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Capability Company

A Message from our President

Hello,

In an article this summer, I gave some thoughts regarding a permanent vs. a temporary replacement for your senior director. I received such good feedback that in this month's article, I'd like to follow it up with thoughts about how to facilitate a smooth transition from the founder to the next generation of senior management.

Speaking of smooth transitions, we'd like to congratulate Staci Barfield, the new Executive Director for National Students of AMF Support Network. We'd also like to congratulate Pam O'Connor, the new Vice President of Audience Development for the North Carolina Symphony. Best of luck to both of you in your new roles.

As always, don't forget to review our event calendar as you plan your schedule for the upcoming months. Please note that National Make A Difference Day is on October 24. I hope you and your organization will find a way to make a difference of your own on this special day.

My best to you and yours,


Sherry Heuser
President

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Sherry Heuser's profile on LinkedIn


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Article of the Month

Word count: 396
Approximate Reading Time: 5 Minutes

Successful Transitions from Founding Directors
to the Next Generation

by Sherry Heuser

We know and love them--the people who advocate well for a cause, the ones we support by donating our time and money, even if we didn't know anything about the subject before meeting them.

They are willing to go beyond talking about the importance of an issue, and instead take action toward finding solutions to problems. They are founders of nonprofit organizations.

When founders retire or leave for other reasons, search committees can find it challenging to separate the individual's legacy of work and passion for the mission from the organization's current needs and future plans. Many struggle to balance honoring the past and respecting the history that established the organization and made it what it is today, and advancing the mission in an ever-changing environment, allowing the next generation to move the cause forward.

What elements are present in organizations that successfully transition from a founding director? Some qualities in common include:

  1. A readiness to have a new leader--especially one who will bring his or her own personality, style, history, experience, strengths, and vision to the position and organization.
  2. An understanding of what the current and expected organizational needs are, focusing on finding the right fit in a leader to address the priorities and plans, without either trying to find a clone of the founder or reacting the polar-opposite way and looking for someone extremely different.
  3. Open and honest communication of the organizational needs and plans.
  4. A team--staff, board, donors, stakeholders, and community members--that agrees on the needs, priorities and plans. Guaranteeing that everyone who needs to be part of the process is involved is critical to accomplishing consensus.
  5. Clear identification of the key decision-makers for the process, and authorization for them to act on behalf of the organization.
  6. A careful evaluation of the internal relations, organizational structure, culture and environment, and tasks and roles, and an understanding of the impact these have on the search process and, ultimately, on the newly hired employee.
  7. A willingness to consider applicants who are different from the founder and who the committee envisions as the next leader--both on paper and in person.

The Bottom Line:  In the end, to successfully transition from a founder to a new leader, a search committee must recognize that they seek someone to lead the organization through its NEXT phase, not the previous phases.

 

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Event Calendar

Visit the current calendar of events on our website.

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In This Issue

Current Searches
Article of the Month
The Bottom Line
Event Calendar

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A Client's Perspective

"You made this process seamless and appear effortless! It was a pleasure working with [you]."


Cheryl Pickard
Environmental Defense Fund

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8300 Clarks Branch Drive | Raleigh, North Carolina 27613 | 919.791.3700
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