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.

I didn’t know if my personal experience and perspective was something that anyone wanted or cared to hear. But I knew in my heart, I wanted – maybe even needed – to share my story with you.

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.

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.