According to Daring to Lead, a study conducted by CompassPoint Nonprofit Services in partnership with the Hawai'i Community Foundation, one-third of nonprofit executive directors in Hawai'i expect to leave their jobs within the next two years and only 27 percent expect to remain in their leadership positions for more than five years.

If you serve on a nonprofit board, it is likely that you will be faced with the departure of your executive director at some point.

While not all of these circumstances are bad, there are things you can do to retain a high-performing executive or create a smooth transition for a new one.

Most board members recognize that the performance of their executive director is critically important to the success of their organization. After all, board members are volunteers and must rely on staff to carry out much of the activities related to its mission.

Still, boards often narrowly describe one of their key duties as "to hire and fire" the executive director. This approach fails to consider the many ways that boards can establish an effective partnership between the executive director and the board members.

It begins with clear and open communication. It is important that board members engage in a process that determines not only the goals of the organization but the manner in which an executive director's performance will be reviewed and measured.

This performance review process must be one in which both sides have an opportunity to share and decide together on what is most appropriate.

Remember that this is a wonderful opportunity to help constructively guide and support your executive director. For example, boards should regularly consider not only the performance of executive directors, but also their levels of fatigue, stress and frustration.

The Daring to Lead study revealed that boards that do not monitor job satisfaction, including satisfaction with compensation, are likely to experience turnover.

Often, boards take a "sink or swim" approach to an executive director's performance. While personally committed to the executive's success, they often ignore opportunities to coach the executive and provide resources and assistance.

Executive directors from the study said that expressions of personal support are not enough. They need a partnership with their boards on some of the major challenges to sustaining their organizations, such as fund raising, strategic planning and financial oversight.

Few executives arrive with the total complement of skills to be successful; supporting and monitoring their performance, formally and informally, can be the difference in whether they succeed.

When faced with an executive transition, board members are often much more involved and active than usual. It is a critical moment in an organization's history and one that can be transformational.

As part of the hiring process, it might be useful for boards to engage in self-reflection as well.

Rather than hiring a "replacement," boards should consider the critical challenges facing the organization and the requisite experiences or skills needed in a leadership position. Further, they should review the board itself as to whether the structure and composition of the board will provide the new executive with the right leadership and support.

As anyone who has gone through it knows, the hiring process can be exhausting.

As Jan Masaoka, executive director of CompassPoint Nonprofit Services, has observed, board members are often so relieved that they want to take a break, and the new executive director ends up feeling deserted.

Masaoka also said that the reverse can be true — some boards become so intimately involved in the organization's operations that they are unable to step back when someone new is finally hired.

The delicate balance between boards and their executive director has been characterized by one consultant to be like "ballroom dancing" — a challenge to determine when to lead and when to follow. Similar to dancing, it requires constant and clear communication and mutual trust.

For more information and links to other resources and assistance, go online to: www.hawaiicommunityfoundation.org.

It also has information about organizational capacity building and executive transition strategies, as well as an upcoming board leadership conference on Oct. 15, "Breaking Boardom," sponsored by the Hawai'i Community Foundation. The conference will address the latest information on real-life governance issues facing boards today.