Get on Board A Monthly Newsletter by Patricia Douglas Consulting "Join Me!" | Episode 1 | Get On Board Podcast w/ Patricia Douglas by Get On Board In this episode, Patricia speaks with Marlene Spalten the President & CEO of Community Foundation Tampa Bay and discusses how we can get involved in community philanthropy. Welcome Back I hope you enjoyed the May newsletter and podcast episode. I enjoyed speaking with Community Foundation Tampa Bay CEO Marlene Spalten. Listen here; I know you will enjoy it too. The June Monthly Nonprofit Spotlight features Quantum Leap Farm. Stay tuned for Episode 2 of the Get on Board Podcast Series. I have learned quite a bit in my twenty years of volunteering and serving in the nonprofit sector. Although advisors write a lot about the theories of good governance and best practices, I have learned that sometimes theory does not always translate well into practice, especially in leadership transitions. Succession Planning Managing leadership transitions is a challenge in the best of times. Experiencing an unexpected transition is very difficult. Educators and consultants who focus on nonprofit governance tend to overlook leadership succession or ignore the importance of careful founder succession planning, exposing a nonprofit to unnecessary friction between a governing board, a new executive director, and a founder. Founders are instrumental in identifying community issues that require solutions and give countless hours creating nonprofits essential to solving those problems. I find that we are quick to dismiss their work and sacrifices when the time comes for them to step down. More often than not, founders do most, if not all, of the work of a startup organization. They have succeeded in doing things their way and building a solid nonprofit for many years. A founder might be blind to the possibility that their way is not the only way to achieve results. As a result, many get burned out because they have not reached out to their board or others for support. After a while, it might seem like a good idea, in theory, to step away or shift responsibilities to a new executive director. However, a founder may find it difficult to pass the baton by that point. They worry that a successor might tear down what they created and reimagine everything they worked so hard to build: psychology takes over, and boards are not equipped to manage emotions. Often, a founder might believe that what they made will crumble without them. A board of directors can honor a founder and help nonprofits ease into a leadership succession if it plans for the transition long before anyone contemplates a change. A deliberate approach includes careful conversations about relationships, institutional knowledge, ego, emotions, and intentions. Many consultants posit that a founder must completely step away during a leadership change for a successful transition. The theory is that the founder should pass the baton authentically and publicly: avoid running behind a successor with the rod stuck in each other's hands. For this reason, many industry advisors suggest that founders must make clean exits and gracefully disappear from an organization. My advice is mixed. I can't entirely agree that such a complete break is always best because there are times when a founder in a still-young organization can provide much-needed support in cultivating, stewarding, and building relationships under the direction of a successor. However, even in this possible scenario, the leaders must draw clear lines in the sand and explicitly curtail micromanaging. Suppose that a founder serves on the board of directors In that case, the governing board must ensure that the founder/former executive director has ceded BOTH her responsibilities AND authority to the successor. Any oversight is troublesome. For example, there is a difference between "checking up" and "checking in" regarding both intention and perception.If a founder wants to ensure the executive director or others are "doing it right," the purpose is to micromanage, even if you say it is not. When leaders focus on having something done a certain way rather than on the result, they micromanage. Checking up tends to look like excessive control or too much focus on operations. Checking in, however, involves monitoring success by supporting people in reaching successful outcomes. If a founder serves on the board of directors, the focus should be on results; a board focuses on policy and long-term strategy. But if unchecked ego motivates a founder, the organization is headed for trouble. Bottom line: If an executive director perceives your actions as checking up, the results are lower trust, lower productivity, less innovation, lower engagement, more stress, and high turnover, even if you are right. The worse words to come out of a founder's mouth are: "That's not how we do things here." Founder transitions do not have to be complicated. The board of directors plays a vital role in good succession planning and setting expectations. The executive director and founder need strong job descriptions if the founder remains involved in the organization. One way for a board to facilitate a successful transition is to create annual goals for the executive director, such as focusing on increased revenues, building corporate partners, and improving student success. Once the board and new executive director establish goals, the board of directors can evaluate whether the executive director is doing his job well. Once the team focuses on goals and results, a founder is less likely to micromanage, putting distance between a successor and a founder. In conclusion, in some cases, a nonprofit needs a funder to stay and cultivate new relationships with donors. A copy-and-paste succession plan is not advisable because no two transitions are identical. Inevitably, there will be conflicts and growing pains. In some cases, founders stunt a nonprofit's growth. In others, a founder can educate and train a successor. Still, difficult transitions are not fatal to the organization's success if the board recognizes and acknowledges the tensions, creates support and offers mentoring. Under all circumstances, there must be a clear ceding of responsibilities AND authority. To solidify and support a change in leadership, the founder might consider taking a sabbatical to give the new executive director time to adjust and allow staff and directors an opportunity to build trust between themselves and the executive director. The worst thing that can happen is for a founder to cede responsibility but keep absolute authority by serving as board chair. The board members need to play the watchdog role here; their loyalty is to the organization, not the founder. Careful succession planning eliminates this tension. Quantum Leap Farm - Horses and Healing Monthly Nonprofit Spotlight Quantum Leap Farm As soon as you pass through the gates of Quantum Leap Farm, you are transported to fields of green, an oasis of serenity, and you become awash in peace and tranquility. But don't be fooled. There is a lot of hard work and soul-fixing going on here. The mission of QLF is to improve quality of life and inspire personal growth through equine-assisted therapies. Its vision is excellence, not perfection. At QLF, they envision a world where people are accepted unconditionally. Providing support for the well-being of individuals with physical, emotional, and intellectual differences and empowering them to focus on their abilities, not their disabilities is the core of everything QLF provides. In this idyllic family-like setting, equine-assisted therapy offers various benefits for participants managing physical or mental disabilities. Their physical well-being and quality of life improve and, with therapy, participants gain balance, flexibility, and self-confidence. Below are two of the services QLF provides its clients. Therapeutic riding is an excellent form of exercise therapy that is fun, safe, challenging, and socially rewarding. Therapeutic riding teaches horsemanship and basic riding skills and often includes learning a specific riding discipline such as dressage or western pleasure. The specially trained and certified instructors pay special attention to improving muscle strength, coordination, balance, stamina, self-confidence, and social interaction incorporating individually tailored lesson plans that address clients’ unique needs. Our therapeutic riding instructors instruct clients with a wide variety of physical and mental disabilities and clients who are not disabled. The Warrior Mission: At Ease program is life-changing. Warrior Mission: At Ease is a highly therapeutic retreat for Active Duty and Veterans dealing with post-traumatic combat stress, mild traumatic brain injury, chronic pain, and military sexual trauma by providing intensive therapeutic retreats utilizing highly effective holistic approaches to healing the invisible wounds of war. To learn more about all of QLF's services and see how horses heal, visit https://www.quantumleapfarm.org. Recently, QLF founder Edie Dopking decided that, after roughly 20 years, it was time to step down from her founder/CEO role and successfully handed over the reins to Lee Behensky. I will sit down with Edie and Lee to learn how they planned for a successful founder transition. Be on the lookout for Episode 2 of the Get of Board Podcast. Thank you for caring about our community and learning with me. If you know about good things in our backyard, drop me a line. The Tampa Bay region is where we live and love; let's pick the weeds and cultivate the blooms together. Patricia Douglas 813-215-4525 Visit PDC   You've received this email because you are a subscriber of this site. If you feel you received it by mistake or wish to unsubscribe, please click here.