It has been axiomatic among Executive Directors that mishandling money or politics will get you fired. But what elements are absolutely necessary for success?
When you boil it all down, it comes to these:
Create Results. No Executive Director will survive today without creating results. While there can be a lot of talk about meaningful, measurable goals, etc., you must understand how success is defined in your organization, and you must demonstrate your ability to lead successfully to that definition of success. Many times Executive Directors fail because they reach success in their eyes, but that is not how success is defined by key stakeholders.
Build Relationships. In associations and non-profits, perhaps more than any other enterprise, the ability to build relationships is vital to success. This is so because a major component of the work is with volunteers, who not only expect the organization to provide value, but also have a stake in it that in many ways is as profound as that of the CEO. For association and nonprofit leaders, those voluntary relationships represent most of the people with whom you will be interacting. If you cannot build relationships there, and even more importantly, if you do not have a plan to continue expanding your circle of influence, you will ultimately fail.
Today, with the multi-generational workforce, by the way, the same dynamic is true. While a CEO has no peer relationships on staff, if s/he cannot build collaborative relationships with staff, the possibility of success diminishes greatly. The model of “command and control” in a staff team is no longer a credibly viable way to achieve success in most associations and nonprofits.
Manage Transitions. Again, more than for profit businesses, associations and non-profits have more transitions. Aside from normative staff turnover, boards, committees, task forces, etc., all have defined terms of office. There is constant transition of leaders, opinions, stakeholder groups, etc. If an Executive Director does not pay attention to, plan for, and ensure smooth transitions, trouble lies ahead. And this is just in the internal process of the organization. Outside, there are changing conditions, shifts in political context and alliances, and changes with collaborators and competitors. Too many balls get dropped, with harmful consequences, when CEOs do not focus on the transitions and create opportunity with them instead of obstacle
All of these elements are necessary, but any of them alone–or even any two of them–is insufficient. And we could mine all of these for a lot of other embedded ingredients. But at the core level, these elements begin to give you a map of the territory that you must traverse to be successful as an Executive Director.
If you look at your work today, you can identify where you are in a continuum with these three core elements. You will then be able to create a plan to address them, building success not only for your organization, but also for yourself.
Carry on, and remember the big three!
Executive Director's Toolkit 