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The Hawk StandardStandard 0012026 Edition

Institutional Stewardship

The executive manages the institution as a temporary steward, not a permanent owner.

Purpose

To ensure that executive decisions strengthen the institution beyond the tenure, preferences, and presence of any individual leader.

Requirements

  1. 01

    Decisions account for long-term institutional capacity, not only immediate performance.

  2. 02

    Critical knowledge, relationships, and authority are not concentrated in one office.

  3. 03

    Success includes the strength of the institution transferred to the next leader.

  4. 04

    Material tradeoffs are documented and defensible to the board and future management.

Supporting Practices

  • Annual institutional-strength review
  • Key-person risk assessment
  • Succession-readiness discussion
  • Executive decision record

Implementation Tools

  • Stewardship review agenda
  • Key-person risk map
  • Decision memorandum
  • Leadership continuity checklist

Organizations may adopt this standard independently or engage Hawk to support assessment and implementation.

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