Executive Searches: Finding the Right Candidate

Facing the departure of a top executive within an institution can be viewed as a challenge or as an opportunity. Certainly, the exit of an executive director (or the development, marketing, or programmatic leaders) can cause internal and external concerns. Will the new leader be able to reach the same constituents? Will he or she be embraced by the community? Will the new leader understand the institutional environment? While these are reasonable questions to ask as an organization embarks in an executive search, there are, perhaps, even better questions to ponder.

Finding a new leader is not the same challenge as finding a new support staff member. Leaders provide a guiding vision to the institution, motivation to staff, and a genuine connection to the community. The method and style that an institutional leader utilizes to fulfill these responsibilities cannot and should not be a carbon copy of the outgoing executive. A true leader is an authentic leader—one that leads from a solid understanding of his or her own strengths and values. The departure of a top executive allows an institution to re-evaluate its operations, goals, and relationships with external constituents. It is key to discuss the strengths and weaknesses of the outgoing leader and consider areas that flourished under his or her leadership and areas that still need development. Based on these assessments, an organization can begin to define its leadership qualifications for its next executive.

To effectively engage in this process, many nonprofit organizations are now choosing to hire a search firm. The use of search companies for nonprofit organizations is a growing trend as boards begin to realize the cost savings involved in placing the right leader in the institution. To calculate the cost savings, boards must consider not only the costs involved with the turnover and search expenses but also the loss of organizational productivity, the loss of individual and institutional funders, and the potential loss of confidence within the community. With these costs at stake, more nonprofits are seeing the benefits of investing wisely in a leadership search the first time.

A good executive search firm will do more than just post and filter responses to an advertisement. A comprehensive search firm will also guide the institution through assessments, priority setting, the design of an effective job description, and the creation of compensation and incentive package designed to attract the desired type of leader. Engaging an executive search firm does require a financial and time commitment from the board of directors and the organization’s staff. However, the time spent can be focused on setting institutional vision and goals instead of sorting through resumes.