Helping Staff through Unplanned Leadership Transitions

For over two years one of the most popular articles on our blog has been about helping staff through planned leadership transitions. It likely comes as no surprise to anyone that nonprofit leaders are often concerned with how to best prepare their organization for success after they leave, so they are eager to find resources on how to make the transition smoothly to ensure success for everyone. But a planned leadership change is vastly different than an unplanned leadership change. The timeframe is different, the considerations are different, the emotions are different, the operational needs are different, the communications are different. Everything is different!

There is very little that can be said about preparing for a leadership change that applies when a nonprofit loses their Executive Director without warning. The jarring nature of losing a leader unexpectedly provides a whole host of unique challenges.

Our hope is that this resource will give boards the framework they need to manage through an unexpected leadership transition so that if their Executive Director quits, is terminated, or is abruptly unable to lead, the organization will be fully equipped to keep moving forward.

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​So, if your organization is suddenly without an Executive Director, which steps should it take? Use this basic framework (making modifications along the way to address your organization’s specific needs) when you lose your Executive Director:

1. Communicate with Staff
Once your Executive Director has left (or announced they are leaving imminently) don’t sweep this news under the rug. Letting people find out on their own is bound to breed rumors and stir up animosity. Confront the news right away to set staff at ease and encourage retention. You certainly don’t want to be addressing the loss of your ED as well as key staff that may jump ship if they think the organization’s future is compromised.

Communicate honestly and set clear parameters around what they can say and who they can say it to. But do not make it a one-way conversation. Acknowledge and make space for their feelings (like perhaps shock, hurt, sadness, or betrayal) to help them process the loss of their leader and keep them focused on the mission.

2. Bring in an Interim Executive Director
In an ideal scenario your former Executive Director would leave behind a recently updated succession plan for the organization to use as a roadmap for finding a new Executive Director. However, in many cases, this is not the circumstance organizations find themselves in when their ED leaves suddenly.

If there’s not a formal succession plan in plan naming an internal employee as a possible successor or as an interim ED during the search process, you will need to bring in an interim leader because you can’t afford to have a gap in leadership. Keep the organization’s plans and programs running on schedule by bringing in a short-term leader to take the reins until a full-time replacement can be hired.

3. Begin the Search for a Replacement
Hiring a new Executive Director is not going to be a quick process, so you need to start the search right away! Utilizing a nonprofit executive search firm can help to produce better candidates for consideration as well as speed up the hiring process. However, that doesn’t mean that your remaining leadership team and Board of Directors should exclude themselves from the process entirely. They should play a key role, aiming to involve key staff members in the search process wherever possible.

• Get feedback about what they see as challenges and opportunities for the organization.
• Ask them to review the job description to ensure it is complete.
• Include them on the hiring committee.
• Leverage their professional networks and ask them for candidate referrals.
• Let them be a part of the interview process.

Existing leadership and key staff should work in conjunction with the organization’s contracted nonprofit search firm to increase the likelihood of hiring success.

4. Craft Public-Facing Messaging
As the search is being conducted, decide how you will communicate about the organization’s status with external stakeholders like donors, sponsors, partners, and volunteers. When communicating with supporters, frame the change positively by putting the focus on the future of the organization, not just its current situation.

5. Evaluate Your Efforts and Adapt
Continuously evaluate, adapt, and re-evaluate your efforts throughout the process (especially when it’s taking longer than expected). Ask employees how they think the transition is going – how well they are being supported, where their pain points are, and what they need to remain successful in their roles. Next, make tweaks to your efforts as you go to demonstrate your commitment to your staff.

6. Look for Opportunities to Grow
Strive to see a transition of this magnitude as what it truly is – an opportunity to grow. Use a leadership transition to teach and empower staff, whenever possible. Then, hire a new Executive Director with the goal of promoting growth, not just returning the organization to its pre-transition state. Vision cast the future of the organization and hire into the role to achieve that vision.

When your leader leaves unexpectedly, we can help! We offer nonprofit interim leadership solutions as well as nonprofit executive search services to help organizations experiencing unplanned transitions. Our team will leverage our extensive experience to walk you through every step of the process. Don’t delay – let us come alongside your organization today! Contact us now for more information!