Every chair’s term ends. Some end on a date planned far in advance, some end when life gets busy, and for a few, their time as chair ends abruptly. For most it will be after two to five years, but some are one-year stints while other chairs stay in their roles for much longer. However it happens, the board keeps meeting and the organization keeps working. How well it goes is controlled almost exclusively by is impacted by you. What you do as chair in the months, or even years before your successor starts can determine whether they begin prepared and with forward momentum or have to start from scratch.
What are the practical things you can do to proactively set up a strong transition? Here are some principles and specifics you can implement.
Where to start
I once heard a new CEO speak about the surprising first task her board assigned to her when she started her role. It was to start building a succession plan. Their organization had had a few people in her role over the past couple of years and each time the transition was rough, hence the desire for a good way to transition to a new CEO should it need to happen.
Your succession plan shouldn’t necessarily be the first thing you think of when you become chair, but it should be on your mind early. Right off the bat you can start by identifying things as you learn them that would have helped you when you started. Ideally there is a terms of reference or job description for the role that you can review, and if not, setting this up can be helpful to define the role and to build on it. Consider what you received when you started and whether it was adequate. Did you receive a package, file folder, binder, online drive access, or something else with information on the role and the board? Were there big questions you had that no one had the answer to? Were there people you wish you had known earlier? What went well and what didn’t in your own orientation process? Use this to help build some tools for the next person.
Build a chair handbook
Most of what a chair knows and does is undocumented. It lives in your inbox, your head, and your relationships. This is all easy to lose and harder to pass on. First of all, it is essential to set up a place to store key documents that you will want to pass on. Then you can develop a handful of tools including:
- Develop a workplan or calendar with key tasks across a year or multiple years including recurring tasks and less frequent ones
- Include templates for whatever you help create such as chair’s report, meeting agendas, policy templates
- Create a contact map for key stakeholders and partners
- Note info on decisions the board has already made that keep coming back up, points of frequent contention, conflict issues, and board history
- Any other tips, tools, or templates that you use that could help your successor.
Review and update this a couple of times a year.
The Vice-Chair
Your board may already have a succession plan in place in the form of a vice-chair role. On some boards this role is treated as a president-elect type of position, where that person will very likely be the next chair. On other boards this may not be the case, but either way, it is valuable for the chair to identify or have identified for them a successor long before they depart from the role.
The most valuable way to use the vice-chair is to include them in your work as chair. Invite them to meetings with the CEO. Review board agendas with them. Keep them informed of your thoughts and activities. Strategize with them on challenging issues and seek their advice.
A strong chair also empowers others around the board table to take leadership roles. You can use committees to share leadership opportunities and support committee chairs. And identify who you think might be a good candidate for the next vice-chair and encourage them.
The handoff
Once the new chair is elected, sit down with them and build a short timeline. This does not need to be elaborate, but it should exist, because good intentions between two busy volunteers rarely survive long. Depending on how much preparation you were able to do with the incoming chair prior to the election, here are some things to do:
- Give access to the dedicated email address and any admin accounts the chair controls
- Support agenda planning for the first couple of meetings
- Hold a shared meeting with the CEO to align expectations
- Review open issues, risks, and commitments
- Set a clear date after which they are the chair on every file, with no exceptions
- Shift into a past-chair role that is strictly advisory in nature
Culture and Engagement
Succession is easier where the culture is healthy and directors are engaged. Boards where people speak up, take on work, and feel ownership over the agenda produce future chairs almost by accident. Boards where a few people do everything and the rest merely attend (if even) commonly produce succession crises. Focus on setting the right culture early and use a tool like Guru’s Rules to help.
Bottom Line
Planning your exit is part of the job of a chair. A thoughtful transition protects continuity, sets your successor up for success, and signals that leadership belongs to the office, not the person holding it. Chairs come and go but the board needs to continue and its strength is often directly correlated to the succession process for the new chair. Start early, empower potential successors, and get organized!
