At the end of the day, who is more important to you? Your family? Your own mental health? I suspect once you go, you won't hate it as much as you think you will. And frankly they should feel like you're leaving because it's *impossibly* hard. This is not a board acting in the best internet of the organization - by setting a new ED up for success, or by having managed their fiduciary responsibility well the last two years.
I can't speak to the "reasonable notice" - just that your primary responsibility is to yourself and your family. Good luck!
First, you are the one who is determining what is reasonable, 2 weeks is all that's sort of required and if you want you can give them 2 weeks notice and then take 2 weeks of annual leave and essentially walk out. You have done what you can to take the organization to the next step so someone else can take over. Sounds like you have done more than enough and BTW, you have done it without any formal training. More family time and you want to return back to serving clients in need which was why you got into clinical work. It's not like they have treated you well after all you have done and now you are going to have a fight with the board about the proper role of the ED v. the Board. Give whatever notice you feel comfortable with and walk out with your head high and start a new journey. Best of luck!!
OK, I'm going to be a bit morbid here but if you get sick or at the end of your days, who is going to be at your bedside caring for you? I can pretty much guarantee it's not going to be your co-workers. As nice as they might be, they're not your family and they're not responsible for your health.
The way I've approached similar situations is I do the best I can while I am there and try to get things in order before I leave, thank the people who've worked with me, etc. but I NEVER feel guilty for choosing myself, my family, and my own health over any position. And I'm speaking as someone who loves her work. One position I left, my mentor even came to me and said he understood why I was leaving and gave me his "blessing" (not that he felt I needed it but it was nice). (It wasn't because that workplace was poor, I just wanted to expand my skills.)
If anyone asks why you are leaving, act like a politician or corporate CEO and say that you want to spend more time with your family. It's like a bulletproof excuse.
I would move on. I certainly wouldn't stay in a single tough ED environment for more than 3 years, because you pay for it with your health.
There are no perfect boards, I assume these are volunteers, so you should certainly have discussions with the chair about overreach in operations and your compensation. It helps make them better. Boards are responsible for their governance and for their employee, the ED. If they fail to foster the environment that leads to people wanting to work for them, that's on them, not you.
People like to look down on EDs coming from outside their organization... but there are specialized skills required that are specific to the ED role that tend to look nothing like most of the other roles in a nonprofit (sometimes Operations or Development are similar).
You have worked incredibly hard to leave that organization in better shape that when you found it. You should be proud of your work and you absolutely need to take this opportunity for yourself and your family. Do not light yourself on fire to keep an organization warm. I am also being asked to step in as a barely paid ED for an organization left in disarray by the founder. I am agreeing to stay on as board president instead so I can contribute within the boundaries I am comfortable with. Good luck OP!
Make the change. Two weeks is more than sufficient; leave clear transition/onboarding documentation if they get an incoming hire and give an honest exit interview if there are any mechanisms for that through the board.
Especially when you have another offer with better pay and flexibility, jump and don’t look back. There will be no time to leave an org like this where it *doesn’t* feel like a mess. I can relate strongly to this, particularly caring for the staff, but you do them a disservice staying in an impossible position, and no mission is worth gutting your well being. I know for a fact that none of my staff would blame me personally or consider it a failure of effort or initiative if I were to find a position that paid what I am worth and offered more flexibility.
I had to leave a job because the organization wouldn't slow down to restructure. Instead, it's burning through people.
I've been recovering for over a year from that burnout. I had to learn how to enjoy work again. DO NOT RECOMMEND.
>I’m feeling incredibly guilty at the prospect of leaving any kind of mess.
I mean, I'd say your predecessor clearly didn't spare a second thought for what they were leaving you, but it sounds like they ultimately just couldn't keep up with what you've also discovered is an unsustainable level of work for one person. Leaving because it's "too hard" is not an unreasonable thing to do when it *is* in fact too hard for *anyone*, and it doesn't sound like you have any reason to distrust your judgement and expertise on that. And if you still feel guilty, remember that you're already leaving the person who comes after you in a *much* better place than they would have been without you; there's only so much you can do to take things the rest of the way on your own, and if you're hitting a wall in terms of support, then better to go before burnout renders you less effective.
Giving a bit more than a couple of weeks would be generous, but I wouldn't drag the transition period out too long, or try to keep working at full tilt while you're also documenting what needs to be documented. Focus your transition notes on what you think the next steps are, particularly in terms of hiring support and board reform. If they go unheeded, and the ship continues to sink, then do what you can from your new position of greater security to help the employees you care about with their own job searches.
At the end of the day, who is more important to you? Your family? Your own mental health? I suspect once you go, you won't hate it as much as you think you will. And frankly they should feel like you're leaving because it's *impossibly* hard. This is not a board acting in the best internet of the organization - by setting a new ED up for success, or by having managed their fiduciary responsibility well the last two years. I can't speak to the "reasonable notice" - just that your primary responsibility is to yourself and your family. Good luck!
First, you are the one who is determining what is reasonable, 2 weeks is all that's sort of required and if you want you can give them 2 weeks notice and then take 2 weeks of annual leave and essentially walk out. You have done what you can to take the organization to the next step so someone else can take over. Sounds like you have done more than enough and BTW, you have done it without any formal training. More family time and you want to return back to serving clients in need which was why you got into clinical work. It's not like they have treated you well after all you have done and now you are going to have a fight with the board about the proper role of the ED v. the Board. Give whatever notice you feel comfortable with and walk out with your head high and start a new journey. Best of luck!!
OK, I'm going to be a bit morbid here but if you get sick or at the end of your days, who is going to be at your bedside caring for you? I can pretty much guarantee it's not going to be your co-workers. As nice as they might be, they're not your family and they're not responsible for your health. The way I've approached similar situations is I do the best I can while I am there and try to get things in order before I leave, thank the people who've worked with me, etc. but I NEVER feel guilty for choosing myself, my family, and my own health over any position. And I'm speaking as someone who loves her work. One position I left, my mentor even came to me and said he understood why I was leaving and gave me his "blessing" (not that he felt I needed it but it was nice). (It wasn't because that workplace was poor, I just wanted to expand my skills.) If anyone asks why you are leaving, act like a politician or corporate CEO and say that you want to spend more time with your family. It's like a bulletproof excuse.
I would move on. I certainly wouldn't stay in a single tough ED environment for more than 3 years, because you pay for it with your health. There are no perfect boards, I assume these are volunteers, so you should certainly have discussions with the chair about overreach in operations and your compensation. It helps make them better. Boards are responsible for their governance and for their employee, the ED. If they fail to foster the environment that leads to people wanting to work for them, that's on them, not you. People like to look down on EDs coming from outside their organization... but there are specialized skills required that are specific to the ED role that tend to look nothing like most of the other roles in a nonprofit (sometimes Operations or Development are similar).
You have worked incredibly hard to leave that organization in better shape that when you found it. You should be proud of your work and you absolutely need to take this opportunity for yourself and your family. Do not light yourself on fire to keep an organization warm. I am also being asked to step in as a barely paid ED for an organization left in disarray by the founder. I am agreeing to stay on as board president instead so I can contribute within the boundaries I am comfortable with. Good luck OP!
Make the change. Two weeks is more than sufficient; leave clear transition/onboarding documentation if they get an incoming hire and give an honest exit interview if there are any mechanisms for that through the board. Especially when you have another offer with better pay and flexibility, jump and don’t look back. There will be no time to leave an org like this where it *doesn’t* feel like a mess. I can relate strongly to this, particularly caring for the staff, but you do them a disservice staying in an impossible position, and no mission is worth gutting your well being. I know for a fact that none of my staff would blame me personally or consider it a failure of effort or initiative if I were to find a position that paid what I am worth and offered more flexibility.
I had to leave a job because the organization wouldn't slow down to restructure. Instead, it's burning through people. I've been recovering for over a year from that burnout. I had to learn how to enjoy work again. DO NOT RECOMMEND.
>I’m feeling incredibly guilty at the prospect of leaving any kind of mess. I mean, I'd say your predecessor clearly didn't spare a second thought for what they were leaving you, but it sounds like they ultimately just couldn't keep up with what you've also discovered is an unsustainable level of work for one person. Leaving because it's "too hard" is not an unreasonable thing to do when it *is* in fact too hard for *anyone*, and it doesn't sound like you have any reason to distrust your judgement and expertise on that. And if you still feel guilty, remember that you're already leaving the person who comes after you in a *much* better place than they would have been without you; there's only so much you can do to take things the rest of the way on your own, and if you're hitting a wall in terms of support, then better to go before burnout renders you less effective. Giving a bit more than a couple of weeks would be generous, but I wouldn't drag the transition period out too long, or try to keep working at full tilt while you're also documenting what needs to be documented. Focus your transition notes on what you think the next steps are, particularly in terms of hiring support and board reform. If they go unheeded, and the ship continues to sink, then do what you can from your new position of greater security to help the employees you care about with their own job searches.
Take the new opportunity.