Organizational Executive

This is the highest level within an organization within the field.  At this level, one is setting the vision and strategy for the entire organization; responsible for overall performance, culture, image, and governance.  Individuals at this level are providing transformational leadership at the highest level.  Decision-Making and Impact include making transformational decisions; creating legacy facilities and initiatives; fully accountable for mission, sustainability, and stakeholder value.  This is the EXPERTISE stage of one’s journey – recognized authority with deep mastery, strategic leadership, and a commitment to mentoring and innovation.

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Audience – This is the usual group of people with which an individual at the specified responsibility level will interact. The interaction may take many forms; who you communicate with, who you influence, and who you serve.
Focus – What the interaction is about in the moment.  Think of it as what needs to occur if one is to achieve the goal.
Tools – These are resources that an individual at this responsibility level may access or deploy to interact with the specified audience.  
Goal – This is an indicator of what the intended outcome of the audience interaction is.
Development Guide - This section lists examples of where an individual can gain education, knowledge and experience in the skill areas that will aid in mastering a skill and preparing one to move to the next level of skill and/or responsibility level.

Quick Jump
Communications, Public Relations & Marketing  
Critical Thinking & Decision Making
 Data Analysis & Research  
Financial Management 
Interpersonal
Leadership
Natural & Cultural Resource Management
Organizational Design
 Planning (Operational)
Planning (Strategic, Master, Comprehensive & Asset Management)
Policy Compliance
Program/Event Management
Project Coordination/Management
Relationship Building
Resource Management  
Risk Management & Safety
 Supervision & Oversight 
Technology 

• Inspirational communication to set tone and culture
• Communicate long-term vision and purpose clearly and compellingly
• Represent the organization to the public, investors, media
• Manage high-stakes or politically sensitive conversations

• Represent organization publicly and in legislative forums
• Build coalitions and strategic partnerships
• Advocacy for policy, funding, and community support
• Innovate in communications and public engagement

• Represent organization in public and media forums
• Guide innovation in marketing approaches and technologies
• Advocate for organizational priorities through campaigns

• Develop and host public relations strategy sessions
• Represent organization publicly and in political arenas
• Lead advocacy campaigns and influence public policy

• Executive keynote coaching
• Attend vision communication trainings
• Culture storytelling workshops

• Drive innovation in public engagement and communications
• Champion organizational vision through marketing and advocacy

• Visionary leadership
• Systems thinking
• Public representation and media engagement

• Ethical leadership and governance
• Crisis leadership and sustainability planning

• Strategic foresight
• Cultural awareness

• Participate in executive roundtables and think tanks
• Participate in global leadership programs

• Attend stakeholder relations and media training

• Conduct Long-term strategy training sessions

• Utilize organizational program/project/event scorecards

• Develop strategy to execute program/project/event alignment

• Public program/project/event reports and stakeholder engagement

• Utilize strategic alignment maps

• Utilize public impact reports

• Participate in inspirational vision casting
• Build high-impact networks and partnerships

• Advocate and represent the organization publicly
• Ethical leadership and culture shaping

• Lead major transformation initiatives

• Lead public forums and advocacy campaigns
• Participate in executive leadership and governance retreats

• Build and nurture funding partnerships

• Manage organizational crisis and reputation

• Inspirational relationship building
• Coalition and partnership development at scale

• Public advocacy and diplomacy
• Lead community trust and organizational reputation

• Crisis leadership and communication

• Lead public forums and advocacy campaigns
• Engage with media and public officials regularly

• Lead department leadership retreats and executive development sessions

• Build fundraising and partnership coalitions

• Champion strategic financial communications and public trust through transparent reporting and accountability.
• Promote a culture of accountability and prevent financial misuse or fraud

• Oversee strategic sourcing, resource stewardship, and innovation in procurement practices
• Lead organization-wide cost recovery and pricing strategy development

• Champion agency-wide financial resilience through strategic crisis planning and recovery leadership

• Engage in leadership and advocacy programs for agency budget priorities
• Build relationships with funders and financial partners

• Lead strategic planning for sustainable funding and financial legacy
• Oversee crisis financial management and recovery planning

• Engage with public, government, and private sector financial stakeholders
• Benchmark long-term financial strategies with peer agencies

• Advocate for technology-driven transformation and digital equity
• Engage with policy makers and community on technology-related initiatives

• Foster culture embracing innovation and continuous learning

• Guide large-scale technology partnerships and collaborations

• Drive technology vision and digital equity initiatives
• Engage with policy makers and community on tech issues

• Foster innovation and a continuous tech learning culture

• Lead large-scale technology partnerships and initiatives

• Advocate for funding and legislative support
• Lead public-private partnerships for shared resources

• Influence regional or national resource management standards

• Guide system-wide reinvestment strategies

• Engage with legislative and public finance policy forums

• Lead/attend cross-jurisdictional collaborations

• Lead interagency collaborations

• Shape legislative and land-use policy
• Lead multiple partner coalitions for conservation
• Represent the organization in state/national environmental planning

• Foster climate adaptation and green equity initiatives
• Set organization-wide policy for cultural resource protection and interpretation
• Champion cultural inclusion and heritage in organizational values

• Secure legislative and public support for preservation initiatives
• Build long-term partnerships with cultural communities and leaders

• Lead cross-sector collaboratives in health, housing and the environment
• Shape organizational culture around inclusive heritage stewardship
• Foster relationships with indigenous governments and underrepresented communities

• Present organization's natural resource management best practices at workshops and conferences
• Join boards for climate resilience or land conservation

• Speak publicly about the organization's cultural resource management legacy and future
• Advance innovative policy or funding models that center cultural sustainability

• Advocate ethical risk management and accountability by setting and communicating safety vision and expectations
• Approve large-scale policies tied to compliance and risk, including industry standards and regulatory policy

• Represent organization in public risk and safety forums, and engage with cross-jurisdictional officials and the public during crises
• Lead transformational risk initiatives

• Advocate for funding to support safety infrastructure
• Foster innovation in risk mitigation

• Lead public advocacy and policy engagement
• Engage with industry coalitions and leadership networks
• Promote innovation is risk mitigation practices

• Strategic communication management for emergency events
• Policy setting workshops with legal counsel and risk management

• Community-wide briefing simulations
• Legislative briefing simulations

• Shape and approve policy aligned with organizational mission and the law
• Navigate political, legal, and public accountability

• Ensure compliance with local, state, and federal regulations

• Lead organizational ethics and culture

• Attend executive policy governance training
• Attend policy leadership roundtables

• Attend legislative engagement workshops

• Strategic compliance score cards

• Set vision and policy for future services and infrastructure
• Represent the department in regional/state planning forums

• Lead cross-jurisdictional wide or regional planning initiatives

• Advocate for legislative and capital support

• Participate in national planning and policy conferences

• Lead interagency and public-private partnership initiatives

• Oversee the development of plans and equity frameworks

• Shape and champion visionary strategic and master plans
• Lead cross-jurisdictional and cross-industry partnerships

• Drive innovation in asset management and sustainability

• Advocate for funding and legislative support

• Ensure compliance with comprehensive plan components of a legal nature
• Set vision and policy for organizational plans and asset stewardship

• Lead plans for multi-jurisdictional partnerships and plans
• Lead public/private partnership initiatives

• Advocate for integrating funding and innovation into organizational plans

• Advocate for data ethics and transparency
• Lead transformational data initiatives

• Represent the organization in data policy forums
• Foster innovation in data use and analytics

• Influence industry research standards

• Use data to guide major investments and partnerships, as well as advocacy efforts
• Advocate for data literacy across the organization

• Engage with academic partners on longitudinal studies
• Promote ethical and strategic use of data

• Convene leadership panels on equity, sustainability and smart data

• Recognize types and purposes of projects/grants/contracts
• Follow project/grant/contract deadlines

• Maintain accurate records of grants, contracts, MOUs, financial data

• Communicate clearly with team and supervisors
• Support reporting for projects/grants/contracts 

• Participate in workshops on project tracking and documentation
• Shadow experience coordinators during grant and contract processes
• Practice clear communication and following protocols
• Learn to use basic project management tools (calendars, document systems)

• Attend introductory training on grant types and processes, and general project coordination
• Assist in organizing and filing project/grant/project documentation
• Shadow grant coordinators and/or project coordinators during application cycles

• Attend training on  contract terminology and components
• Assist with contract filing and tracking deadlines
• Learn organizational policies and procedures
• Shadow experienced contract administrators

• Lead visionary and transformational decision-making
• Navigate political, social, and economic complexities

• Makes transformational decisions
• Full accountability for mission, sustainability, and stakeholder value

• Influence policy and public perception, and industry trends
• Foster a culture of critical thinking and innovation

• Plan and conduct visionary and transformational decision-making
• Participate in local political and legislative forums

• Align with appropriate industry and community organizations to achieve mutual success

• Cultivate organizational culture; promoting critical thinking and innovation

• Inspirational storytelling and vision casting
• Build broad coalitions and networks

• Advocate for the organization publicly
• Lead with empathy and authenticity

• Crisis communication and reputation management

• Lead public forums and media engagements
• Build and maintain high-level partnerships

• Manage crisis communication and reputation management

• Participate in leadership retreats

• Define long-term organizational design and culture vision
• Lead innovation in structure to support future growth

• Drive governance and policy for organizational health
• Build resilient and inclusive organizational models

• Champion workforce development to meet future expectations and industry trends

• Define and communicate long-term organizational vision and culture
• Lead innovation in organizational architecture to support growth and inclusion

• Engage commission and stakeholders in organizational design and planning

• Develop governance policies for organizational health and resilience