You often get an “unintended interim” because the whole organization is used to how the former executive used to do things.
According to a 2015 Stanford Business School study, 78% of nonprofits were not prepared to name a permanent successor immediately if their executive director entered the witness protection program tomorrow, and on average organizations thought it would take them 112 days to find the replacement.
This is why we have the rare professional known as the “interim executive director”, and we spoke with Lynne Molnar who has spent much of her professional life coaching organizations through these difficult transitions, screening prospective interims, training prospective interims, and being an interim herself.
We learned from her experience coaching over 80 organizations through these transitions, as well as her 9 interim executive director experiences.
Our conversation included:
- Reasons nonprofits should consider hiring an interim executive director
- How to find and hire an interim executive director
- What qualifications you want from an interim
- What to expect from an interim director
- Organizational issues that an interim can help resolve
- Training opportunities for interim executive directors
Links:
Third Sector New England: http://tsne.org/executive-transitions
The Alliance for Nonprofit Management Affinity Group for Executive Transitions: http://www.allianceonline.org/
Lynne Molnar’s Contact Information:
Email: Lynne@molnarconsulting.org
Phone: 609-737-3213
LinkedIn: www.linkedin.com/in/lynne-a-molnar-48092811