“Acumen Executive Search, led by Suzanne and her team, brought confidence, expertise, and deep nonprofit knowledge to our Executive Search. Michelle presented a strong pool of qualified candidates, and the team engaged effectively with our Board of Directors, providing clear communication, responsiveness, and reassurance throughout the process. Their commitment to exceeding expectations and following through on contract expectations and beyond made them a valuable partner. I highly recommend them to any nonprofit seeking top leadership talent.” – Leslie, Non-Profit board member
At Acumen Executive Search, we frequently support clients requiring a unique and customized search process. Each search presents our team with opportunities to bring value to our partners in new ways, as well as interesting challenges. We recently completed a CEO search for an organization that had previously gone through a failed search with another firm. Additional challenges included a history of minimal Board engagement and internal trust issues among its Executive Team.
Acumen took an approach that highlighted engagement and communication. During our intake interviews, we sought input from every Board Member, Executive Team member, and internal staff, gaining insight through both individual and group intakes. Staff input was shared with the Executive Team, who learned a great deal about day-to-day organizational issues in addition to high-value service offerings to consider in the future. To obtain better engagement from the Board, we assigned certain board members to be part of the Search Committee and participate in the initial interviews alongside the entire Executive Team.
Each group within the organization had their own ideas and expectations for the role, so prioritizing responsibilities was next. We leveraged our consensus-building methodologies to create an ideal candidate profile that prioritized the same areas of need. This process yielded clear expectations, fostered board consensus, and created metrics that will help measure the new CEO’s success. As an added benefit, Acumen was able to create interview questions and candidate score sheets based on these firmly established priorities.
Once the position description was created, the search began. Using our list of priorities as a benchmark, we were able to promote the most desirable candidates through a highly competitive and multi-step process. At the same time, we held sessions for panelists on bias (personal, cultural, and organizational) and the importance of recognizing it when interviewing. All panelists arrived at each step understanding the career experiences, lived experiences, education, core values, and skills of each candidate and how they would apply their background to the challenges the organization faced. This education went well beyond the candidate’s resume. After multiple interviews and a town hall Q&A with staff, Acumen was proud to present a number of exceptional final candidates for the role.
In February, the new CEO will start with a unanimous decision from the Executive Team and Board Members. Trust was established among all senior organizational leaders, along with a better understanding of how they can better work together.
What we learned:
- Have a clear vision and be able to articulate your priorities and goals.
- When hiring a leader, leverage a process that assesses what each candidate brings to the current vs. future state of the organization: weight it as 70% present and 30% future.
- Make sure your Board is actively engaged in the search and interview process.
- Create a safe space that encourages dialogue and communication where every team knows they can be open and honest.
- Hiring a senior leader is a complex and cumbersome process to manage. Bring in an expert who will work shoulder-to-shoulder with you to facilitate the search- an effective partner will support organizational transformation and go far beyond throwing resumes your way.