84: Astronomer Meets Coldplay
A CEO steps down after a viral scandal, and within 72 hours, a new interim leader is named. While the world focused on the drama, we’re focusing on what really matters: how Astronomer’s board pulled off one of the fastest leadership transitions we’ve seen. Nonprofit leaders: this is your wake-up call.
In this episode, Naomi breaks down:
Why internal leadership benches matter more than dream candidate lists
Why speed is more important than perfection during a crisis
How to craft crisis communications that inspire confidence (not chaos)
Why your mission must stay front and center, even in moments of disruption
Whether you’re an Executive Director or on a nonprofit board, this is your playbook for succession readiness—before a crisis hits.
Quotes:
“Most nonprofit boards think that succession planning means having a dusty binder somewhere with outdated emergency contacts. But modern crises move at the speed of social media, not board meetings.”
“So my question for you is: who is on your current team that could run your organization tomorrow? Not perfectly, not permanently, but competently enough to maintain operations while you figure out the long term. If your answer is nobody, then that's your first succession planning priority.”
“You need to craft your messaging around leadership transition around these three points: number one, what happened? Keep it brief. Number two, what you're doing about it. Keep it concrete. And number three, how you're protecting the mission that's forward looking.”
“In a world where crises moves at internet speed, your succession planning better be just as fast.”
To learn more about Leaving Well, visit https://www.naomihattaway.com/
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This podcast is produced by Sarah Hartley.
“In a world where crises moves at internet speed, your succession planning better be just as fast.”
Transcript:
So what happens when your CEO exits in 48 hours? This video is to talk a little bit about what nonprofits can learn from astronomers lightning fast succession. So by now you know the story. A CEO goes to a concert on a Wednesday. By Saturday, they've resigned and a new interim leader is in place. While the internet is obsessed about the why I'm more.
Interested in the how because this 72 hour leadership transition offers nonprofits a masterclass, truly in crisis succession planning. I'm Naomi Hadaway, and if you're a nonprofit executive or board member, you need to pay attention to what astronomer did, right, and what your organization probably isn't prepared.
Prepared for. But can be. This video and my analysis flips the narrative from scandal to systems and is a case study in rapid succession execution rather than dwelling on the personal drama that is by now oversaturated. So let's sidestep the major missteps of both parties involved. Not to mention everyone who knew.
That's a conversation for a later time. And let's cut straight to what you need to know as a nonprofit leader. So first, a reality check. We need to be honest. Most nonprofit boards think that succession planning means having a dusty binder somewhere without dated emergency contacts. But modern crises move at the speed of social media, not board meetings.
And before you think that our nonprofit is small and we're not at the level of becoming a PR crisis astronomer situation went from very private. Did you know about astronomer before this situation happened? I didn't either. Their situation went from private moment to public crisis, to CEO resignation in under 96 hours.
Their board did not have months to deliberate or hire consultants. They needed a leader immediately. And here's what they got, right? They had a co-founder who was ready to step in as interim CEO. Not a placeholder, not a we'll figure it out later situation. Someone who actually had operational knowledge who could keep the ship steady.
So the lessons to be learned here, number one, know your internal bench. Most non-profit boards spend succession planning time dreaming about external candidates. That's a big mistake. Your first line of defense isn't actually a recruitment firm, it's your existing leadership team astronomers. Pete DeJoy didn't just happen to be available.
He was already the chief product officer and the co-founder. He knew the business. He knew the team, and he knew the vision when crisis hit, he could step in without having to learn the organizational DNA from scratch. So my question for you is, who is on your current team that could run your organization tomorrow?
Not perfectly, not permanently, but competently enough to maintain operations while you figure out the long-term plan. If your answer is nobody, then that's your first succession planning priority. Now, I have a lot of other things to talk about here that we won't be able to cover in this video, but one thing I wanna make sure to share with you, if you have an internal successor name, need to make sure that you also have their normal job duties covered as well.
Don't just expect to be able to put someone in an interim CEO or executive director position without also having a plan for backfilling their normal roles. Okay, number two, lesson to learn from the astronomer meets Coldplay, uh, situation. Speed beats perfection every single time. Astronomer's board made a decision in hours, not weeks, not months.
They accepted the resignation, installed interim leadership, and communicated publicly all while the internet was still buzzing about the initial incident. Nonprofit boards often get paralyzed by process during crises. We need to form a committee. We need to hire an executive search firm. We should do a listening tour.
No. In crisis mode, your job is stabilization. First and optimization leader. Get your competent leadership in place. Maintain your donor confidence. Keep programs running. Keep your community first and foremost in mind and think perfect. Can wait. Perfect. Truly can wait. Number three, communication is damage control.
Notice what astronomer statements, if you, if you caught up or catch, stayed caught up with the news. What their statements did not say is details about the investigation. No personal attacks and no defensive explanations. They simply said standards weren't met. Leadership has changed. We're moving forward.
Nonprofit boards also tend to over communicate during leadership crisis, or they're not all on the same page. The board is on one page, the staff is on another page. The community's on a third page altogether. Transparency and thinking. Transparency means that you, I'm sorry, I'm gonna say that again and we don't have to cut this, we'll just not edit this.
Thinking that transparency means sharing every messy detail is wrong. Your stakeholders, the interested parties, the people that most care about the mission, donors, clients, staff, the community, they need confidence and not gossip. So you need to craft your messaging around leadership transition around these three points.
Number one, what happened? Keep it brief. Number two, what you're doing about it. Keep it concrete. And number three, how you're protecting the mission that's forward looking. Number four lesson for this video is the mission is bigger than any one person, and I know if you're the founding CEO or executive director, this might be a little hard to hear.
It's not all about you. De Joy's first public statement. As the interim CEO hit the right note. He said, we are here because the mission is bigger than any one moment. He wasn't defensive, he wasn't apologetic, he also wasn't grandstanding. He was simply redirecting the focus to the organizational purpose.
This is where you actually as a nonprofit, have a huge advantage over for-profits. The folks interested in you achieving your mission aren't just invested in leadership personalities. They're over invested in outcomes. Homelessness, for example, does not pause for CEO Transitions. Scholarship recipients for high school programming still need support.
Your programs matter more than your personnel drama. So use that. Use that to your advantage. Make your succession planning about mission continuity and not just leadership replacement. So here's some action items. If you are a board member and if you're a nonprofit executive, or a decision maker, this is for you to share with your board.
Okay? Here's what you should do differently after watching this video. Number one, audit your internal bench. Identify who could step into interim executive roles for. One to two months for three to six months, not just your COO. Also, people always go to the operations or the deputy director. Think about your program directors.
Think about your development leaders. Think about anyone with operational credibility, who also has credibility and trust with the team. Number two, this is a big thing I help all of my clients with. Pre-draft your crisis communications. I know this seems a little silly. Everything's going smoothly right now.
Why would we need to pre-draft crisis communications? Template statements for different scenarios are such a gift to you and the organization. When crisis hits, you wanna talk about resignation scenarios, termination, health emergencies, scandals. Do not wait for crisis to hit to craft your messaging.
Number three, establish rapid decision making protocols. How does your board make emergency decisions? Do you send an email to collect votes? Do you have emergency meeting procedures? Figure this out before you need it. And one small tip, you probably also don't have your decision making structure in place at all anyway.
That's something we can work on together too, with a decision making matrix that I like to work with with all my clients. Number four, update your emergency succession plan annually. This is not just for the CEO. This is also for key program staff, your development director, your finance manager, your street outreach team who keeps things running.
If multiple people exit. Number five, practice your scenario planning board retreats shouldn't just be for vision casting or getting to know each other better run crisis simulation. What happens if your CEO becomes a avail unavailable tomorrow for any reason? As we wrap, I just wanna remind you that astronomer went from crisis to stabilization in 72 hours, likely because they had systems in place, not just because they got lucky.
Their new CEO is already talking about moving forward and not re-litigating the past. Your nonprofit deserves that same resilience. In a world where crises moves at internet speed, your succession planning better be just as fast. If this was helpful, I encourage you to subscribe for more real talk about nonprofit leadership and the reality that workplace transitions exist.
People leave and if your board needs succession planning support, that's exactly what we do at leaving. Well, you can visit our website@naomihadaway.com. Thanks for watching and listening.
If you are an organizational leader, board member, or a curious staff member, take the leaving while assessment to discover your organization's transition readiness archetype. It's quick and easy, and you can find it@naomihattaway.com. Slash assessment, it's Naomi, N-A-O-M-I, hattaway, H-A-T-T-A-W-A y.com/assessment.
To learn more about leaving well and how you can implement and embed the framework and culture in your own life and workplace. You can also see that information on my website. It's time for each of us to look ourselves in the mirror and finally admit we are playing a powerful role in the system. We can either exist outside of our power or choose to decide to shift culture and to create transformation.
Until next time, I'm your host, Naomi Hadaway, and you've been listening to Leaving Well, a Navigation Guide for Workplace Transitions.