the future
© NPT LLC
47. Detective:
• Why is the organization here – what am
I seeing as its needs
• What needs am I not seeing – what’s
not revealed yet
• Where does the organization have to go
© NPT LLC
48. Change Agent – ask
questions like
– What needs to be done TODAY?
– What change can wait?
– How do I get people excited & moving
toward the future?
– What do stakeholders need to know
about?
– What does the new ED need to know?
© NPT LLC
49. Whip
– Hold people accountable
– Be firm - fair & consistent
– Move toward performance standards
– Align to best practices
– Cut the “fat’
– If you don’t do it NOW the new ED will have blood
on his/her hands
© NPT LLC
50. Mentor/advisor
– Advise Board on impacts to search
– Prepare the Board – set expectations
– Brief the new permanent leader
– Be available for consultation
© NPT LLC
51. What the IED is NOT!
• Miracle worker
Financial expert
Instant fund raising resource
Magnet for funders & regulators
• Staff buddy
• Disconnected from governance
• Substitute for strategic plan
© NPT LLC
52. IED’s Challenge - “H-E-L-P”
“H-
• Honor the Past
• Examine the present
• Look for (reasonable) change
• Plan for the future
© NPT LLC
54. Honor the Past
• Trash talk is unproductive
• Don’t point fingers
• Staff know the issues - better
• Staff can help or hinder
• Attitude set by how they observe
others treated – including former staff
© NPT LLC
55. Honor the Past
• Staff invested in agency’s past
• Want their story to positive
• Want jobs to have meaning
• Bad story demeans their investment
© NPT LLC
56. Few basic rules:
• Tell at least one good story about past
• Help people say goodbye to the past
• Link past to present & especially the
future
• talk up the promises of the future
© NPT LLC
58. Examine Mission
• Clear mission statement
• Reality match rhetoric
• Circumstances changed mission
• Impact of Leader’s departure
• Stakeholders needs & resources
• View of mission by:
– Outsiders
– Staff
– Board
• Use in ED recruitment
© NPT LLC
59. Examine Finance
• Paying bills – why not
• Collecting revenues – why
not
• Board fully aware of finances
• What elements need change -
pace
• New revenue sources
• Steps needed TODAY
© NPT LLC
60. Examine Stakeholder Relations
• Organization performing to
expectations
• Compliance standards met
• Stakeholders view OUR future
– same
– reduced
– potentially enlarged
• What stakeholder needs NOT
met?
• Is movement TODAY appropriate
© NPT LLC
61. Do Organizational Assessment
• Does structure match mission
• Are managers equal to positions &
funding
• Can organization afford current
staffing
• Changes needed - costs & benefits
• Are there legal considerations
• Timing for such changes – best early
• Complete changes and empower the
new ED
© NPT LLC
62. L = Look for Reasonable
Change
© NPT LLC
63. Ask questions like
• Old skeletons needing attention
• Staffing changes needed TODAY
• Financial operations improvements
• Stakeholder relationships - sound
© NPT LLC
65. Take Action to
• Strengthen Governance – to help
new ED
• ID important Stakeholder relations for
new ED
• ID most important challenges for the
new ED
© NPT LLC
66. Take Action to
• Crystallize Staff view of future
– Briefing book
– Dreams
• Clarify Mission Impact of
change
– Focus for new ED
– Board considerations
© NPT LLC
67. Conclusion – Remember
• All nonprofits change leaders
• Interval = opportunity for positive
change
• Board & the staff need self examination
• ACT to make change in the interim
• Key = objective interim leadership
• Interim Leader should H-E-L-P
• Set the stage - bright new chapter
© NPT LLC
69. Find the listings for our current season of webinars
and register at
NonprofitWebinars.com
Chris Dumas
Chris@NonprofitWebinars.com
707-812-1234
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