Change Is the Constant. What Comes Next Is What We’re Figuring Out Together. Dear Change Leader, When Marcus took over as Director of Operations, he thought the hardest part would be learning the role. He was wrong. The hardest part was learning that the role kept changing — sometimes weekly. A restructuring here. A […]
A new name — and the idea behind it Read More »
Dear Change Leader, Jennifer kept telling herself that she had been through bigger challenges than this. She’d navigated a merger. She’d led a team through a funding crisis. She’d earned her seat at the table through a decade of hard-won experience. So when her organization restructured, and her role shifted — same level, but a
Who Are You When Everything Around You Changes? Read More »
Dear Change Leader, “We just need to give it more time,” David told me. He was six months into a major restructuring at his regional healthcare network — new reporting lines, redesigned workflows, a leadership team that had been reshuffled twice. On paper, the plan was solid. But the signals were troubling: key staff were
Are You Being Persistent — or Simply Stubborn? Read More »
Peak performance can be a warning sign. Here’s how to read it before the slide begins. Dear Change Leader, Let me ask you a question that might be uncomfortable: Is your current success setting you up for future decline? Sit with that for a moment. It sounds counterintuitive. Things are working. People are delivering. The
Is Your Success Setting You Up for Decline? Read More »
Dear Change Leader, Janus, the Roman god of doorways and transitions, possessed something most gods lacked: two faces, looking in opposite directions. One gazed backward, at the path traveled. The other looked forward, toward the road ahead. The Romans weren’t being whimsical. They understood something essential about transitions: you can’t move forward well without
“Looking Both Ways: The Janus principle for leaders navigating year-end transitions” Read More »
Michael joins Carol Hamilton to unpack why psychological safety is far more than a ‘soft’ concept — it is the foundation that allows teams to innovate, raise hard questions, and navigate change without fear. Drawing on real client experience, Michael outlines the practical steps nonprofit leaders can take to build genuine safety into their culture,
Building Psychological Safety in Nonprofit Organizations Read More »
Dear Change Leader, I’m writing this newsletter shortly after the summer solstice, almost at the midpoint of the year, as people traditionally prepare for their summer holidays. Given this transition point, I’d like to explore the benefit of pausing in the midst of what continues to be a hectic year. Imagine that you are
Appreciating The Clearing: Finding Perspective in the Midst of the Journey Read More »
Dear Change Leader, Picture this: A small dinosaur stands at the edge of a cliff, its body covered in what we now know were primitive feathers—originally evolved for warmth and display, not flight. Below stretches an unfamiliar landscape, changed by shifting climates and new predators. The old hunting grounds have dried up. The familiar food
Sudden, large-scale growth — even when it is welcome — can destabilise an organisation that is not prepared for it. In this conversation with Tosca Bruno-van Vijfeijken, Michael explores how nonprofits can build the organisational readiness to absorb transformational gifts and rapid scaling without losing the culture, mission focus, and operational discipline that made them
What Nonprofits Must Know About Transformational Gifts and Sudden Growth Read More »
Have you heard our clients describe what happens when they work with us? Empowered Leadership: From Uncertainty to A Confident Leadership Transition When Janet and Michelle approached me about their year-long leadership transition at a regional educational association, they balanced enthusiasm with healthy skepticism. “We’ve worked together effectively for years,” Janet explained, “but neither
Empowered Leadership: From Uncertainty to A Confident Leadership Transition Read More »
What does it mean for a nonprofit to be truly prepared for change — not just reactive, but proactively resilient? Michael’s conversation with Mickey Desai centres on the critical role of identity and purpose clarity in enabling nimble, adaptive organisations. When a crisis hits, the organisations that navigate it fastest are those that already know
The Prepared Organization with Michael Randel Read More »
In this wide-ranging conversation, Michael and Mickey Desai dig into the five most common — and costly — mistakes that leaders make when trying to navigate organisational change. From underestimating resistance to skipping the stakeholder engagement phase, these are the patterns Michael has observed across 250+ client engagements over 25 years. If you lead a
Five Critical Mistakes with Michael Randel Read More »