This book is especially for board members—those open-hearted, open-handed folks who do so much to guard, guide, and make good the missions of our nonprofit organizations.  When you signed up for board service you probably did not know it would also include executive search.  Now here you are with an unexpected task, a limited budget, and already more than enough to do.

It is that coming together of less-than-happy conditions that caused us to assemble this small book.  The “us” in this case is far more than the two of us at the bottom of this page.  It is our colleagues and friends on the editorial advisory committee who as board members and executives have lived through this search process which now you face.  While they do have the very last word here (see Afterwords II), they also had the very first word with us about the substance and shape of what follows.  That is to say this is largely a collection of our combined wisdom. 

The first three chapters are addressed to you as board members.  They are designed to help you get a perspective on your executive transition, assess the present status and special needs of your organization, and create a profile of the kind of leadership all that suggests.

Most of Chapter IV and all of Chapter V tackle the selection and specific work of the search committee, and thus these sections are intended as a guide for search committee members in addition to boards.  We could have ended with Chapter VI on the details of checking out, contracting with, and celebrating your selected finalist for the position.  We didn’t.  We believe that the entry attitudes and behaviors of the new executive and board are so crucial that we added a Chapter VII, “The First 100 Days,” addressed to the new executive in addition to the board.

Our hope is that much of what is on these pages will be of assistance with this unexpected task, making it far easier and more affordable.  If that is so you can join with us in appreciation to Elfi Di Bella and the good people at Huntington National Bank for their sponsorship.  Thanks as well to Margaret Wildi and Grange Insurance for their always-professional printing job. 

Finally, though, foremost on our appreciation list is Kelly Stevelt Kaser, the talented and trusted colleague at the Academy for Leadership & Governance.  Her initial good work of research and final work of preparing the manuscript were as always exemplary.  Our editor, Karen Simonian, made smooth the language and clear the sentences in a way that makes us all proud.

Donn F. Vickers

Cindy Hilsheimer

Columbus, Ohio