The Benefit of Interim Leadership

In working with Boards and CEOs to ready an organization for an eventual leadership transition, we find that it’s often hard for nonprofit leaders to understand the potential benefits of Interim Executive Directors (IED).  

Bay Area consultant and IED Cindy Myers gives one of the clearest descriptions we’ve heard.

 "An IED parachutes into an organization with the overarching goal of having that organization succeed with its next ED. An effective IED is able to quickly assess what the organization needs to do/not do in order for that to happen, and then leads that change effort. The neutrality of the IED is very important, that’s why we say we will not be candidates for the permanent position. From a position of complete neutrality, you will find board and staff members more likely to tell you the truth about what they are experiencing, give you the benefit of the doubt, and be able to hear you less defensively when you tell them what you are observing and think they should do. An effective IED needs to have crackerjack nonprofit administration know-how, plus the analytical tools and skills to assess the organization’s needs and capacities, and the empathy and emotional intelligence to support a group of people who are going through a big change.”

See the full article here to read more about the value of an IED.