Executive Search
Leadership transition presents a critical moment for contribution to future success by the staff and board of any non-profit organization. Handled properly, such a transition can honor and recognize the contributions of valued leaders, affirm organizational culture, and set a path for exciting, mission-driven service for years to come. It is with that goal in mind that the DeVos Institute Executive Search Process has been designed.
HOW WE DIFFER FROM OTHER SEARCH PROVIDERS
Our process fuses three key strengths:
1) A deep understanding of the practical management needs of non-profit organizations;
2) An awareness and sensitivity to the role of culture in the identification of leadership; and
3) Decades of strategic planning focused on what is required for operational, financial, and programmatic success.
UNDERSTANDING PRACTICAL MANAGEMENT NEEDS
As experienced arts managers ourselves, we have a nuanced understanding of the operational requirements for success in the arena of non-profit management. We do not approach the search process primarily as consultants; we approach it from the perspective of a team which has personally administered dozens of non-profit institutions in a hands-on capacity – from the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts in Washington, D.C., to an Asian-American modern dance company, to a school for the arts in Harlem, to the first opera house on the Arabian Peninsula – and many, many more. In addition to our team’s previous professional experience, we regularly function as interim leadership for non-profit organizations in transition – partnering with boards and staffs as team members during periods of sensitive re-calibration. This lived experience is brought to our service as partners in Executive Search.
AN AWARENESS OF THE IMPORTANCE OF CULTURE
An outgrowth of our work with hundreds of executives and leadership teams over the years – including our administration of the premier training program for arts and culture managers in the world and our leadership of the largest, most comprehensive, and most diverse capacity-building program in the nation – we have developed a proprietary framework for analyzing the relationship between a chief executive, a board, a staff, and the community of service. This framework offers deep insight into the behavioral characteristics and cultural sensitivities that – in addition to one’s experience – produce every available confidence that the chosen candidate is a right-fit, culturally, for the organization’s values, management needs, community of service, and strategic trajectory.
DECADES OF STRATEGIC PLANNING
Through our work consulting over 150 non-profit cultural and civic organizations on an annual basis on every concern from human resources to fundraising, we have a profound and up-to-date awareness of what is required for cultural organizations to excel in today’s quickly-changing environment.
A unique, and recommended aspect of our search process is the development, or refinement, of a strategic vision at the outset of the process. While wholly optional, we have found this planning aspect a vital value-add to the search process, especially for new institutions. This short-form plan is authored by the Institute in conversation with your board and key stakeholders and produces a coherent summary of needs in the areas of programming, marketing, board & community engagement, and revenue development, inclusive of earned and contributed streams. It is augmented by a top-line implementation plan that illustrates the key capacities required of incoming executive management and seeks clarity regarding the role of the executive in relationship to a Board. This process is designed to strengthen and focus the executive profile and provide candidates a thorough understanding of the organization’s vision and practical needs from a leader. This optional process begins immediately upon contract and lasts approximately two months, simultaneous to the necessary preparation for the launch of a successful process.
ABOUT OUR PROCESS
Our full-service search process encompasses deep stakeholder engagement; an insightful and nuanced position profile; national (an international, where applicable) broadcast and recruitment; a fully facilitated interview and selection process; reference checks, negotiation and offer logistics; and personalized efforts specific to your organization's context.
LEARN MORE
To request information or schedule an informational call, please contact Syrah Gunning, Executive Search and Development, at segunning@devosinstitute.net.