Governance as Coordinated Design in Complex Nonprofits
The Reality We Rarely Say Out Loud Nonprofits are expected to solve society’s hardest problems. Their missions are expansive, urgent, and morally compelling. Staff carry this work every day—navigating complexity, constraint, and consequence in real time. The stakes are high, the margins are thin, and the work rarely pauses. Boards, by design, engage episodically. A few hours a month. Often through reports, approvals, and oversight rather than sustained engagement with implementation. This is not a criticism of boards. It is a structural reality. And yet, we routinely expect transformational outcomes from governance systems that were never redesigned for the scale, [...]
What CEOs Should Ask For in Their Own Evaluation Process
Part Three: What CEOs Should Ask For in Their Own Evaluation Process For CEOs and executive directors, the annual evaluation can be one of the most nerve-wracking moments of the year. Even experienced leaders feel the weight of it. The power dynamics are real, and the implications extend beyond a single conversation.A strong evaluation process does not eliminate that tension, but it can contain it. Importantly, evaluation does not have to be something done to a CEO. At its best, it is a process shaped collaboratively in service of clarity, learning, and sustainability.It is reasonable for CEOs to ask for [...]
New to Your Job? Then It’s Time to Start Your Succession Plan.
Last year I taught a class on succession planning, and we focused on what boards need, what should be documented, and how organizations protect institutional knowledge during leadership transitions. Now I’m coaching several new Habitat EDs, and I’m realizing their first 30, 60, and 90 days are the best time to begin building a succession plan — not because they’re planning to leave, but because everything is still new and clear. They’re meeting stakeholders, learning how policies actually work in real life, figuring out where information lives, and noticing what’s been documented versus what “only one person knows.” All of [...]
