Interim Executive Directors Offer Solution to Leadership Void, Guide Says

Filling the Gap: The Interim Executive Director Solution, A Manual for Staff, Board and Consultants Dealing with Leadership Transition in Arts Organizations, by Daniel Y. Mayer, offers advice to arts groups in the market for a new chief executive. The guide urges organizations to consider tapping an experienced outsider to provide temporary leadership while the search for a permanent replacement proceeds. Produced by the Illinois Arts Alliance Foundation with support from the Chicago Community Trust, it says that by choosing an interim director, organizations can avoid making an overly hasty decision about hiring a new leader. And while interim leaders won’t be able to carry out long-term solutions, they will very likely bring more experience—and less baggage or bias—than someone elevated temporarily from within the organization. The manual discusses how the interim director’s job differs from that of other executive directors, advises people in the nonprofit world on whether they should consider employment as interim leaders, and provides insight into the role of an artistic director in the leadership transition. It also offers information on where to find a good temporary director and how to draft a letter of agreement with one.

Publisher: Illinois Arts Alliance Foundation, 200 North Michigan Avenue, Suite 404, Chicago, Ill. 60601; (312) 855-3105; fax (312) 855-1565; info@artsalliance.org; http://www.artsalliance.org; 27 pages; $22; ISBN 0-9741107-1-x.