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Welcome back to school and another year of student leadership. But, hey, bad news! One of your officers isn't coming back to school – or following a summertime self-awakening, she has decided that your organization sucks.
So, now you have to find someone to fill the position for the semester until new officers are elected around the holidays. What do you do?
First, check your bylaws (if you even have any). See if your bylaws specify how open positions will be filled. Some organizations will require some sort of quickie election, but most organizations allow for an appointment by your executive committee.
If your organization allows for an appointment to fill an open position, you have to think carefully about who to move into the position. Give it some thought... don't make an impulsive decision.
You might decide to fill the position with an experienced ex-officer who already knows what needs to happen. For some organizations, this is the least dramatic and controversial way to go because most people view the appointee as doing the group a favor. Plus, people generally already trust this person's talent. Just be sure you don't appoint someone who was a lousy officer during their term of office.
You might decide to promote the person who ran against the person for the position. This has potential to cause some drama, because a majority of your voting members did not choose this person in the first place. But, you know that this person wants to prove something.
You might promote up someone who has been doing great work for the last half year on the committee. This is a great way to reward someone who has been working hard and who likely knows most of what that officer was doing. This is a good choice when you want a smoother transition, but the new officer will have to prove to everyone that he/she deserved the promotion.
You might decide to go with a very young leader who shows a lot of leadership promise. Giving a young maverick a chance to prove him/herself might give him/her a direct path to an elected executive position when elections come around at the end of the semester.
You might decide to appoint the biggest complainer in the organization to the position. Nothing shuts up a whiner like a to-do list, I always say.
In any case, it's best to work with your executive committee to weigh all the options. Brainstorm all the good candidates and list the pro's and con's. Then, have a conversation with your top candidates to see who is interested. You can even have each candidate come and make their case to the executive board.
Bottom line: the more thoughtful you are about choosing a successor, the more confident you'll feel about your eventual choice, and the more you'll be able to defend your choice to those who are unhappy (and there are always members who are unhappy because they would have chosen someone else). The worst thing you can do is to simply appoint a friend of yours because you're afraid that you won't be able to handle another choice.
