Here’s a truth that many of us face as women leading businesses or nonprofits: people sometimes underestimate what we’re building. They may see the results without knowing the work that goes into it, or worse, they may assume our efforts are just “small” projects rather than real, meaningful work.

Leadership transitions don’t have to feel overwhelming or rushed. By taking the time to assess your needs, engaging an objective perspective, and broadening your talent pool, you can make decisions that set your organization up for long-term success.

Saying no is often hard, especially when I care so much about the work I do and the community I live in. But I have learned that if I don’t set an intention for my resources in advance, it’s easy to overcommit. And, when I overcommit, then I deplete my resources. It’s the law of diminishing returns.

Leadership transitions can make or break a nonprofit. Many boards, focused on familiarity, miss the chance to innovate. Acme Social Service Agency and Think Forward Association both faced crises by replicating the past or hiring for prestige rather than practical skills. These cases highlight the need for objective, forward-thinking leadership to navigate change and secure long-term success.

I remember one lady specifically who lived down street. After the third or fourth weekend in a row we went around collecting cans, she started preparing for us. Each Saturday she saw us walking down the street with our wagon, she would run inside and come out with a tons and tons of cans - almost a whole wagon full!

Through the process of meeting so many of my neighbors, I honed my skills on how to approach criticism. I developed a process to listen to and respond to complaints in a positive way.

Like many new nonprofit managers, I had to go with my gut. As a new 20-something manager whose instincts weren’t fully developed and who didn’t have many examples of good managers, I didn’t have the greatest success. Fortunately, I’ve grown a lot in my 25+ year career in nonprofit leadership.

As a board president, your invaluable experience and insights can significantly impact the future success of the organization, but only if that knowledge is effectively transferred to your successor. In this blog post, I'll share practical strategies and advice to ensure a seamless transition as you pass the baton to the president-elect.

A topic that has been coming up a lot lately in my conversations is one that is prominent throughout the book the E-Myth, by Michael E. Gerber. It’s the concept of the tension and difficulty found between spending your time working “on” versus “in” your organization. While the E-Myth is focused on the “Entrepreneurial Myth”, I think it’s important to recognize that it also has implications for nonprofits.

If we want to get different results than we are getting today, we have to change our habits, and in order to change our habits, we have to change our actions. In order to change our actions, we need new and different thinking, and in order to start thinking differently, we need to gather new information.

Recruiters can provide tons of value to nonprofits during a CEO search, from helping to determine the ideal candidate profile to managing the entire search process. In addition, recruiters are expert salespeople who can sell your organization to top candidates.

For better or worse, one thing is for certain - your nonprofit's leader will not be there forever. And, at your organization, it looks like now is the time when you need to start doing the deep work to make sure you have a smooth executive transition.

Establishing a dream board involves taking a strategic, intentional approach to whom you bring onto your board. A board matrix is a simple but effective tool that provides a complete picture of your current board.

Right now, celebrating our 5th anniversary in business, we are uniquely positioned for our greatest impact yet. We have the right people on our team to dramatically change the way nonprofits hire. We are a team of like-minded, principled, thought leaders.

In the nonprofit world, I often think that if we thought of our time as a resource that should be allocated with laser focus toward things that moved the needle to fulfill our organization's mission, we'd all be better off!

A story of nonprofit burnout - Learn the #1 tip for avoiding burnout as a nonprofit leader. Our VP of Strategy and Innovation shares her top time management and prioritizing strategy!