First, let me note that your next senior decision maker(s) should be people who are on their way UP, not on their way OUT of your industry. Why? Because there is a high statistical probability that people on the way out won’t want to change a darn thing … a fine strategy if progress is not what your community wants to see.
Selecting a new senior decision-maker, whether a CEO, Fire Chief, Police Chief, Finance Director, HR Director, or NGO Executive Director, is one of the most significant decisions a governing body faces. Too often, this process is mired in superficial interviews, charisma, backroom lobbying, and resume-based speculation. To ensure the person you hire is a true partner for the future, I recommend moving beyond traditional hiring practices and adopting The Guidant Path: Defining The Path Ahead* methodology.
This process shifts the burden of proof from the selection board to the candidate, ensuring that selection is based on a concrete, actionable strategy rather than guesswork. Most importantly, it requires everyone to stay relentlessly focused on what the community needs and expects and what the organization must do to meet those needs and expectations.
This is a profound shift from the standard practice of reading someone’s resume and then quizzing them on how their past might translate to your community. Instead, you are placing the community’s reality in their hands and asking them to solve for the future.
Phase 1: Commissioning the Assessment
Before the position is even posted, the governing body must have a crystal-clear understanding of the organization’s current reality. Commission an outside party to conduct a comprehensive assessment. An external perspective is essential to remove internal “noise” and provide an objective view of where the organization stands.
This assessment must be rigorous and include:
Quantitative Research:
- Your External Constituents: Conduct a statistically valid community opinion poll regarding satisfaction with the organization. Pro Tip: When I say “statistically valid,” I do not mean lazily putting some questions in with the utility bills or on the home page of your organization’s website and calling it a useful community opinion survey. Such a simplistic process is amateurish and a waste of resources. Who typically responds to such lazy things? I’ll tell you who: people who love you or people who hate you. Unless you conduct a statistically valid opinion survey, you’re missing a significant portion of your customer base. If the reader would like a no-obligation session on how to conduct a proper survey, simply message me and we’ll walk through it.
- Your Internal Constituents: Conduct a thorough team member/employee opinion survey covering job-related conditions. My firm has conducted thousands of properly structured Team Member Opinion Surveys, and I cannot overstress the importance of avoiding amateurish efforts on this as well. I have outlined how to properly conduct such a survey in at least two of my books, including The Guidant Path: Creating The Path Ahead.
Hard Audits: A detailed, forensic audit of finances, equipment, and physical facilities. (Pro Tip to Applicants and Prospective Leaders: Never accept a new position without first securing a comprehensive, written audit of the organization’s assets, including its finances, equipment, and physical facilities. Accepting accountability for an organization without a verified baseline is a fundamental leadership failure. Doing so invites unnecessary risk and may expose you to personal liability for pre-existing issues or financial errors that were left undiscovered. True “Guidant” leadership requires that you walk into a position with your eyes wide open to the reality of the Path you are stepping onto.)
Operational Review: An analysis across five foundational categories (which, not coincidentally, are the major chapter titles of a properly written Strategic Plan.)
- Leadership & Management: The work we do to lead people and design effective processes in the areas of planning, organizing structure, inspiring others, and measuring actual performance compared to planned performance.
- Operations: The work we do to invest time, talent, and treasury into customer-driven productivity, quality, and innovation.
- Finance: The work we do to ensure that all decision-makers have access to accurate, timely data, including financial information. (This is where we keep track of the money; it is not the source of money.)
- Team Services: The work we do to maintain an adequate supply of qualified, satisfied team members.
- Community Outreach & Involvement (Marketing): The source of public trust and operating revenue.
The final report must deliver, by category, two specific outputs: “Here’s what is working” (employee choices, risk management practices, policies, procedures, training programs, in other words, the piers we build upon) and “Here’s what needs to be improved” (the obstacles to address in each functional area). Once complete, this document is formally adopted by the legislative body as the organization’s baseline reality.
Phase 2: The Challenge to Candidates
When you invite applicants to the position, you are not just checking their history; you are testing their future capacity. Provide every serious candidate with the following invitation, accompanied by a copy of Defining The Path Ahead* document.
Template: Invitation To Candidates for Strategic Proposal
Subject: Invitation for Strategic Proposal: [Organization Name] Leadership Opportunity
Dear [Candidate Name],
Our governing body is committed to a leadership selection process that prioritizes organizational health, strategic alignment, and objective accountability. We believe that a successful transition begins with a shared understanding of our current reality. We have enclosed our recent organizational assessment, “Defining The Path Ahead.”
We invite you to take two weeks to analyze this document and prepare a presentation on how you would address these findings once appointed. Your presentation must be made in person before the legislative body. You may use slides, handouts, or a combination of both to articulate your plan. The presentation should specifically address how you intend to help us achieve the objectives set forth in the assessment, including what resources you’ll inherit and the resources you propose you’ll need to achieve our required outcomes.
We are not looking for a recitation of your resume. We are looking for a thoughtful, convincing, and strategic partner who is prepared to be held accountable for the progress and success of our organization.
Your presentation, if approved, becomes your job description and will be the basis for your periodic performance evaluations.
Best wishes,
Chair of Selection Task Force
Phase 3: Selection and The Accountability Framework
The legislative body no longer has to guess who the “best fit” is. Instead, you select the candidate who makes the most convincing, thoughtful presentation on how they will navigate the organization forward based on the established reality.
Candidate Presentation Evaluation Rubric
Evaluation Criteria
Score (1-5)
- Grasp of Reality: Clear understanding of “what is working” and “what needs to be improved.”
- Strategic Alignment: Proposed path addresses the core objectives defined in the assessment.
- Proactive Problem Solving: Actionable strategies for “needs to be improved” areas.
- Accountability Mindset: Commitment to results that can be measured and reported.
- Leadership Maturity: Focuses on organizational needs rather than personal career aspirations.
Total Score: ____ / 30
Sustaining the Path: The Strategic Progress Report
Once the leader is appointed, the focus must remain on high-level community impact. Periodic reports must move away from static data, such as crime statistics or volume counts, and instead address two central questions grounded in the Path Ahead document:
- “What have you and your team done in the past period to improve the quality of life for the people and businesses already here?”
- “What do you propose to do to assist in attracting more people and businesses to our community?”
Strategic Progress Report Template:
- 1. Strategic Alignment: Link current progress to the specific “what needs to be improved” objectives from the baseline.
- 2. Enhancing Quality of Life: Describe specific, purposeful actions and tangible community outcomes.
- 3. Growth & Attraction Strategy: Describe initiatives to attract new growth that remain aligned with the community’s identity.
- 4. The “Pier” Perspective: Identify “noise” removed and how you are strengthening the foundational piers for long-term legacy.
- 5. Legislative Feedback: Identify policy and/or resource adjustments needed to facilitate the agreed-upon path.
Phase 4: Public Transparency and Engagement
To ensure the community trusts the process, the governing body should translate these high-level strategic reports into accessible, public-facing summaries. Rather than publishing dense audits or jargon-filled internal reports, release a Monthly or Quarterly Community Value Statement.
This document should highlight:
- The Progress Made: Using the two core questions, share in plain language how the leadership is improving the daily experience of residents and businesses.
- The Path Ahead: Briefly reiterate the long-term objectives so the community understands the “why” – the value to them – behind the organization’s actions.
- The Call to Partnership: Invite residents to see how their feedback is integrated into the “needs to be improved” categories, demonstrating that the organization is not operating in a vacuum, but is a living, responsive participant investing resources in the community’s prosperity.
By moving from a search for “talent” to a search for “solution-oriented partners,” you stop hoping for a good hire and start engineering a successful transition that is visible, accountable, and clearly directed toward the future.
Author’s Note: The content provided in this article is designed exclusively for educational and informational purposes, reflecting opinions shaped by decades of leadership training and organizational consulting experience. It should never be interpreted as formal professional advice. By reading or engaging with this material, you acknowledge that no professional-client relationship is established and that these insights do not substitute for tailored guidance from a qualified professional familiar with your specific circumstances. Consequently, readers are strongly advised to seek independent counsel from licensed legal, financial, medical, or other appropriate advisors before implementing any strategies or making decisions based on these perspectives. Ultimately, you assume full personal responsibility for any actions you choose to take or omit as a result of reading this material, releasing the author and publisher from any liability for outcomes arising from your reliance on the text.
