smorgasBoard®

Insights into nonprofit leadership & governance

Featured image for “Five Tips on Transitioning from an Iconic CEO”
Dec. 15, 2018

Five Tips on Transitioning from an Iconic CEO

The arrival of a new CEO is a chance to welcome new ideas, possibilities and energy. But when the new leader follows a beloved, long-serving predecessor, successful transitioning is a challenge. BoardWalk recently invited a group of nonprofit CEO’s and board leaders to discuss their experiences with such challenging leadership…
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Featured image for “Five people to invite onto every search committee –and two to avoid”
Dec. 15, 2018

Five people to invite onto every search committee –and two to avoid

Since the founding of BoardWalk Consulting in 2002, we have worked with scores of nonprofit and foundation CEO search committees. The vast majority of the CEO search committees we serve are charged with identifying, attracting, vetting and recommending a final candidate to becomeCEO of their respective organizations. The final hiring…
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Featured image for “12 Steps to a Successful Search”
Dec. 15, 2018

12 Steps to a Successful Search

Considering a search for a new CEO or Executive Director? In response to many requests, BoardWalk Consulting has prepared a template to guide you through the 12 Steps to a Successful Search. Download PDF…
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Featured image for “Are you investing enough in leadership?”
Dec. 15, 2018

Are you investing enough in leadership?

The current economic crisis has every nonprofit focused on funding. We think leadership is the more important target for attention. Two things came together in the past 30 days to focus our attention on investments in nonprofit leadership.The first, of course, is the country’s financial calamity, a development that has…
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Featured image for “Successful Successions: A BoardWalk Guide”
Dec. 15, 2018

Successful Successions: A BoardWalk Guide

Turnover among board and senior staff members is a big issue for nonprofits, and it’s about to become even bigger. Fifty-seven percent—better than one in two—of nonprofits surveyed in five separate studies we’ve reviewed expect a change in leadership within five years of the survey date. The projected turnover of…
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Featured image for “Five questions every candidate should ask”
Dec. 15, 2018

Five questions every candidate should ask

For the past few months in this space, we have enjoyed sparking discussion of key questions to be addressed in the context of a search for a new CEO. Our first article highlighted “Five questions every search committee should ask—of itself.”1 Our second article covered “Five questions every search committee…
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Featured image for “A Quick Assessment of the Five Dysfunctions of Your Board”
Dec. 15, 2018

A Quick Assessment of the Five Dysfunctions of Your Board

Instructions: Use the scale below to indicate the extent to which eachstatement applies to your board. Be sure to evaluate the statements honestly and without over-thinking your answers. Download PDF…
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Featured image for “Five questions every CEO and Board Chair should address – together”
Dec. 15, 2018

Five questions every CEO and Board Chair should address – together

Having worked with literally hundreds of CEOs and board chairs of nonprofits and foundations, my BoardWalk colleagues and I have experienced firsthand the power behind a board chair and CEO working in truly effective partnership on behalf of a specific mission. We’ve also seen organizations flounder when those relationships were…
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Featured image for “Has your organization outgrown its board?”
Dec. 15, 2018

Has your organization outgrown its board?

The really tough issues in nonprofit board governance are not the ones involvingMessrs. Sarbanes or Oxley, nor even solons in the White House, the Congress or the IRS. Rather, the really tough issues in board governance are the ones involving the people you know best—your own board members. The governance…
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Featured image for “Five questions every board should ask”
Dec. 15, 2018

Five questions every board should ask

Five questions every board member should ask Anyone interested in better board governance has lots of sources available. Bookstores are full of weighty tomes on the topic, some of the best of which we cite in the Resources1 section of our own website. A quick check viaGoogle for best practices…
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