August 8, 2010 | Read Time: 1 minute
The Nonprofit Leadership Transition and Development Guide
By Tom Adams
Scant resources are devoted to preparing executives at nonprofit organizations, and not much thought is placed on succession planning, writes Tom Adams, a consultant on executive transitions. Support for executives needs to be broad-based, he states, involving participation from board members, human-resource departments, and other managers.
Mr. Adams recommends that charities undertake deliberate efforts to better develop leaders at their organizations and cultivate workers who have the potential to take top jobs.
To do that, charities must define what skills charities need in their leaders now as well as those they will eventually need.
He also suggests that charities incorporate leadership-development efforts into both annual operational planning and strategic planning, with board members and senior staff members determining what the priorities should be. Charities should also expand leadership opportunities for staff members through tasks that require employees to go beyond their normal duties.
Publisher: Jossey-Bass, 989 Market Street, San Francisco, Calif. 94103-1741; (415) 433-1740 or (800) 956-7739; fax (415) 433-0499 or (800) 605-2665; http://www.josseybass.com; 358 pages; $42.00; ISBN 978-0-470-48122-6.
