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Need Transition Help Now?

If you are a member of a Board that's facing an immediate departure of your executive or if your executive has already left, here are five things that you can do:

1. Focus your attention--and your Board’s--on the transition, not the search.  We suggest reading the Transitions Overview and sharing it with your Board or Committee, especially the Transition Success Factors, Three Phases of Executive Transitions and Tips for Boards and Search Committees.
2. Resist the temptation to act before you have a solid plan.  A natural impulse is to “dust off the job description and run the ad.”  The departure of your executive is a unique capacity-building moment for your nonprofit.  A little bit of planning can help you make the most of this exceptional opportunity to “Prepare, Pivot and Thrive.”  The Transition Success Factors and Three Phases of Executive Transitions can help you map out your plan.
3. If you are facing a crisis, focus on stabilizing the organization above everything else.  You may need an interim director to help see you through some organizational changes before you are ready to hire.  There is an exceptional pool of executive talent in the nonprofit consulting community, many of whom would welcome the challenge of this type of assignment.  Our Find a Local Guide page lists a number of organizations that can provide referrals.  Your organization’s state and local networks are another referral source.
4. Take care of the staff. An often-overlooked ingredient to a successful transition is the staff.  They are reservoirs of organizational knowledge.  They are vital to the operations.  And they are crucial to orientation of the new executive.  In our case studies, we have seen many transitions that went awry for lack of staff attention.  The staff is looking for two things: empathy and assurance.  Empathy--they want to know that the Board understands their vital role as well as their fears, challenges and extra workload as they face a change of leaders.  Assurance--they want to know that the Board has a solid game plan for the transition and they want to be kept apprised of the progress.  During a transition, everyone is hungry for information.  Feed them.
5. Reach out for help.  Resist the temptation for the Board to take on too much.  Transitions can be complicated and, above all, time consuming.  The organization will be better served if the Board maintains its governance role and resists the impulse to "step over" into operations--that includes having a Board member serve as interim executive director.   Our Find a Local Guide page lists various organizations that may be able to help.  Also, feel free to call us at (301) 439-6635.  We are happy to help you with a free initial consultation, provide a referral to a local guide or organization, or, if you are in an area not served by a local transition guide, offer on-site and phone consultation if appropriate.

In many cases, executive transitions qualify for special grants.  The executive transitions services outlined on this site were designed for nonprofits and are surprisingly affordable. In many cases, your organization’s institutional funders--corporate giving programs, private foundations and some government agencies--already recognize the need for outside assistance in these situations and may provide a special capacity-building grant to support your transition activities.  Call us at (301) 439-6635.  We will be happy to help you review the possibilities.

We welcome your questions:
(301) 439-6635

TransitionGuides
1751 Elton Road, Suite 204 | Silver Spring, MD 20903
Phone 301-439-6635 | Fax 301-439-6638
info@transitionguides.com

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