What Happens When Your Director Leaves? Building Leadership Sustainability
Many NPOs have one person who seems to know everything.
The director knows the funders. The programme manager knows all the community leaders. The finance officer knows exactly where every document is. The founder knows how everything works.
This feels efficient – until one of those people leaves.
An organisation that depends too heavily on individuals is vulnerable.
Leadership sustainability means deliberately building an organisation where knowledge, relationships and decision-making are shared.
Start by identifying your “critical roles”. What would happen if each person in those roles was suddenly unavailable for three months? Could someone step in?
Then identify the gaps.
Succession planning doesn’t necessarily mean identifying the next CEO. It can simply mean having an interim plan, documenting key responsibilities and developing people who could take on greater responsibility.
Cross-training is particularly valuable for smaller NPOs. Finance staff should understand basic operational processes. Programme staff should understand reporting requirements. Senior staff should know enough about fundraising, governance and finances to make informed decisions.
South African NPOs can learn from Inyathelo’s emphasis on leadership, governance, human capacity, strategy and relationships as interconnected elements of organisational sustainability.
The goal isn’t to make any individual less important. It is to make the organisation less vulnerable.
Try this
Choose your five most critical responsibilities and ask: If the person currently responsible disappeared tomorrow, could someone else take over?
If not, start documenting and developing.
