Nonprofit Leadership Transition and Development

Few people would dispute the statement that a nonprofit’s foremost duty is to fulfill its mission effectively. In most cases, it also is imperative for a nonprofit to be able to consistently carry out its mission on a long-term basis -- or in other words, to be sustainable. The vital link between an organization’s mission, effectiveness, and sustainability rests in its leaders. On July 12, leadership transition expert Tom Adams held a workshop at our library/learning center to share some of the concepts presented in his new book, The Nonprofit Leadership Transition and Development Guide. He offered many useful ideas on why and how nonprofits should focus on leadership development in their organizations.

Why is leadership development so important? A well-functioning nonprofit tends to thrive as the result of a strong strategic vision. By devoting close attention to leadership development among your staff, you can help to better align your staff members’ attitudes and approaches to your strategic vision. Also, when you take these steps you are able to increase the leadership capacity of your staff, cultivate a pool of prospective management successors, gain a chance to increase the diversity of your leadership team, and make your organization’s executive-level positions appear more clear-cut and understandable for the next generation of leadership.

How do we do it? Essentially, you need to commit to making this a real priority for your organization. Discuss the issue with the executive director, senior management, and board of directors to gain their full commitment and support, and try to align all practices of your human resources team with the notion of leadership development. You may need to assemble a committee or working group to brainstorm some initiatives and put together an action plan, and it’s a good idea to implement a “bench strength” review (assessing the potential of the likeliest future leaders among your staff) and a general staff talent review. Make a space for this project in your operational plan and strategic plan, and start offering increased training opportunities for your staff members at all levels.

Begin giving some thought to succession planning, how to handle the departure of your organization’s leader. There are three types of succession plans. In emergency succession planning, the leader’s departure is unexpected, and both short-term and long-term measures must be taken quickly. In strategic development succession planning, the process of finding new leaders is more gradual and involves ongoing professional development over a long span of time. In departure defined succession planning, the executive director has a well-planned, specifically timed departure date, so that new leaders can be developed over a well organized timeframe while working in conjunction with the board, staff, and existing leadership. All three of these types of plans should be considered carefully.

Where can I find some resources on this topic? For one, you can take a look at Tom Adams’s book, The Nonprofit Leadership Transition and Development Guide: Proven Paths for Leaders and Organizations here in our library. In addition, if you search the Foundation Center’s Catalog of Nonprofit Literature using “Adams, Tom” as the author name, you can read a number of other articles and reports he has written on the subject, and also try the subject/descriptors “nonprofit organizations – planning” and “leadership” for some additional information. And be sure to check out our recent podcast in which Tom Adams discusses leadership transition and development in depth.

This post is based on one by Tracy Kaufman, Library Assistant, recently featured on Philanthropy Front and Center - New York.