Charity exec - 6 months in and I’m done

[Luciev]

Hey everyone, need some advice. I’m a CEO of a smallish charity, I’ve been in post 6 months and i want to throw the towel in but I feel like failure doing that. A short back story.
the interim CEO applied for the role but didn’t get it. They kept them on as COO and this, I believe, is the root of the problem. The staff still see her are leader, the leadership team see her as leader and she see herself are the rightful leader and has done everything in her power to throw me under a bus at every opportunity. She has a terrible relationship with the board and says that’s why she didn’t get the role. Before I started the board told staff they would take a chance with me - fresh pair of eyes and I would bring in loads of money - but of course it takes time and I am working on it. The expectation that in 6 months I would do this alone is not achievable - I don’t have KPIs and it’s not in my JD. Everyone feels sorry for the COO and she plays on that rather than manage their expectations. I walked in with a real determination to lead -not knowing this back story and I feel totally deflated. I feel like the odds of success were stacked against me from the start and I need an exit that keeps my mojo in tact - it’s hanging together precariously right now. Any suggestions ? I still need to work - can’t fully retire.

Yes very true. And wise words. So thank you.

OP be kind to yourself. You wanted to make a good impression and because you are a good person thought that people would treat you well. You did all the right things! You didn’t make a mistake - you tried an approach and it didn’t work. Fail
forward! (I hate the term fail here but you know what I mean).

Great job on the strategy and vision - you know exactly what to do!

So you tried it that way but maybe it’s time for another way? Sometimes taking back control feels good and will reenergise you to create the charity you want to run - how amazing does that sound?

Maybe it’s toxic now but here is the great news. You are in charge and you can change the culture. It won’t all be smooth sailing but how rewarding and fulfilling to know you have done that?

Sometimes a toxic culture happens in a vacuum. You have spent a productive six months getting the lay of the land and now is the time. I wish you all the very best.

The OP says the COO is effective. Getting rid of her could therefore backfire on the CEO, by removing valuable skills and p*ssing off the staff who support her. In the OP's shoes, I would be aiming to keep her skills and change her behaviour. If the COO really doesn't like it, she will make her own decision to leave.

I agree with this.

join ACEVO or ACOSVO

both have support programs for new in role CEOs. And opportunities to network and connect with other CEOs.

charity CEO is the loneliest role and you need your fellows CEOs for peer support.

what are describing is pretty normal and it takes a while to find your feet.

a mentor or coach would also be a good idea.

good luck from one of your peers

"Culture eats strategy for breakfast" and this goes tenfold for charities!

• Get the personal support you need in place to get through the year
• Write the KPIs for the board and get them to sign off
• Don't take it personally (hard, I know) Just accept the environment's toxic and start looking towards your own personal and professional horizon.

Good luck!

@Luciev How can a charity not have a fund raiser? Did you see the staff structure before you accepted the job? It appears to me that you are trying to fund raise with your hands tied behind your back. You have a board over promising and telling people they are paid less because of you. Hardly a great start!

Other than to divert money into another member of staff, how would you working part time benefit the organisation? They won’t have your full time leadership and, unfortunately, it’s letting the staff get on with it and enabling a bitch fest one day a week. They will criticise you for only needing a part time job. It’s inevitable. So they will think they sacrificed a pay rise and you are so overpaid you don’t need a full time role.

What I think needs to happen is that the existing staff are reorganized. Does everything they do assist the core requirement of fund raising? Can some work be streamlined? What existing talent have you got? Surely the most important work of a charity is to make money and the board thought that was you. So why isn’t it? You could look like an expensive mistake by going part time and admitting you cannot do the fundraising job.

lots of great advice here

have you properly set up committees? you should have a board committee for Finance that is chaired and populated by a small number of board members that are skilled in the area and that you trust. you get the COO to report to them and they then report into your chair and the rest of the board. you set the strategic tasks and goals and KPI's as a CEO you need from your COO and get her and her team to report their progress and operational decisions to that Finance board committee. and they monitor and keep tabs on the progress for you.

this will be the making of you. if you are thinking of leaving then stay and introduce a whole change programme - work for another year or two and then you can leave in a blaze of glory and sell yourself as an agent of organisational change.

the charity sector is having an awful time and all jobs are difficult jobs at the moment. this is your chance to prove you can do it.

work is not life
who cares if people who are bad at their jobs or horrible personally don't like you? it's a sign of quality if you rise above them while remaining at all times polite professional and effective.

Honestly? Going PT so the organisation can hire a fundraiser while it already has a COO it doesn't even really need is some serious weaksauce. It's basically surrendering the field to her completely and making her CEO by default. And it's nuts. If the org would be better served by no COO and a fundraiser, you should restructure to make that happen.

Do you actually believe that you could do something for the org that she couldn't? If so, do your job. Tell her that she has the chance to contribute to the plan and to rework her working relationship with you right now, but she gets on board or she's out. Mean it. She's succeeded in putting you on the defensive and just rather weakly responding to her. Time to take back control. Make a plan. Execute it. It's time for both the Big Girl Knickers and the Arse-Kicking Boots.

I hate to say it, but do you think a male CEO would just rather damply say, "oh dear, the COO doesn't like me, I guess I'll give up and go PT so they can hire a fundraiser"? I don't. He'd play hardball to get the board to back him, and he'd put the COO's back against the wall. Channel that guy.

You're the CEO. You're paid to lead this organisation. So lead it. Maybe it's too toxic to be saved; that happens. But if you're going to go down, I say go down big with the knowledge that you did everything you could and kicked the org into a better shape. Then you can sell that restructuring and difficult-environment experience for new gigs.

You're the CEO. You're in charge. Own it.

Such a motivating comment so thank you . All comments have helped me to revisit my initial thoughts and think it through with a bit more positive energy. I didn’t sleep well last night worrying - hence the post 😁 but i do think a bit more grit is what’s required and I can do that !

If you're looking for a mentor feel free to message me on here. I've just gone freelance after almost a decade as a charity CEO and dealt with this type of thing - it's very tough and lonely at the top but there are resources out there that can help, or help you move on constructively.

I have joined ACEOV just recently. Thank you for the message. I appreciate it.

Just want to say , when I wrote my ‘woe is me” post this morning I was feeling pretty deflated. The comments here have been constructive and kind. I just want to thank everyone for taking the time and to say I am feeling a little more positive. I will be taking some of these suggestions forward and like someone said “ Put on my big girl pants annd kick ass boots “I will keep you posted. Thanks again !

Look at the leadership styles of yourself and the COO, if people prefer her could you learn something from how she led as interim CEO? I understand everyone saying take back control etc, but also consider the culture of the charity you are leading. It is lonely at the top if you don't share power and responsibility and have everyone on board. That doesn't mean "being too nice" it's about collaboration. Having a new CEO is very scary for everyone so collaboration is essential. In a small charity it is normal for the senior team to also do the fundraising, but was that made clear when you took the role? Maybe revisit with the board?

I have worked in the charity sector and this does not surprise me at all.

There is a serious issue in the sector at top level with bullying, incompetence and endless time and money wasted on politics and vanity projects.

If you are at the point that you are considering living then strong action is needed:

• You need to make it clear that the current structure is not working if they want to focus on fundraising and growth and that you are going to restructure. That involves some redundancies, including the COO and new posts (so you can get a new team in that does not waste most of their time trying to stab you in the back).
• Technically Trustees are there to make steer the overall direction of the charity and to make sure that the charity can provide correct accounts every year. The board is not here to have an input of the day to day management of the charity
• Basically you need to be tougher and get rid of the dead wood. Bring you plan for a restructure to the board rathe than ask for permission to do things all the time and focus on showing them that this is in the business and financial interest of the charity.

Try to stick it for a year so you have some achievements under your belt then you can look for a new CEO post.

Small charity politics can be a nightmare, and the structure of board/staff so often does not work so you have my sympathy (I ended up with PTSD after my own experience).

To add to all the advice you have been given, I would also talk to Fair Collective who specialise in small charity help and governance. I had a mentor through them who was much more use than any help I had through Cranfield which can be helpful in some cases but is much more staffed by 'traditional' retiree charity types.

The charity sector can be really toxic. Presumably you are line managing the COO? Can you get support from HR to manage her behaviours? I agree that a conversation is needed, and this would be the first step in a performance management process.

The Board too need to be supportive of you - what is your relationship like with the Chair?

And can you get a coach or a mentor? They are also really helpful both in terms of tips/guidance/support but also as somewhere to offload. It can be really difficult and lonely as a CEO.

I second ACEVO, they can be really supportive.

Redundancies as a result of restructuring can be expensive. So is recruiting. I would be careful about wholesale change and getting rid of someone who is good at their job. The big issue is attitude, not capability. This type of move would be seen as very confrontational. However getting people to buy in to a new strategy is better via an achievable plan. It is possible to chine the culture without huge cost and trauma.