- Dien S Yuen
The organization I work for is in the process of a CEO search. The executive firm is asking - what do we want from a CEO. Many books have been written about the topic of what non-profits look for in a CEO. I think the mistake many search firms make is to assume that all non-profits are -- non-profits. In this day and age, the lines between for-profit and non-profit are blurring. I don't think many firms have kept up with these trends. I have not heard of firms that specialize in social enterprise searches but if you know of any, please let me know.
I believe the reason that search firms have not evolved is that they need to look for someone with the passion of wanting to be in a non-profit and have the expertise and skill set of running a for-profit. These people are hard to find. For a search firm, they would need contacts in the for-profit and non-profit world. They would also need to understand the cultures of both worlds so they can help the candidate along. Add Asian and philanthropy on top of that and the list gets smaller.
Sasha Dichter pointed out that large, for-profit firms like GE, IBM, and Microsoft have CEOs that came from the sales team. Sasha asks - why don't we recruit sales people (fundraising/business development in the non-profit world) to be CEOs of non-profits?
Last year, I had written a post on Inside-outside leaders: Answer to the non-profit leadership crisis. It was based on the research of Joseph L. Bower. He had written a piece proposing that we look internally for our candidates. Here is an excerpt of my post:
The author found that 60% of respondents to a poll of 1,380 human resource directors of large US companies said their firms have no CEO succession plans in place. When the time comes to name a new CEO, many firms look outside for their candidates. Yet, he found that strong evidence supports the notion that a well-groomed insider is a key to sustaining company performance.
Internal Candidate - Outside Perspective
The author describes the ideal candidate for the CEO position as an internal candidate who has an outside perspective. That is, those who are leaders in the company but somehow maintained enough detachment from the everyday ideology and issues. They know the tracks and the people within the company but they also know how things need to change.
To build a pipeline of future leaders, the author suggests that we:
1. Recruit folks who are highly talented in their area of specialization and who have the potential to be managers.
2. Find candidates that manage effectively within the company's strategy, system and culture and yet know where the world is headed.
3. Give them a series of increasingly complex assignments and hold them accountable.
4. Provide them with mentors who help them maintain their unique perspective and intervene when necessary.
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