The Colonel Crowther Foundation: Succession Planning in a Non-Profit Organization

Authors
Robert G. Edmonds
Region
North America
Topic
Strategy & General Management
Length
3 pages
Keywords
board of directors
Governance
corporate succession
succession planning
leadership
situational leadership
transformational leadership
charismatic leadership
succession management
historical re-enactors
Copyright Holder
Journal of Critical Incidents
Student Price
$4.00
Target Audience
Undergraduate Students
Executive Education

This descriptive critical incident is based upon a real life situation encountered by the author. As vice president and a member of the Board of Directors of the Colonel Crowther Foundation, the author and members of the board were shocked and deeply saddened by the unexpected death of the visionary founder and executive director of the foundation, Dr. Bob Hileman. Dr. Hileman’s death from a massive heart attack left a major void in the organization’s leadership and created a crisis in succession management for the board, posing a threat to the very survival of the foundation.

Learning Outcomes
  1. Evaluate the need for organizations of all types and sizes to develop a succession plan for future leadership, and to identify the criteria needed to formulate such a plan
  2. Examine the role that an organization’s board of directors plays in helping the organization to develop a viable succession plan
  3. Categorize the various types of leadership found in organizations and explain the type of leadership needed by the Colonel Crowther Foundation in the wake of its executive director’s sudden death