On 6/3/06, Gavin Chait gchait@gmx.net wrote:
In response to Anthony and other related posts:
Someone is needed to bootstrap the organization ... I think it's important to make it clear that this isn't a permanent position, though. In part, because it's dangerous to assign such a position when you really have no clue what the position is
One thing I think is important though is the interim CEO should be made aware that a big part of eir job is going to be explaining eir actions to the entire membership
So far the CEO / COO / Director *interim* position can be summarised as follows:
"We need help real fast. We don't know what help we need and would like you to tell us. Please don't ruffle any feathers. Don't do anything without telling everyone in the community. We'll get back to you about what we decide."
So, appointing an *interim* CEO / COO / Director will have a result equivalent to not appointing an *interim* CEO / COO / Director. The core problem: "We don't know what to do next and we need help deciding what to do," won't have been solved and can't be solved until the board and community decide.
I don't see how appointing an interim CEO/COO/Director doesn't solve that problem. My presumption is that such a person would know what to do next, and would be able to convince the board and most of the community that she's right about it.
You've given your own suggestions above, but what is the board going to do, say "hey, Gavin Chait said this is how we should do it, so lets go with it"? I don't think it's going to happen.
Why not? I have 15 years experience in South Africa developing and running non-profit organisations in fields as diverse as HIV / AIDS, education and small business development. I've worked with student-run, university-based organisations, corporate funded ones, and institutional versions. I have fund-raised, written proposals, developed ideas and implemented them. Some of my ideas even work.
I'm probably not the only person with this sort of experience on this list but I do have some idea of what it takes to run a self-sustaining non-profit social benefit organisation.
So why not listen to my suggestions? They are my opinions, based on my experiences. They are freely and honestly given. I don't have all the answers but I may be able to save you some bother.
Well, I'm personally a big believer that there needs to be a competent central figure during this process. Maybe you agree with me, and maybe you don't. I'm also a big believer that Jimbo, the only current candidate, is *not* competent at such a task.
So hey, if you could convince the board that you have what it takes, I'd say hire *you* as interim CEO. Unlike some others I don't think the interim CEO has to have a tremendous resume as a top leader of huge organizations - someone with the experience you describe would probably be good enough, and probably a *lot* cheaper.
Maybe you'd even be willing to take on such a role for free. If so, even better.
As an alternative it'd be nice to get someone with your type of experience on the board. Preferably as an additional member, but if Jimbo's control issues won't allow the board to expand then maybe Ant or Angela would be willing to step down (we could give her some sort of new title like "Volunteer advocate" and an advisory position).
Of course, all of this is dependent on you being 1) willing, and 2) able to demonstrate your ability to handle the task. And it goes equally well for anyone on this list who can convince Jimbo that ey can do it.
Anthony