Practice Test Geeks(CED) Certified Executive Director Practice Test
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Leadership & Strategic Management Flashcards

7 cards from real CED practice questions. Tap to flip, then mark Knew It or Still Learning — missed cards come back until you master them.

Read the first 7 Leadership & Strategic Management flashcards as text

  1. An executive director is evaluating whether to pursue a related or unrelated diversification strategy. Which factor MOST strongly supports related diversification?

    Answer: The new activity shares value chain elements with existing operations

    Related diversification creates synergies when new activities share technology, customers, distribution channels, or other value chain components with existing business.

  2. In the context of executive leadership, 'adaptive leadership' (Heifetz) is PRIMARILY concerned with:

    Answer: Mobilizing people to tackle difficult problems that require changes in values, habits, and priorities

    Heifetz's adaptive leadership addresses 'adaptive challenges' — those requiring shifts in mindset and behavior, not just technical fixes.

  3. A Certified Executive Director is implementing a results-based accountability (RBA) framework. Which question does RBA PRIMARILY answer?

    Answer: What difference did the organization make in the well-being of the population it serves?

    RBA (Friedman) focuses on population-level well-being outcomes rather than activity counts or cost metrics.

  4. Which leadership behavior is MOST associated with building psychological safety in a team, according to Amy Edmondson's research?

    Answer: Modeling curiosity, acknowledging fallibility, and explicitly inviting input

    Edmondson's research shows leaders build psychological safety by demonstrating humility, asking questions, and making it safe to speak up without fear of punishment.

  5. When a nonprofit faces a funding crisis requiring immediate budget cuts, which strategic framework BEST guides prioritization decisions?

    Answer: Mission-impact matrix to evaluate programs by strategic importance and performance

    A mission-impact matrix helps leaders protect highest-impact programs while identifying low-performing or mission-peripheral activities for reduction.

  6. An executive director is negotiating a major partnership agreement. Which negotiation approach is MOST consistent with principled negotiation (Fisher & Ury)?

    Answer: Focusing on interests rather than positions to find mutually beneficial solutions

    Principled negotiation (Getting to Yes) separates people from problems, focuses on interests not positions, and seeks objective criteria for agreement.

  7. A Certified Executive Director assessing organizational culture should recognize that the DEEPEST and MOST resistant layer of culture, per Schein's model, is:

    Answer: Basic underlying assumptions

    Schein's model identifies three levels — artifacts, espoused values, and underlying assumptions — with assumptions being unconscious, taken-for-granted beliefs most resistant to change.