Board members of a large non-profit organization contacted us for guidance in helping them address a critical leadership issue the organization was facing. The Executive Director of the organization had been in place for over twenty years, and yet it was a well known fact that she planned to retire in the not too distant future. The Board wanted to better understand the leadership talent at the senior most level in the organization, to identify whether an appropriate successor existed internally. Additionally, since they had never actually experienced this type of leadership transition, they needed guidance in determining an appropriate search and selection process if it was decided to look outside of the organization for the successor.

The LSI Approach:

• Designed an individual leadership assessment process to be used to assess the top management talent;
• Conducted individual assessments on each of the senior leaders who were identified as potential successors;
• Reviewed assessment results with Board to determine readiness of internal candidates to transition into the Executive Director role;
• Worked with the Board to identify a comprehensive and systematic search and assessment process for any external candidates being considered;
• Designed a more systematic approach to talent management more generally in the organization, to ensure leadership continuity over time.

Our work allowed the Board to feel more comfortable in working through the leadership transition – something critical to the organization’s continuity. They were able to get an outside objective perspective regarding the talent inside the organization, and to understand more fully both the benefits and risks associated with selecting an internal replacement. The situation highlighted the importance of clearly defining the Board’s role in succession planning, and created the impetus for making sure that an organized and systematic approach to talent management was in place for the future health of the organization.