https://bloomerang.co/resources/webinars/ Andy Robinson will help you understand the value of succession planning to nonprofits (and the risks of poor or non-existent transition plans).

1. Succession Planning
Leading by Sharing Power
Presented by Andy Robinson
Sponsored by Bloomerang

2. Poll: What’s your primary role?
• Executive director
• Other staff position
• Founder
• Board member
• Consultant
• Funder or donor
• Other

3. What’s your organization’s life
span?
Are you a perpetual organization … or are you
working to solve a problem and go out of
business? If so, how long will that take?

4. True confession: In 1986, I
killed my first nonprofit
organization. How did this
happen?

5. • From all-volunteer
group to first staff
member (me)
• Formerly engaged
board backed away
• Staff left, then the
organization
dissolved

6. I failed the first test of leadership:
“How do I empower others to do the
work…rather than do it all myself?”

7. To paraphrase author
Kim Klein, “When you
walk in the office door in
the morning, the first
thing you should ask
yourself is, ‘What am I
going to do today to
replace myself?’”

8. Daring to Lead, CompassPoint, 2011
•74% of nonprofit executives expect to be gone
within 5 years
Opportunity in Change, The Boston
Foundation and TSNE MissionWorks, 2017
•78% of nonprofit leaders (E.D.s, board, senior
staff) expect to leave by 2020
•70% of nonprofits don’t have succession plans

9. Poll: How long do you expect to
remain in your current
position?
• Less than a year
• 1-3 years
• 3-5 years
• More than 5 years
• I have no idea

10. Organizations grow and change – the leaders
you need at one stage are not necessarily the
ones you need at a different stage.

11. Four Stages of Organizational
Development
Adapted with permission from Institute for Conservation Leadership, www.icl.org

12. Founders: Thank you for starting
things! However, starting something and
growing it to maturity require different
skill sets. What’s your succession plan?

13. Baby Boomers (my generation!):
You may need to step aside to open
up space for emerging leaders.

14. Questions to bring to your group
•What leadership skills are required to take our
organization to the next level?
•What barriers prevent good succession
planning? Are we experiencing them?

15. • Personal: Lack of trust, perfectionism
• Organizational: No resources, putting
out fires all the time
• Societal: We value self-sufficiency;
asking for help is considered a sign of
weakness, rather than an essential
leadership quality
Barriers to good transitions

16. Imagine a spectrum:
Do it yourself -------------------------- Empower others

17. Poll: Where are you on this spectrum?
•Default setting is “Just do it myself”
•Will hand things off, but supervise closely
•Hand things off; trust they will get done
•Support others in learning new tasks
•Constantly looking for ways to make myself
unnecessary

18. You need more than one
plan
Contingency plan. What happens if you lose
your leader(s) unexpectedly?
Leadership succession plan. How will you
plan for an orderly long-term transition?

19. Things to include in the plan
•Calendar or timeline
•Will you identify and develop your next leader
internally … or look outside?
•Clarify roles of board, staff, and departing
leader throughout the transition (and after)
•Will you use an interim executive director
during the process? Internal or external?

20. • Communications plan
• Financial plan –
transitions cost money
• Relationship plan –
transitioning
relationships with key
partners and donors
• How will you celebrate
the departing leader?

21. “Part of leading
well is leaving
well.”
Don Tebbe, Exits from the Top

22. Individual
succession plans
What’s your personal exit
strategy?
Here’s mine…then and now

23. Training, Facilitation, and Consulting Certificate Program
Marlboro College
www.marlboro.edu/community/cnl

24. How do we help each other
do this better?

25. Ten tips for success
If you’re the leader…
•Hand off some tasks you like to do.
•Don’t be a perfectionist.
•Encourage others to learn by trying new skills
and letting them fail.
•Let other people run meetings.
•Listen twice as much as you speak: “Two ears,
one mouth.”

26. If you’re the leader…
•Learn about the cultural dimensions of
leadership – different styles based on culture,
social class, gender, age, etc. Use the
transition to address power inequities and
privilege within your organization.
•Designate a “Shakespearean fool:” Someone
who will tell you when you’re abusing your
power or making a martyr of yourself.

27. If you’re the leader…
•Consider term limits – essential for board,
maybe a good idea for staff leaders, too.
•Think about this task the way you would think
about retirement planning: set specific
benchmarks and deadlines.
•Create a “will” for what you want to leave
behind when you step down, then share it
with others.

28. If you’re NOT the
leader, but you work
with the leader…
•Do your homework.
•Line up allies.
•Start this conversation in the
most strategic way.
•Focus on the long-term
health of the organization.

29. Resources
•“10 Things Departing CEOs Should Do…,”
Don Tebbe, Exits From the Top
•“Does Executive Transition Have to Be a
Drama or a Disaster?” Tom Adams, Raffa P.C.
•“Examples of Approaches to Exit
Agreements," Herman, Wolfred and Adams,
Nonprofit Quarterly
•“Succession Planning,”
commongoodvt.org/nonprofit-101

31. How will you implement
what you learned today?

32. Available from
www.emersonandchurch.com
Andy’s latest book

33. Good luck and stay in
touch!
www.andyrobinsononline.com