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Resources for Founders and Successors

Overview of General Executive Transitions Resources

The following two books are The Classics in leadership transitions.

Bridges, W. (1991) Managing Transitions: Making the Most of Change. Boston: Addison-Wesley Publishing Company.  Bridges makes a distinction between change which occurs externally and transition which is the emotional process people go through as a result of change.  He also splits the transition process into 3 stages: ending, neutral zone, and new beginnings.  The ending is an important part of transition, people must acknowledge the end and loss; the neutral zone is the turbulence people feel between the old and new; new beginnings truly occur when people let go of the past, move through uncertainty and begin to focus on the future.

Gilmore, T. (1988) Making a Leadership Change: How Organizations and Leaders can Handle Leadership Transition Successfully.  San Francisco: Jossey-Bass.  Gilmore’s classic is currently out of print.  However, in it he discusses keys to a new leader’s effectiveness, contributions to long term success and advice on preparing for transitions.

For a good how to booklet that identifies steps and issues and provides some tools, see Managing Executive Transitions (1999) by the Neighborhood Reinvestment Corporation's Community Development Leadership Project.  While this booklet is several years old, it does provide a basic blueprint of how to manage an executive transition. (Click here to download a PDF version.)

For the latest thinking about the board’s role in transitions, issues in founder transitions, and the results to date on services to manage transitions, see the Current issues of Nonprofit Quarterly, Winter 2003:

"Executive Leadership Transition: What We Know" by TransitionGuides Associates Denice Rothman Hinden and Paige Hull

"Departing? Arriving? Surviving and Thriving in an Executive Transition: Lessons for Seasoned and New Executives" by TransitionGuides Managing Senior Associate Tom Adams

Resources Specifically For Founders and Board Members in Organizations with Founders

See the founder cases studies and lessons in the "Executive Director" section on this site.

The only recent book about founders who are leaving nonprofit organizations is Redington, E. and Vickers, D. (2001) Following the Leader: a guide for planning founding director transition.”  Leadership Report No 1.  Columbus: The Academy for Leadership and Governance.  The authors review organization culture literature, information from the for-profit sector, and from the family business literature.  From the organization culture literature, they glean that culture is initially set by the founder and so, in planning for transition, you will want to identify the key characteristics of culture, especially since organization culture becomes more influential during moments of change.  From life cycle literature they note that where an organization in its life cycle will impact the issues in transitions, and that founders are often leaving organizations during the prime or maturity stage.  From for-profit literature, they identify steps for managing transitions.  In reviewing the family business literature, they note the unique relationship a founder has to the organization, and emphasize the need for articulated organizational history and discussions about organization culture to assist the new executives. 

Other articles and books focused specifically on founders of nonprofit organizations identify issues in founder transitions, define founder syndrome, and identify differences between governance in founder led organizations and non-founder led organizations. These works include:

“Sharing the Vision: How can a founder confidently let others lead?”  Board Member Online.  This short case provides real life details and issues that a founder faces as the organization is growing and becoming an institution, particularly as the board begins to assert itself and the founder must choose between a board role and a staff role.  The expert responses to this case provide guidance about letting go and about typical stages of growth for organizations.

“Legacy and Letting Go.”  Board Member Online vol. 9, no. 4, April 2000.  This article frames the issues of executive transition by talking about the importance of articulating one’s legacy, honoring legacies, and letting go of power.  This article is one of the few attempts to talk specifically about legacy and the importance of legacy.

Block, S. and Rosenberg, S. (summer 2002) “Toward an Understanding of Founder’s Syndrome: An Assessment of Power and Privilege Among Founders of nonprofit Organizations.”  Nonprofit Management and Leadership vol. 12, no. 4.  Block and Rosenberg surveyed executives, board chairs, and board members about governance models, preparing for board meetings, influence during meetings, board attendance, and other issues.  They compared responses between organizations with founding executives and non-founders and founding board chairs and non-founding board chairs.  The purpose was to gather empirical evidence of any differences between organizations and boards being led by founders and non-founders.  Their work suggests that there are differences such as: founders tend to lead smaller organizations; the boards of founder led organizations tend to meet less often; founders tend to build agendas for board meetings more often than non-founders; and board attendance in organizations led by founders is higher than in non-founder led organizations.

Carver, J. (Sept/Oct 1992) “The Founding Parent Syndrome: Governing in the CEO’s Shadow.”  Nonprofit World.   Carver reviews a board’s dilemma when they are managing a founding CEO.  As he says, “Although the board is clearly accountable, it is difficult not only to say “no” to any plan of the founder, but even to subject it to rigorous scrutiny.”  He goes on to propose that the conceptual model of “policy governance provides a framework within which authority problems can be addressed.”  By defining the roles of staff and board in the breadth of issues and specifically saying that the board is responsible for the broadest issues, for setting the parameters in which the staff will work, and for value statements, Carver says policy governance is a way out of the dilemma.  While the article lacks extensive, specific examples, it does providing an interesting way of talking about and understanding the relationship between boards and CEOs and how this relationship varies among founding CEOs.

Succession Thinking in The Business World

The business world is open about discussing succession and issues concerning succession. The experience of CEOs of corporations are informative for nonprofit CEOs especially in identifying the emotional turmoil surrounding succession and the power dynamics that can often get in the way of successful successions.  Business literature also discusses exit strategies and succession planning.  Some of the better recent articles from business literature include:

Sonnenfeld, S. (Sept-Oct 1995) “When the CEO Can’t Let Go.”  Harvard Business Review.  In this case study, Sonnenfeld reviews the situation of the successful, long time CEO of Coltrane Farm Equipment and Manufacturing who is facing retirement.  The case reviews the current status of the search for successors, the current CEO’s management style and its impact on the success plans, issues for the board and the board’s role in the succession planning.  The case ends with a review by several experts about what should happen next. This case provides insight into the feelings and issues surrounding the succession of a successful, long time, executive and highlights many of the pitfalls that both CEOs and boards make.  While the case is based on a for profit corporation, many of the issues are relevant to founders of successful nonprofits.

De Vries, M. (Jan/Feb 1988) “The Dark Side of CEO Succession.”  Harvard Business Review.  De Vries highlights the emotional and psychological forces at play in leadership transitions and how these can sabotage successions.  He notes that problems often come at particular points--when the CEO is approaching retirement, when the CEO names a successor, and when the successor takes up the reins of power.  The issues he identifies include fear of death, loss of power, choosing an insider versus an outside, the changes in group and power dynamics, the tendency to romanticize the past, and the potential to place unrealistic expectations on a new executive. 

Lawton, J. (Sept 01, 1997)  “Exit Strategies: What's Yours?” EntreWorld.org This short article claims that planning your exit is simply part of planning your vision of where you want to go and where you want your company to go.  In addition to helping define exit strategies, this article offers a couple of nuggets for founders.  First, Lawton says, having an exit strategy is part of being “conscious of what I’m striving for.”  Second, she notes that “In the beginning, any service company is little more than the sum of its founders’ collective vision and specific talents.  Should they leave, not much else of value remains.”  This makes it difficult to leave, however, after a time there is a track record--clients, income/funders, results--and identifying benchmarks may make it easier to choose to move on.

Family Owned Businesses and Succession

From the family owned business literature comes the warning that it is incredibly difficult to find successors and the recognition of the special bond between the founder and the company.  A couple interesting examples from this literature are:

Clarke-Graves, C.  (Feb 1, 2000) “Making a Success of Succession.”  EntreWorld.org.  This short article reviews how Black Enterprise has successfully made the transition from the founding generation.  Clarke-Graves discusses not only the attributes of the family that she believes have been critical to this successful transition, but aspects of organizational culture that continue to allow the organization to thrive.

Bowman-Upton, N. (1991) “Family-Owned Business” Emerging Business Series, SBA.  Bowman Upton notes that less than one-third of family businesses survive the transition from first to second generation ownership. Of those that do, about half do not survive the transition from second to third generation ownership.  She follows this recognition of how hard transitions are with some steps to take to help the transition succeed.

Interim Pastor Literature

The interim pastor literature provides a deeper understanding of the grieving process—the emotional and spiritual side of transition—as well as providing guidance to people acting as interims.  A few examples are:

Gripe, A. (1997) The Interim Pastor's Manual.  Louisville, KY: Geneva Press.
This manual is grounded in the practice of interim ministry in the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) but its clear discussion of the interim process will be useful to many others. Of particular help is Gripe's discussion of the five tasks of the interim pastor—joining the system, analyzing the organization as a system, connecting with the denomination, focusing and assuming responsibility, and exiting and evaluating—and of the five tasks of the congregation in transition—coming to terms with history, discovering a new identity, allowing and empowering new leaders, renewing denominational linkages, and committing to new leadership and a new future.

White, E.  Saying Goodbye: A Time of Growth for Congregations and Pastors.  Alban Institute.  This booklet explores the difficulty of leaving a pastorate; it talks about how to make this transition a growth experience for all. Written for congregations and pastors, Goodbye skillfully weaves accounts from clergy, laity, and educators of seven denominations with White's own insight as a former General Presbyter to create a resource for meaningful and healthy partings. Includes examples of a "farewell" worship service and litany for closure of a ministry.

Mead, L. (1986) Critical Moment of Ministry: A Change of Pastors.  Alban Institute.  Discover for yourself what the Alban Institute learned in 18 years of studying congregations-how and why the change of pastors is a critical point in the life and development of the congregation. Among the findings: how clergy and laity each experience the moment of change, the impact of transition on congregations, what processes need attention if change is to produce healthy working relationships, and what change can mean for the congregation's future.

For Successors but Useful to Founders

There are also several excellent articles about succeeding founders and other popular leaders.  They help point out the tensions between successors and those leaving, some of the emotions that are going on, steps in letting go and other tips for helping to make the succession succeed.  A couple of the best are:

Ciampa, D. and Watkins, M. (Nov/Dec 1999) “The Successor’s Dilemma.”  Harvard Business Review.  Ciampa and Watkins skillfully depicted the dilemma facing CEOs and their chosen successors.  They note that “For the would-be leader, succession is a time of great excitement and promise, the culmination of a long and arduous climb to the top.  For the incumbent leader, succession is a time to confront the passage of time, the end of a career, and even mortality itself.”  They go on to say that the successor must manage the dilemma because no one has quite as much to lose and they provide the following four practices to allay the problem: learn as much as possible about the CEO’s emotional readiness to leave his position; communicate regularly with the CEO; utilize a balanced personal advice network to help navigate the strategic and personal minefields; and stay focused on his/her professional goals not the emotional traps that surround them.  In terms of their research of CEO’s, the authors identify stages the incumbent CEO goes through: 1) pleased that he has done his duty; 2) as successor starts to make changes, the CEO becomes uncomfortable and resistant in part because it means letting go of control; the CEO also begins to confront the "what do I do next?" question; and the CEO contemplates his legacy and realizes that it might be overshadowed or even diminished by what they new leader is trying to do; 3) active resistance.  As the successor begins to assert her authority and vision, the CEO becomes more uncomfortable and begins to resist changes and to call on his senior management to support him.  In another important point about how CEO’s feel, the authors relate a story about a successful transition that didn’t start that way.  The turning point was when the successor realized that the current CEO “needed an exit plan, one that lets him leave gracefully and go on to something he’s excited about.” 

Gabarro, J. (May/June 1985) “When a New Manager Takes Charge.”  Harvard Business Review.  In a study of 14 persons who had taken over new jobs, they found factors that seemed to account for the success of some and the failure of others.  One of the most striking findings is that the taking-charge process takes a long time.  They also identify stages a new manager tends to move through: Taking hold (3-6 months), marked by intense learning and action; Immersion (second 6 months), marked by quiet and more deep learning; Reshaping, marked by burst of activity and organization change; Consolidation, marked by following through on changes; and Refinement, marked by more incremental changes.  They claim that by the end of this stage, “managers can no longer be considered new.  They no longer feel new, nor do their subordinates perceive or speak of them as new.  Whatever the problems the executive now face, the do not result from newness.”    

McFarland, J. (2001) “Succeeding Ms. (Mr.) Wonderful.” Harvard Management Update.  McFarland notes that “Making the transition to a new leadership role is difficult enough: replacing a legend can intensify the challenge.”  She points out that staff will go through a grieving process and that trying to replace the legend is not a good idea.  She goes on to outline a few strategies to help those who are succeeding these legends including: assess the legacy; compare the legacy to your mandate; spell out your mandate; and get the right people on the board. 

For more on founders, see the founder cases studies
and lessons in the
"Executive Director" section.

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9/27/03