October 3, 2019 | Read Time: 5 minutes
About a year ago, TakeAction Minnesota, one of the largest social-justice organizations in the state, welcomed a new executive director for the first time since its founder began in that role.
The nonprofit was on solid footing when, in 2018, the founder and chief executive, Dan McGrath, announced his intention to depart after 12 years. But because so many strong organizations have stumbled or even crumbled when their founder moved on, McGrath and his staff set out to learn from peers and execute a strong transition.
After a six-month national search, the board selected Elianne Farhat, former program director, to be the new executive director.
Here are six lessons we learned from the experience that we’d like to share with other groups facing, or planning for, a transition to a new leader.
Give yourself plenty of time. We knew nine months ahead that Dan was planning to leave. Eighteen months before that, we had hired strong leaders for our programs and for the communications, finance, and development departments.
This enabled us to focus on the first public phase of the transition, which involveds hiring and training a new leader and debriefing the outgoing executive.
During this time, senior staff also gained input from board members, staff, grassroots leaders, and supporters. Then, together with the board, senior staff prepared the organization to welcome and follow its new leader.
It can be tempting to rush the transition process, but rushing can lead to the selection of the wrong candidate or a great candidate who may not have the ability to motivate your staff.
Develop a clear process and stick to it. We created a grid for the board to indicate which decisions it intended to make alone and which would require input from staff. We clearly defined what each person’s role would be, when updates would be shared, and how the final hiring decision would be made.
We formed a hiring committee and created opportunities for trustees, staff members, grassroots leaders, and donors to share feedback during the process.
We were open about the decision-making process from the beginning. The TakeAction team had confidence in, and respect for, the work of the hiring committee and the transition committee, which gave everyone more confidence in the outcome. Faith in the process positioned Elianne for success and pre-empted conclusions that an “inside candidate” had an unfair advantage.
Be open and honest with donors about the cost of a transition. This can enable your nonprofit to ask donors to cover the costs of hiring and training a new leader and shifting responsibilities away from the previous leader. Openness also builds trust, confidence, and commitment at a time when your organization is vulnerable. TakeAction was able to raise some additional money, which was critical to the success of our transition, but we didn’t meet our overall fundraising goal. Donors should consider footing the bill for a transition since it is one of the most significant events in an organization’s life.
Build in staff time. Finding a new leader takes a lot of staff time, period. We were lucky to work with external consultants who guided the nationwide search, but staff members still devoted a lot of time to recruiting and interviewing candidates.
To ensure your transition is successful and to avoid staff burnout, budget staff time for the effort. We dedicated more than half of a full-time administrative professional’s time to this work for nearly nine months.
The commitment of those on the hiring committee is substantial and should not be taken lightly. Just like at the end of any campaign, be sure to recognize and reward those who were responsible for the successful transition.
Limit staff involvement so you can continue to advance your mission. TakeAction spent the better part of a year looking for and training a new executive director. However, the rest of our important work couldn’t come to a halt.
Therefore, we recommend limiting the number of staff members who are responsible for the transition. Be sure to update the rest of the staff and invite their feedback, but make sure they have enough time and attention to devote to mission-driven work.
Give senior leaders training and opportunities for growth. When a chief executive’s departure is imminent, build up the knowledge and capacity of other members of your senior team. For example, we added budget discussions and financial reporting to our leadership-team meetings so senior leaders could become involved in the financial management of the organization.
We also created opportunities for senior leaders to represent the organization at staff-union negotiations, in political planning sessions, and at coalition management meetings. This enabled allies and donors to become comfortable working with new people and instilled confidence in future leaders.
After the transition, pace yourself and your organization. Simply put, the transition isn’t over on the new leader’s first day. Set clear internal and external priorities for the new leader’s first year to provide essential direction and help shape work plans. For example, we gave staff permission to say no to some external appearances, so they could stay focused on core activities. This focus helped us establish a strong staff structure and culture.
When planning for a new leader, develop a process with care, take the necessary time, and consult others and learn from them. We did all of those things, and we’re still in transition a year later. But we are re-energized in our commitment to the people of Minnesota, and we have a clear path for the future.
Dan McGrath is the founder and former executive director of TakeAction Minnesota. Elianne Farhat is the executive director.
