checklist for a smooth exec transition
You’ve decided it’s time to make a change. Maybe your need to care for a family member. Maybe you need a new challenge. Maybe you need a break.
There are steps you can take to minimize the stress of leaving and to position your organization for a successful next chapter. Here’s a quick checklist.
Draft a schedule – in writing - for yourself and for everyone else. Your schedule probably needs to include answers to these questions:
When will you tell your board chair about the decision & the timeline for your departure? Hopefully your organization has a Succession Plan in place that says, in the event of losing its CEO, your nonprofit will convene a Search Committee, hire an Interim CEO, and then hire a Search Firm. Expect this process to take 6 months. In plenty of organizations, it takes a year.
When will you tell your staff?
When will you tell major funders & partners?
When will you tell the public?
If you’re relocating, when will you take time-off – while serving the final weeks/months of your term? Help staff be most effective during the transition by creating a schedule and sticking to it. Make time for househunting, school visits, realtor meetings, and the many other activities involved in relocation.
Help the Board confirm operational priorities at play. Again in writing, outline the “major priorities” you anticipate for the next 6-12 months and briefly explain the CEO role in these priorities. This will help the Board decide which activities will be taken-up by the Interim CEO; a board member or committee; the Board Chair; staff. Major priorities could include performance reviews; new hires; new collaborations or initiatives; contract negotiations; workplan and budget development; fundraising events; capital campaigns.
Gather the important documents. Hopefully they’re already in easy reach, but the board will need many of these documents for its Search Committee, Interim Executive, and Search Firm. The list includes mission, vision, and value statements; a brief history of the organization; the current organization chart; leadership contact information; the most recent P&L statements and balance sheet; the current year’s budget and work plan; the organization’s by-laws; the most recent 990; the board of directors roster, board terms, board committees’ charters, and officers; the board calendar for the year; board policies and procedures; staff policies and procedures.
Get your story straight. From each person or group you inform about your decision, you’ll be asked why you’re leaving. Decide on one story, and tell only that story. Hopefully your story will have a positive take on your contributions, be authentic to your professional journey, and tell the truth.
Plan to spend lots of time with senior staff – and maybe your full staff, depending on the size of your organization. There are lots of ways to do it but consider convening a full-staff meeting to break the first news of your departure. Outline next steps, projecting calm optimism. It may be a great idea to have your board chair present for this meeting. After the news breaks, plan plenty of one-on-one time with senior staff to keep anxiety and confusion to a minimum. Make sure they know where important documents are (print and digital); the passwords they’ll need to access systems; what you know about the Interim & Search processes. Help everyone understand her/his role in assuring stability and success during the transition.
Yes, there will be hundreds of details and documents and decisions to consider in your final days with your organization. Anticipate as many as you can before you make the first announcement. Then give your team as much support and optimism as you can about the future under the next leader. If you need more help in preparing for this situation, let’s talk about it!
