Executive Search and Transition Management for Associations and Non-Profit Organizations

Few events in the life of an organization will raise stakes – and stress levels – as high as a transition in senior leadership. Finding the right fit and successfully integrating that person into the institutional fabric poses complex and significant challenges. Its consequences are long lasting – and difficult to reverse.

That is why at Association Strategies, Inc. we pioneered a systematic, collaborative approach to defining the realities of the position and the unique environment in which it operates, allowing us to identify ideal candidates. Our three-step methodology includes an organizational assessment, a comprehensive search, and transition planning. At every step, we engage staff leaders and stakeholders, drawing on their expertise and institutional knowledge. We plumb our extensive networks as well as the broader fabric of the U.S. and international workforce to recruit the right talent to move the organization forward. Because we focus on executive search for associations and non-profit organizations we appreciate the importance of your unique culture, our focus is on personal attributes and behaviors as well as skills.

Once you select your new executive, we engage you in a conversation that identifies parameters for success and strategies for effective onboarding of the new executive into the organization. As former association executives, we understand that search is an evolutionary process, not a single event or transaction, and over the last two decades, we have applied this philosophy to the most critical search situations:

FOUNDING EXECUTIVE SEARCH
Replacing a beloved founder can be emotionally charged and often brings an organization to a crossroads. Our sensitive and competency-based approach harmonizes concerns about legacy with strategies to carry the institution into a new era.

Case Study: Executive Search for National Organization for Rare Disorders
Association Strategies, Inc. leveraged the stature and culture created by the founder of this multi-million organization to identify an appropriate 21st century successor.

NORD’s founder guided the organization from infancy to national prominence, making it the go-to source for non-governmental information on rare disorders. Her successor would have to preserve and build on those victories. Using our comprehensive, personalized approach, ASI, Inc., identified an individual who not only valued NORD’s existing culture, but who used its past success to invigorate the board of directors and create the collaborative, member-oriented profile demanded of today’s non-profits.
 

CRISIS DEPARTURE
The sudden loss of an executive can throw an organization into turmoil. Our systematic approach ensures that best practices – and not urgency – will drive your selection.  Our experience makes us uniquely qualified to find the best executive for your non-profit or association.

Case Study: Crisis Departure for American Association of University Women
AAUW faced the untimed departure of its executive director not once but twice. And twice it turned to Association Strategies, Inc.

A host of unforeseen circumstances can befall an organization’s top executive. Each time AAUW faced the delicate task of finding a replacement, ASI, Inc. applied its methodical, OD-based techniques to identify an executive who would not only avert crisis, but overcome daunting challenges. Today, with the leader identified by ASI, Inc., multi-million, 100,000-member organization is strengthening membership, increasing visibility and confidently implementing a new business model.
 

TRANSITION MANAGEMENT AFTER A SUCCESSFUL RUN
It may seem as if no one can fill the shoes of your long-term, highly successful executive. Our ability to identify talent based on tried and tested research methods produces a slate of candidates who combine fresh perspective and new directions with respect and sensitivity for the history and legacy of the departing CEO.

Case Study: Transition Management for American Speech-Language-Hearing Association
Successful executives are a tough act to follow – and many replacements last just a few months. When ASHA’s beloved two-decade leader stepped down, it called ASI, Inc. to help it beat the odds. That was three years ago.

Respected within the organization, the association world, and the community of speech-language-hearing professionals that he came from, ASHA’s longtime executive director walked on water. The 130,000-member organization representing speech-language pathologists, audiologists, and speech, language, and hearing scientists didn’t want someone who could merely swim. ASI, Inc. delivered a roster of highly competent candidates that allowed the board to select a leader tailor made for the challenges facing the organization – and its expectations.

Case Study: Transition Management for American College of Emergency Physicians
Association Strategies, Inc. doesn’t just present a list of candidates. We help your organization bridge internal differences to discover what it really wants – and needs – in a new leader.

Strongly grounded in tradition, many individuals at ACEP believed the new executive director should be a physician. Except those who didn’t. ASI, Inc. presented a number of physician and non-physician candidates then helped the board and senior executives move past preconceptions to consider core issues of leadership. With ASI, Inc.’s guidance, organization leaders moved harmoniously to an unexpected conclusion: that what they really wanted was a highly successful, well-regarded non-profit executive. Under that individual’s leadership, the $$$-million, 22,000-member organization is moving steadily toward its goals.

Association Strategies Services, Inc.:

Executive Search and Transition Management

Interim Executive Search

Succession Planning

Board Advisory Services

Organizational Development Services