How Valerie Jarrett Builds a Strong Executive Team

Valerie Jarrett is no stranger to the tough challenges nonprofit leaders face today. She is now head of the Obama Foundation, which is working to build an extensive library and community center in Chicago. From that perch she collaborates closely with leaders who pursue a wide range of social-change and economic development efforts. 

Jarrett built many of her leadership muscles decades ago, when she served as a key senior adviser to President Barack Obama through all eight years of his presidency. In the years since, she also served on many corporate and nonprofit boards.

What she learned in the White House — responding to crises like the Great Recession — and now emphasizes as a nonprofit CEO, is the importance of assembling and building a great executive team. Host and Chronicle CEO Stacy Palmer talked with Jarrett about her team-building strategies and advice to fellow leaders. Jarrett says not only does a strong executive team get more done, but it also enables the CEO to spend as much time as possible working on big-picture issues that are essential to the organization's future.

Among her recommendations to nonprofit CEOs:

• Start thinking about the whole team from the very first interview with a candidate for an executive role. 
• Make sure everyone at the leadership table feels welcome. 
• Encourage the leadership team to change course when needed. 
• Delegate everything you can to others. 
• Ask people how you can make their jobs easier. 

Follow Jarrett on LinkedIn.

For more advice on recruiting, see these article from the Chronicle:

• “A Really Tough Job: Nonprofit CEOs Work to Make Their Roles More Manageable” by Ben Gose
• “Leaders’ Advice for Other Leaders” by Ben Gose
• “Humanize Your Hiring Process — Here’s Why and How” by Mordy Walfish
• “(Video) How to Hire and Retain Top-Quality Workers” by Chronicle Staff
• “Leadership at the Crossroads” by George Anders

Nonprofits Now: Leading Today is hosted by Stacy Palmer. It’s produced by Emily Haynes at the Chronicle of Philanthropy and from Reasonable Volume, Mary Dooe is the producer, Mark Bush is our engineer, and Rachel Swaby and Elise Hu are executive producers. Additional support comes from Margie Fleming Glennon, Andrew Simon, Nick Adams, Krista Niles, Amaya Beltran, and Kyle Johnson.

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