Read this before you take that Executive Director Job…

Congratulations!  You just received an offer to be an Executive Director!

OMG.  Now what?

Chances are, even if you have been in a senior role in a nonprofit, you will be new to the challenges of being the boss.  More likely, you are either a founder or relatively new in your career and have started this nonprofit because of your passion for the cause.

I applaud you and want to hand you a cocktail.  This is an industry that is chronically over-led, under-managed and led by passionate smart people who are a little short on life experience.

Or, you are a deeply experienced veteran of running processes and leading people and you stepped into a perfect nonprofit where leprechauns regularly sprinkle gold and magical unicorns abound.  In that case, I’m doing a slow golf clap in your direction. Stop reading this post and go take a vacation.

What is the job, actually?

You know how in the dating world, you meet some seemingly perfect person?  He smells nice, chews with his mouth closed, has a job and dresses well? Then you get into a relationship and realize that he only showers intermittently, his job is delivering weed and his mom picks out his clothes?  No? Is this only me?

Awkward.

Anyway, the point I’m trying to make here is that during the courting phase, we all try to put our best foot forward and downplay our flaws.  You are recruited because you are some brand of magical human and you go through the interview/dating phase saying all the right things and bringing all the right experiences.

You meet the board over candlelit dinners and they look deeply into your eyes and ask, “Are you the one?” What they mean is: are you the person who can meet our often unreasonable expectations, compensate for a significant lack of funding/leadership/infrastructure, make it rain money,  psychically intuit everything we ever wanted in a leader the moment that we want it, sacrifice your personal life, work for slave wages and do it with a positive attitude?

And you say, “Yes, I am the one.”  What you mean is: Yes, I am up for this challenge because I am not fully aware of the possible dumpster fires that you’ve been hiding behind those fancy job descriptions and not yet fully aware of the personal sacrifices I will have to make in service to this cause.  I do not yet know about the sleepless nights fueled by cortisol and anxiety and that everything I do will piss somebody off regardless of my best efforts and intentions—but, I’m GAME!

And so, you make the match and another Executive Director gets their wings.

Read this before you say yes to the dress.

Before you sign on the bottom line, here are a couple of areas to look into to test if you are about to take a nice walk in the woods or step onto a bear trap.

Look at the financials

Before you sign anything, I want you to ask for three years of statements of financial position, statements of activities, income statements and audits.  This is not an accounting post, so I won’t get into the details, but broadly losing money and being in the red is bad. Any significant changes in terms of revenue and expenses are areas to bring up questions (i.e. was there a significant one-time grant?  A significant expense/investment in one year?) Any significant memo from your auditors is worthy of question.

I’m trying to prevent you from getting into the driver’s seat before you drive over a financial cliff.  You want to talk to the CFO or the head of the board finance committee with any questions you have and make them explain it to you in clear terms.

Believe me, most EDs are not conversant in finance and often will feign understanding in order not to seem dumb.  Please do not do this. If you are self-conscious about doing this prior to the job description, reach out to any of the very good nonprofit accounting firms and see about contracting them for an hour of their time to explain it you.  Sometimes, finance people will try to make concepts seem more complex than they are so that you’ll stop asking questions. See 2008 sub-prime mortgage crisis for details. Ask questions until you understand the financial position of your nonprofit and until you are satisfied.

Being in the red is not necessarily a deal-breaker, but I want you to go in with your eyes wide open and a plan to get you back into the black.

Glassdoor and Employee Interviews

Full disclosure: I have a problem with sites like Glassdoor that allow for anonymous opinions.  I think that anonymity creates a bullying culture where trolls can throw bombs and take no responsibility for it.  I and my peers have been targeted on Glassdoor in unfair and malicious ways. That being said, Glassdoor can be one data point that you can use to assess the work environment.

A good rule of thumb is to look at Glassdoor and to take it with a big grain of salt.  If there are a lot of negative reviews or no reviews at all, that’s something to probe.  If there are many reviews in two very different extremes, it can be a sign that management is standing over people while they write positive reviews.  In any case, read it, notice patterns and ask good questions. I also have a friend who reaches out to former employees to ask their opinions.

Once you have done your research and you are in the final stages of the interview process, request some one-on-one time with senior members and some key junior members.  While you want to enter into a conversation, have your spidey senses up. In most cases, people will never say anything outright negative, but be aware of body language and loaded silences.  If people shift around when you ask about certain subjects, look at the door or generally seem uncomfortable, there’s probably a there there. On the other hand, being introduced to the staff means that they will get some input into the hiring decision.  At this point, you won’t want to grill them, but you will want to come across as authentically as possible.

Meeting with the Board

Presumably, you’ve been exposed to members of the board throughout this whole process.  While it’s important to get along with the board members, the most critical relationship is the one with your board chair.  Before you take the job, spend as much time as possible with her. If you don’t get along with the board chair, you might as well pack it up now.

When you spend time with the board chair (i.e. your new boss), there are a couple of important areas to probe:

• Do you think you can work with this person?

• How involved are they in the organization?  Are they too in the weeds or barely able to make meetings?

• What do they care about?  Why do they care about this organization?

• What are their priorities for the board?  How will they get there?

• Does this person give a personally significant gift to the organization and also hold other board members accountable for the same?

• How experienced are they in governance matters (i.e is this their first time as board chair?  Do they have other board experiences?)

• What, in their mind, is the priority for the organization?  How aligned is the board on that?

• What do they think the work of the board is? (Answer: policy, oversight and fundraising.  If there is a different answer, you might have an overly involved board).

• What do they like about you as a candidate?  Are there any areas of concern for them?

• What did the former ED do well?  What is an area of growth?

• What is the most important issue to tackle in this first year?

• What keeps them up at night as a board chair?

• What is your preferred working style? (i.e. quick decisions, long deliberations, collaborative)

• How can an ED win points with you?  What irks you in a working relationship?

During this process, you will both be listening for the actual answers, but also whether you have a sense of who this person really is.  The core of this new working relationship will be trust and if you feel like this person is bull-shitting you or isn’t showing you who they really are, this will not work.

Former EDs

In cases where it’s possible, I always recommend having time to sit and interview the out-going ED.  In this case, you’ll want to understand where they’re coming from, uncover any of their baggage and see what hazards lay in the road ahead.  On the other hand, talking to them will also clue you into whether or not they will be in your way. I know of a new Executive Director who started his new job, only to be managed by the founding ED who had made herself the board chair.  I’ll let you guess how well that worked out.

The best EDs are the ones who are available on call, but don’t hover around like ghosts in the attic.  Most former EDs I know fall into one of two camps: they’re either MIA after leaving or make like a canker sore and won’t leave.  Being an ED is highly emotional–don’t underestimate the amount of emotional investment people have in their identity as EDs. In cases where it’s possible, I recommend hiring a transition coach to help the new ED transition in and the old ED to transition out.  More on this later, but you might need help in managing an outgoing ED with grace and firmness–and someone else to hold a taser when necessary.

Key summary:

• Due diligence before you accept the job includes reading financials, talking to staff (and former staff) and knowing the organization’s reputation.

• Cultivate and nurture your relationship with your board chair.

Next article: Recommendations for Starting the Job Right