United Schools
Succession Planning Turns Leadership Transitions into Strengths
“To me, a good transition is one where… the culture, the passion, the caring nature of the organization, and the level of service to students continues on.”
For many organizations, transitions in executive leadership are events they are reluctant to consider, especially when current leadership is strong. This reluctance means that many boards never quite get around to preparing for them. A diversion of energy and resources away from daily pressing needs that nonprofits consistently face, for something that may not happen anytime soon, is a difficult shift — putting succession planning on the back burner.
But at Mollard Consulting, we’ve found that investing in succession planning today isn’t just a wise way to streamline the executive search process, but mitigates risk for the organization as a whole. The executive search process is just one portion of succession planning, so doing this planning is a valuable opportunity to align your board and executive leadership on your organization’s strategy and leadership priorities.
And when it’s done well, succession planning serves as a testament to the strong board and leaders you have in place right now. Here’s an example.
United Schools is a group of nonprofit public charter schools with a mission to transform lives and communities through the power of education.
Their CEO, Andy Boy, has been the heart and driving force of the organization since he founded it in a church basement in 2008. An archetypal founding executive, Andy’s energy, charisma, and acumen are recognized and appreciated both internally and externally throughout the community and sector.
Our relationship with United began with a seemingly simple board retreat. The partnership was so productive that we continued working together over the next seven years on strategic planning, board governance, and fundraising counsel.
We’ve always seen succession planning as a key aspect of strategic planning — part of a board’s responsibility to select and support their organization’s chief executive.
And contrary to the human inclination to put off succession planning if current leadership is strong, we’ve learned from experience that it’s actually best done when leadership is stable.
If any organization were reluctant to embrace succession planning, it would have been United Schools, whose current executive director is recognized for almost single-handedly achieving the network’s growth and great success. But United’s board and leadership team had the wisdom to realize that they were in the perfect position to do this planning.
It’s important to remember that not all transitions are foreseeable. So we start succession planning with preparing an emergency plan. Once this basic safeguard is established, we move through creation of an up-to-date chief executive profile, clear search guidelines, evaluation of policies regarding executive evaluation and assessment, and, finally, communication and transition scenario planning.
Within each step of the process, careful reflection and consideration of what best meets the organization’s leadership needs are required. This work answers a lot of questions:
- What are critical competencies and attributes needed for executive leadership in the sector? For the organization itself?
- Should the current chief executive play a role in the search process?
- What is the authority of the search committee, and who is best to sit on that committee?
- Who might be considered good candidates for recruitment?
- Are internal candidates receiving the professional development they need to be prepared?
- Should a search firm be used, and if so, which one?
- If the executive leaves, how should the organization speak about it with stakeholders, and who streamlines the messaging?
Through close collaboration with United’s board and senior staff, we devised a comprehensive succession plan tailored specifically to United’s sector, situation, people, and resources.
With the plan in place, Andy and the United Schools board have ensured that United’s vital services to their students and families will continue smoothly whenever — and under whatever circumstances — the next chief executive search is launched. This accomplishment testifies to their foresight and to the top quality of their organizational leadership. We are proud to be their partner.
“I am forever grateful for the time and attention we receive from the Mollard team. You always make us feel like your most important client, and your willingness to make yourselves available when we need you is second to none. We appreciate you so much!”