Leading in a flat organization isn’t about calling the shots—it’s about mastering the art of adaptability, from steering the vision to amplifying your team’s brilliance, all while balancing chaos and creativity.

In an ideal world, leadership transition within complex, systemic changemaking work has careful planning, preparation and intentional hand-off. And, yeah, that rarely happens. How, do you continue changemaking work when the individual people come and go?

Feeling like an outsider as a leader in your work? There is likely a reason for that. And also a solution.

Part of our Smart Nonprofit Leaders interview series, I had a lovely conversation with Carlos Santini, an energetic colleague in the afterschool and youth development field. In his leadership, Carlos draws upon lessons from his mentor and is now embracing his role as a way to share his own experiences with the field.

When you build trust within your team or network, you reinforce your organization’s real value, build credibility and motivate individuals to remain engaged. But, as a nonprofit leader, how do you *actually* build that trust across a broad reaching staff or network of members? Do you really need to do trust falls?

Everyone gets stuck sometime. Use microsteps to get unstuck in your leadership. Download the fillable microstep action plan template to get started.

Do you really need step by step directions to be an effective leader?

What a joy to speak with Penn Sheppard from Girls Inc. Driven by passion, Penn has led girl-centered nonprofit work for 40 years. In our interview, she shares her core philosophies that have kept her motivated and making an impact over time. She also discusses the key to navigating the toughest challenge she’s faced: navigating change.

We all need new ideas, new connections and new energy to lead us into this next year. Reignite your interest in other programs and people by actively connecting to others in out-of-school time. Your professional network will offer you support and connection when the going gets tough… and it’s been tough! So, now’s a good time to gather together to build, heal and connect.

As a leader in the field, you may already be doing these things. If you’re not, try them. If you are, consider how you could share these steps with staff on your team. Help them grow their professional networks.

Just like us, there are staff who want the certificate and most will log the seat time if it’s required. But, if we’re truly trying to find ways to motivate participation—and learning—extrinsic consequences and rewards are not the answer.

As you prepare to enter a new season of programming, you can lead the program everyone wants to be part of. You can lead the program where staff and students flourish. To do it, you start with yourself.

When considering how to design staff development for this summer and next fall, it’s important to bring together both the “knowing about” and the “knowing how to” for a broader staff experience.