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 All,

As a volunteer I have filled a key leadership/managerial role in a local volunteer organization over the past two years. Roles have been loosely defined, at best, and have been defined by we volunteers who do the work. I have taken on greater and greater responsibilities across all aspects of the organization and my efforts have been a large part of us finally reaching the point of profitability after 4 years.

Recently, the decision-makers in the organization stated that they would be setting up a board of directors, a full-time salaried executive director and specific committees with appropriate chairs, and they asked for nominations for these roles.

I was nominated for executive director by almost all of the volunteers in our organization, and by some community members who were aware of these proposed changes. The decision-makers in our organization responded by telling me that "This is not a nomination process, per se" and that they would talk to be personally before any decisions were made on who will be hired for the executive director position.

Since then, two weeks ago, there has been little to no communication from the decision-makers. They have canceled all the meetings I had set up, which was part of the role I was filling. The primary decision maker has been dodging each of my few attempts to gain insight on the selection process, and only told me that I was being considered for ED once I directly asked him the question, after he once again tried dodging me.

 
I'm very frustrated by the lack of clear expectations or timeline. Has anyone else run across such back-door politics in a volunteer-run organization? If so, would you please share any tips or advice? Thanks in advance. 

Take care,

Robert