Boards need to be developing leaders both on and off the board

A recent article in Harvard Business Review from the leadership advisory firm Egon Zehnder explores the idea of a CEO leadership gap--the acknowledgement by some CEOs that they were not prepared to handle the personal and interpersonal leadership demands of their new roles. These findings have implications not just for corporate CEOs but for nonprofit executive and board succession planning as well.

The board's role in executive succession planning should extend beyond finding the best candidates to helping these leaders grow into their positions. Just this past week I was chatting with a friend about how her board, looking back on its poor experience with a former CEO, realized that they could have done more to develop him as a leader. It's easy to assume that someone selected as a chief executive already possesses all of the necessary skills to succeed in that position, but the most senior person in your organization needs mentoring too. As the body that hires and evaluates the CEO or executive director, the board should be giving the top executive the tools to succeed, not just pointing out when he or she has failed.

Your organization's board of directors also should be investing time in developing new members of the board. This is especially important with younger or first-time board members. Even seasoned executives joining your board may need help adjusting to your organization's culture and fitting in with the existing dynamic on the board. Resources such as BoardSource, the National Association of Corporate Directors, and the Museum Trustee Association can give board members a better sense of their responsibilities to the organization and to each other.

Developing other board members and the chief executive as leaders is just as critical as budget oversight and should be treated as an ethical obligation of the board. Only when we invest in our people will we get a meaningful ROI for our governance efforts.