Succession planning includes continuity file for new executive director

• Published date: 01 November 2017
• DOI: http://doi.org/10.1002/ban.30565
• Date: 01 November 2017

4 Board & Administrator

DOI 10.1002/ban © 2017 Wiley Periodicals, Inc., A Wiley Company • All rights reserved

continued from page 1

Succession planning includes continuity le

for new executive director

Succession planning for Executive Director Da-

vid Cook’s retirement began in January 2016.

“We have had an Executive Transition Planning

Committee composed of our board president, two

former presidents, a former United Way director, the

CEO of our County Community Foundation and one

other board member working together to plan, ex-

ecute an executive search, interview candidates and

introduce finalists to the board and staff,” Cook said.

Cook developed a continuity file for his succes-

sor. “For the last year, I have been working on an

Executive Continuity File to help my successor as

he or she takes over as administrator for the orga-

nization,” Cook said. “It is quite detailed.”

Regular activities and responsibilities for the new

executive are identified for each quarter, month and

week, followed by specific activities for each of the

12 months based on the agency’s annual calendar.

For an excerpt from Cook’s Executive Continuity

File, see elsewhere in this issue. ■

their board, while 41 percent of chairs are. She

said that board demographics are rated as “not as

important” in recruiting, with 24 percent of survey

respondents identifying it as important, compared

to passion for the mission at 82 percent.

What will it take to change attitudes? Accord-

ing to Wallestad, there needs to be a board-level

conversation where the board agrees diversity is

important to the mission, and agreement among

the board on why it matters.

Vernetta Walker, BoardSource’s chief gover-

nance officer and vice president of programs, cited

a need to “lead authentically” in this area in line

with stated values and the mission.

“Writing a check isn’t governance,” she said.

She said that certain “markers of commitment”

to diversity are apparent when a board member

steps down to make room on the board for it or the

board expands its size.

Ramona Johnson, senior relationship man-

ager for the Southern Region with NeighborWorks

America, said organizations that are diverse at the

board level have had success due to making it a

priority of the organization, board and CEO.

Johnson said that if you wish to make board

diversity a priority, beware the “cycle of same,” in

which board members tap into existing relation-

ships with family and friends to recruit. Instead,

look to schools, churches, hospitals and govern-

ment offices for new board members, Johnson said.

Wallestad said that recruiting matrixes can be

abused when it comes to diversity. “Diversity isn’t

a checklist,” she said. If the mindset is “Let’s get

one of those and one of those,” you are “going

through the motions around diversity,” she said.

Good “first actions” to take on the path to a

diverse board include:

• Wallestad said asking if diversity is core to

your values will help you assess why it matters to

your organization.

• Walker said you need to “get unstuck and do

something different. Go external to your organiza-

tion to have this conversation and to build rela-

tionships.”

• Johnson said a good first step is to just make

the commitment to board diversity today.

To view the webinar recording, go to http://goo.

gl/wMMq6T. ■

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Executive Compensation is fast approaching: November

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ly/2w7z5tK. Thank you. ■