Most organizations never consider succession until it is too late.
Your previous leader who you thought would be with you forever departs suddenly and there is no one to take his or her place. Without any leadership in place, the organization begins to flounder a little more each day. The board scrambles to find someone causing staff and volunteers to resign. Donors see decline and begin to withhold their donations.
What a nightmare.
Get Ready For Your Next Great Leader
The above situation left the organization incredibly vulnerable to a disaster. It could've been avoided with a little succession planning.
It wouldn't have taken much to put a plan in place in case a leadership transition is needed.
Succession planning is the strategy of developing new leaders to take the place of current leaders. It's about investing in the next wave of leadership that will take your organization into a brighter future.
Some people mistakenly think of succession planning as an executive director hand-picking someone to take his or her place when they retire. This common misconception is no longer popular today and it is certainly not what succession planning is all about.
We think of succession planning as an overall leadership development strategy permeating every level of leadership in your organization.
How amazing would it be to know that you had a steady stream of upcoming leaders within your organization that were trained to step up when called upon?
How We Do Succession Planning
Our process empowers nonprofit organizations to value leadership development. There are several ways we do this. Developing leaders are identified, mentored, and given safe opportunities to become leaders who can eventually step up when the opportunity comes for them to lead.
We make leadership development a core value for your organization, not something you do when you need to or regret not doing when it's too late.
Every organization faces change. We help you do succession planning to prepare for it when it comes to you.
The Process Of Succession Planning
Here's our five-step process to help you become more intention in how you develop leaders. Succession planning involves:
1. We Engage Your Best Veteran Leaders
If succession planning is going to become part of your nonprofit organization, there has to be total buy in from your senior leaders. We help lay out for them how to develop new leaders by spotting them, training them, empowering them, and hold them accountable. There is a cost for this and we make sure everyone is on board with it.
2. Lay Our A Plan For What Future Leaders Look Like
It is important for existing leaders to have clarity about what they want to see in those they will pass on the baton of leadership to. In order to achieve your mission and goals, future leaders must have certain capabilities in order to successfully reach tomorrow's goal that everyone is working toward today.
When you know the type of people you must have to lead the organization, you can start crafting your future leaders to be the kind of people you need them to be.
3. Start Developing Your Next Wave Of Leaders
Who do you have within your team that could be the next leader of your organization? We help you identify that future leader and put them on a track to develop. Knowing the who and how of your leadership development is something we love helping organizations with.
4. Make Great Hires That Fill In The Gaps
What do you do when you look within your team and don't see the people you need to get where you want to go? No doubt, there will be times when the needs of tomorrow cannot be met by the people you have today. That's ok. We help you make sure your next hires are exactly the people you need to achieve your future goals. Integrated them to understand your values, culture, and establishing buy-in is critical to making sure your next hires are in it for the long term.
5. Stick To The Plan By Holding People Accountable
Make sure that you are checking in with your leaders. We help you set up a system so you are meeting regularly, evaluating progress, collecting the right data, and constantly improving both your leaders and your leadership development processes.
When Should We Start Thinking About Succession Planning?
It's likely no surprise that we propose starting your succession planning yesterday.
If you didn't start then, you can always start today. If you are anticipating a transition in your executives, it should be the top priority. But even if you are not anticipating a change, we know that no one can stay in a role forever.
For a myriad of potential reasons, there is a change coming in your organization. We think you should start preparing for it right now.
Dealing with succession planning right now increases the quality of leadership throughout your organization. In addition, it heightens your readiness and likelihood for a successful transition in leadership.
Lead For The Future, Not Just The Moment
The best leaders always have a succession plan in place. They know that there is a bigger vision than just self-preservation or the tyranny of the urgent.
When you partner with us, we make sure you have a plan in place so that your organization is full of great leaders who are ready to take the next step when the opportunity comes.
