Overview

Executive Transitions is volume three in the Museum Trustee Association’s Templates for Trustees series. The book and customizable web-based templates feature tools that help boards to consider their options, identify their priorities, and plan their actions at this critical moment in a museum’s life cycle. In addition to the manual and on-line website, purchasers have access to the ongoing assistance of MTA staff. Executive Transitions encourages board and staff members to see leadership transitions as opportunities for strategic growth. Whether a director’s departure stems from a carefully crafted succession plan or is a completely unanticipated event, the text and accompanying templates will be useful to museums of all types and sizes. They guide the search committee through each step of the executive search process: announcing the previous director’s departure and considering interim leadership options, conducting an institutional audit that will serve as the basis for identifying professional skills and personal qualities needed in the new leader, writing and posting the position announcement, screening initial candidates and interviewing finalists, conducting reference and background checks, and extending an offer. And because it is the board’s responsibility to not only hire the new director but to facilitate his or her success, the final chapter focuses on the all-important transition year.

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9781538108390

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Reviews

As a board member, I often feel vulnerable. Asked to participate because of my previous experience, I may never have dealt with specific issues so I would eagerly turn to this series as a comforting format of sound practical advice. Further I would always choose Fischer and Roberts as my best possible advisors. -- Elaine Heumann Gurian, senior museum consultant, The Museum Group

As a board member, I often feel vulnerable. Asked to participate because of my previous experience, I may never have dealt with specific issues so I would eagerly turn to this series as a comforting format of sound practical advice. Further I would always choose Fischer and Roberts as my best possible advisors. -- Elaine Heumann Gurian, senior museum consultant, The Museum Group The Museum Trustee Association series on working with Boards is a wonderful resource for them and the director. The templates lay out best practices for board members--participating in strategic planning, engaging in accreditation, and empowering them to work with the director ensure the museum's financial stability. -- Nancy Doll, director, Weatherspoon Art Museum, The University of North Carolina at Greensboro MTA's templates have been extremely helpful to our Board of Trustees and our staff. They provide relevant and useful information that is easy to use. Their 'real world' orientation makes them essential tools for any museum. -- Bruce Eldredge, executive director, Buffalo Bill Center of the West, Cody, WY The MTA templates are a most useful tool for governance and board development committees everywhere. They are simple to customize and to collate--great attributes for museums like ours. I've even used them for non-museum organizations wishing to survey the talents and skills on their boards. -- Lynn Homeier Rauch, vice president, Board of Trustees and chair of Governance and Board Development Committee, Walters Art Museum, Baltimore, MD The Museum Trustee Association templates are a conversation starter for any Board looking to transform or grow its governance process. The series balances best practice standards with customizable content to address the needs of museums of all sizes. As a new Executive Director I used the templates as a self-guidance tool to set priorities for my first year. They served as a catalyst for dialogue with my Board about how to most effectively implement mission and vision. -- Annette LeZotte, former executive director, Kauffman Museum Heading into an executive search can be daunting, but the Executive Transitions template beautifully outlines the process and was a terrific tool for our search committee. Although we used a professional consultant, the committee was prepared for the process and shared a common understanding and language after reading the materials. It certainly leveraged our effectiveness. I've shared the template with several other organizations of various sizes within and outside the museum community and everyone has found it extremely helpful. Thank you! -- Ellen Bernard, former chair of the Search Committee, Walters Art Museum and current chair of the Board

Author Information

The Museum Trustee Association was formed as a committee of the American Association of Museums (now known as the American Alliance of Museums) in 1971. The Museum Trustee Association broke away from AAM in 1986 and received its federal IRS 501(c)(3) status in 1991. Since then, MTA has been governed by an elected Board of Directors representing diverse regions of the United States, Caribbean, Canada, and Mexico, a variety of museum disciplines and sizes, and wide-ranging areas of expertise in trusteeship. All are current or former museum trustees, and several are founders of MTA. Daryl Fischer founded Musynergy Consulting in 1993 to provide strategic and interpretive planning, audience evaluation, and board development services to museums and other cultural nonprofits. Her service on numerous nonprofit boards including the Urban Institute for Contemporary Arts (Grand Rapids, MI), the Visitor Studies Association, and the Progressive Women’s Alliance of the Lakeshore has given her a profound appreciation for passion, energy, and expertise board members bring to the organizations they serve. Laura B. Roberts is principal of Roberts Consulting, working with cultural nonprofit organizations on strategic planning, assessment, and organizational development. She is the chair of the Central Square Theater in Cambridge MA and former chaired the boards of Tufts University Art Gallery, MassHumanities and First Night Boston. She teaches museum and nonprofit management at Harvard University Extension, Bank Street College of Education, and Northeastern University.

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