Welcome to the Wishnick & Associates blog! There is lots to read, based on experiences from my 20-plus years working with nonprofit, mission-driven organizations. I have written about strategic planning, capacity building, executive leadership transition, boards of directors, and more – lessons learned, effective principles, tips, and advice. My intended readers are nonprofit chief executives, board members, nonprofit staff (especially those aspiring to leadership roles), and anyone with an interest in myriad organizational issues. My hope is that through these blog articles, I can pass on a bit of the inspiration I get from my clients. Please let me know what you think, or if you have ideas for a future post … and do share these posts with others who may be interested. While I have moved to writing on a more occasional basis, there is a lot here to think about. Thank you for stopping by!
New Year Surprises: Are You Ready to Manage Staff Transitions?
A new year often inspires life changes, big or small. Among these are the decision to pursue a new job or career. Because employees at all levels contribute to the fulfillment of your mission, nonprofit leaders need to be tuned into staffing transitions throughout the organization. How a nonprofit executive copes with staff transitions both draws from and contributes to the organizational culture. If handled well, a staff transition can boost an organization’s well-being and capacity, but if handled poorly, morale and service continuity can suffer. (more…)
Resolve: The Will to Lead
It was not necessarily my intention to mine any further the situation put forth in my blog post, Executive Transition: Cautionary Tale #1 – Settling for Less. I had a completely different topic in mind for this post. However, it turns out that the last lines of the Cautionary Tale #1 are haunting me now. (more…)
Wishnick & Associates Celebrates 15 Years – and What I Learned This Year
I love Thanksgiving. It is a joy to be together with family, to enjoy longtime traditions and to create new ones as the family grows. It is also a time when I reflect on the year about to end and that for which I am grateful. Although this year is notable for celebrating 15 years of Wishnick & Associates, it is the work that makes every day special. Each engagement has offered the opportunity to renew client relationships or develop new ones and always to be part of an organization’s efforts to be more effective. Thank you to everyone I worked with this year and to those of you who referred me to new clients. Working with diverse clients – human services agencies, arts organizations, associations, and coaching individuals – I am continually observing and learning. (more…)
Sharing the Bounty: What I’ve Learned
(a Thanksgiving message)
At this time of year, I’m especially grateful to my clients, colleagues, and friends for the privilege of working and growing together. I want to share a few things I’ve learned from you!
One of the great things about working with nonprofit leaders is the opportunity to learn new practices that work for their organizations. These learnings are worth sharing with others across the nonprofit sector. Yet when nonprofit leaders gather with colleagues, it is usually with others in their field. It is not necessarily routine, for example, for a leader of a social service agency to meet with one from an arts organization. In my work with nonprofits of all kinds – arts, education, human services, community development, housing, and foundations – I often find myself as a conduit for this cross-pollination. (more…)
Capacity Building Readiness Assessments – A Meaningful Diagnostic
I recently attended a condominium board meeting to find out what was happening in our building. The condominium board hired a consulting firm to assess the common areas in the building and identify ways to maximize space. One of the initial findings was that the bicycle room was not efficiently organized. With some minor changes, the bikes could be stored in a smaller footprint, thus freeing up additional storage space in the room, perhaps for stroller storage. And this was only the beginning of new possibilities! (more…)
Executive Transition: Cautionary Tale #2 – Undermining the Transition Process
Last month, I shared a cautionary tale about what can go wrong when an organization compromises in its choice of a new executive director due to search fatigue or poor preparation.
This month, I present a tale about what can happen in an executive transition when there is a lack of goodwill among the board of directors and a lapse in honoring one’s role as a trustee of an organization. (more…)