When an organization has a high-performing leader at its helm, its biggest risk is…

Complacency.

Here are some questions a Board may wish to ask itself to stay sharp:

Succession: Do we have a formal ED succession plan/policy in place? Does it contemplate both emergency and long-term plans?

Retention: Have we done a compensation benchmarking exercise recently to ensure we are competitive in the marketplace?

Professional Development: How do we ensure our leader stays engaged, learning, inspired? Are we talking about career paths and future growth with them? What are professional development opportunities that could continue this leader’s growth?

Institutional Knowledge: For longstanding leaders, to ensure we document “all that they know”, do we have good knowledge transfer processes in place.