A 90-Day Plan for Working with the Board You Didn't Build
The Inherited Board
Executive director coaching for the first 6 to 18 months in a new role. A 90-day engagement structured around your chair-ED partnership and a 12-month transition plan.
Understanding the Inherited Board
Your First Year Sets the Patterns
You didn't build this board, but your work as the ED depends on how well you partner with it. Your first year sets the patterns every year after it runs on, which is why working deliberately in those first twelve months matters. The Inherited Board™ is the 90-day engagement for getting that first year right: an honest read on what you've inherited, a Partnership Agreement with your chair, and a 12-month Playbook to lead from.
Who The Inherited Board Is For
Executive Directors in transition during their first 6 to 18 months at an organization, specifically:
The First-Time ED: You know the mission, but the executive seat is new territory. You want to establish healthy governance boundaries now, rather than learning hard lessons by accident.
The Experienced ED in a New Organization: You know how to run an organization, but this board is an unknown variable. You need a fast, accurate read on the room before you start making decisions that depend on the board’s trust.
The ED Leading a Turnaround: You’ve been brought in to fix things. The board may be exhausted or fractured, with members who aren’t sure of their role anymore. You need immediate clarity on where the friction sits and a structured plan for resetting how the board operates.
Inside the Inherited Board 90-Day Plan
Days 1–30: Assess. We begin with our Board Health Check Lite, which surfaces how you and your chair see the board’s current state. We pair that data with one-on-one conversations to produce your Inherited Board Brief: a private read on the board’s strengths and where to focus your attention first. The Brief uses our 3 Ws + ACE Qualities™ framework as its lens: the 3 Ws (Work, Wealth, Wisdom) plus ACE Qualities (Ambassadors, Connectors, Energizers). It gives you concrete language for naming what’s there and what’s missing.
Days 30–60: Partner. The most consequential relationship in your organization is the one between you and your Board Chair. We facilitate a structured working session to define that partnership. The session produces a signed Inherited Board Partnership Agreement that captures the working policies and expectations between the two of you: how decisions get made, how you communicate, and what each of you brings to the partnership. Most board chair-ED partnerships rest on assumptions. Yours will rest on what you and your chair worked through together and committed to writing.
Days 60–90: Plan. We turn everything we’ve learned into your Inherited Board Playbook: a 12-month executive director transition plan mapped to your board’s governance calendar. It anticipates your specific board’s inflection points and prepares you for the governance moments that will come up in your first year.
Imagine entering month four with the unknowns resolved. You have an honest read on what you’ve inherited, a signed partnership agreement with your chair, and a 12-month roadmap mapped to the governance year ahead.
questions?
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What's Included
The 90-day engagement produces three written documents built for your first year: a Brief on the board you've inherited, a Partnership Agreement with your chair, and a 12-month Playbook. A structured chair-ED assessment kicks off Phase 1, with biweekly advisory calls and email access throughout.
Our Board Health Check Lite
A structured assessment you and your chair complete in the first 30 days. Surfaces how you each see the board's current state, so the Brief that follows is rooted in data.
The Inherited Board Brief
A private read on the board's strengths and where to focus your attention first, produced from the Lite data and one-on-one conversations. Uses the 3 Ws + ACE Qualities framework as a lens, giving you concrete language for naming what's there and what's missing.
The Inherited Board Partnership Agreement
A signed document that captures how you and your chair will work together: how decisions get made, how you communicate, and what each of you brings to the partnership. Most chair-ED partnerships rest on assumptions. Yours rests on what you and your chair worked through and committed to writing.
The Inherited Board Playbook
A 12-month executive director transition plan mapped to your board's governance calendar. It anticipates your specific board's inflection points and prepares you for the governance moments coming up in your first year.
Ongoing Support During the Engagement
Two forms of support throughout the 90 days: biweekly advisory calls for working through board dynamics as situations come up, and email response within 24 hours for the questions that don't need a call.
Who This Isn't For
- EDs whose first-year capacity is already maxed out: The Playbook needs twelve months of active leadership, and the engagement assumes you’ll have the bandwidth to fully participate.
- EDs whose board chair won’t engage in the partnership: The engagement is built around that relationship, and without the chair's participation, the Inherited Board Brief, Partnership Agreement, and Playbook can't be produced.
- Organizations in active financial or organizational crisis: You’re better served by a consultant who specializes in turnaround work.
- Established EDs with one or two specific governance gaps to address with the full board: Board Foundations is the better fit.
investment details
Flat-Priced at $5,250
$5,250. Invoiced at booking; payable in full or in three monthly installments.
Pricing is flat across all organization sizes. We structure the engagement around the executive director rather than the organization, and the time required is the same regardless of organization budget.
If you book The Inherited Board within six months of purchasing your standalone Board Health Check Lite, that fee credits in full toward this engagement.
What's Next
What Comes After the 90 Days
The Playbook is designed to guide your next twelve months, but you don’t have to go through it alone. Graduates of this engagement frequently move into our Annual Governance Retainer for month-to-month coaching as they work from their Playbook. When you’re ready to engage the full board, often after the chair/ED partnership has settled and you’ve found your footing, Board Foundations or The Board Build™ are natural next steps.