LEADERSHIP TRANSITION

Your year as an officer is coming to an end, and new officers are being selected. How do you leave your position gracefully? How do you ensure that the new officers are as ready as ready can be to continue to provide your organization with strong leadership?

A thorough leadership transition plan has several benefits:

1. The most obvious is that it provides for a transfer of significant organizational knowledge. Your group will not have to re-invent the wheel each year?

2. It helps to minimize the confusion that occurs with the “Changing of the Guard.”

While new officers try to figure out what is going on, precious time can be lost to

To the organization. This time lag affects the whole membership, who may not

Understand what all the confusion is about, and it definitely lessens the groups

Ability to accomplish their tasks or goals.

3. The process of transition can give the outgoing leaders a sense of having completed their jobs, a sense of closure. It can help them let go-, which is often a difficult thing for committed leaders to do.

4. Leadership transition ensures that the valuable contributions of the experienced leaders will be utilized. They are often the most neglected members in your group.

5. Finally, the shared information results in the new leadership having more knowledge and, consequently, greater confidence in their ability to be more effective in their roles.

When do you start? Early!!

Begin early in the year to identify emerging leaders in your organization.

Encourage these potential leaders through personal contact, helping develop skills, delegating responsibilities to them, sharing with them the benefits of leadership, clarifying job responsibilities, letting them know that transition will be orderly and thorough, and modeling an effective leadership style.

When new officers have been elected, orient them together as a group with all of the outgoing officers. This allows the new ones an opportunity to understand each other’s roles and to start building their team. In some cases, individual officers may also need to meet with their predecessor for detailed information.

Transfer the knowledge, information, and materials necessary for them to function well.