While every nonprofit and its executive director transition is unique, leadership transitions tend to follow seven broad patterns. Each of these types requires its own set of actions to manage the transition effectively.

We’ll get into the types in a moment, but first, let’s look at some of the overall factors that most influence the transition and, therefore, the approach to managing it.

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Before forging ahead with an executive director transition and hiring a successor, there are two courageous questions that the board should ask about their nonprofit: should our organization continue? And a related question: should it continue in its current form?

These questions are seldom asked because we’re usually operating in business-as-usual mode. Our work is a continuum of opportunities and challenges. And leadership succession is just another problem to solve. Thus, we don’t recognize succession for what it is — a critical punctuation point in the organization’s history.

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Get my replacement here at least six months before I leave so I can train him. That was how Alice⁠[*] responded to my question about how she saw the upcoming CEO transition going.

The organization Alice directed had just hired me to find her successor and advise them on the transition between Alice and the new CEO. My response to her statement could have been, “No cause for alarm.” Alice was retiring as the CEO, and transitions and retirement always create an element of anxiety. Additionally, departing executives often overestimate how much overlap their successors will require.

But, the way she said it — staccato, jabbing her index finger into her palm to emphasize each word — THAT was more than a little concerning. I thought, “Oh boy, I may be dealing with a ‘general’ here.

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