We Are For Good Podcast - The Podcast for Nonprofits 673. Shift 3 — People Leave: Make Transition Readiness Part of Your Culture - Naomi Hattaway
People Leave™ — and in 2026, the pace and intensity of transition is accelerating. In this episode, Naomi Hattaway, interim leader and organizational health builder, shares what it actually takes to build nonprofit health through uncertainty before someone resigns. We talk about the hidden fragility that uncertainty exposes (founder dependency, undocumented roles, disengaged boards), and the practical foundations that help teams stay aligned when everything feels on fire.
You’ll walk away with concrete tools for transition readiness, including how to:
- Treat turnover as normal — not a crisis — so you plan for departures instead of getting blindsided
- Build real financial resilience with reserves and budgets that account for searches, interims, and transition support
- Create simple documentation so critical knowledge isn’t trapped in one person’s head
- Grow “endings literacy” by talking openly about departures, loss, and what it means to leave well
- Center humanity in hard moments with grief-aware practices, dignified layoffs, and stay interviews
Because healthy systems don’t stop people from leaving — they make it possible for people to leave well.
Episode Highlights
- Understanding Uncertainty in 2026 (02:06)
- Proactive vs Reactive Approaches (05:39)
- The Importance of Infrastructure (07:54)
- Endings Literacy: Navigating Transitions (13:30)
- Creating a Culture of Grief and Loss (22:00)
- Leaving Well: The Art of Transition (28:26)
- Human-Centered Change in High-Stress Environments (31:25)
- Naomi’s One Good Thing (35:07)
Dive Deeper:
Episode Shownotes: www.weareforgood.com/episode/673
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