The headlines focused on Omaha electing its first Black mayor. But buried in the coverage was a big lesson in transition planning that every nonprofit should study.

When John Ewing Jr. defeated a three-term incumbent mayor, he faced a choice: bring in his own team or work with what he inherited.

He chose continuity. He retained every department head and senior staffer except one who was already retiring.

His explanation cuts to the heart of succession planning:

"What I've found in transitions is if you create fear, you lose the best people, because they have opportunities to go places."

This matters for your organization because transitions—planned and unplanned—happen constantly in nonprofits. Executive directors leave. Board chairs rotate. Program officers move on. Outreach and frontline staff depart. Founders retire.

The organizations that thrive through these changes share three practices:

• They plan for continuity, not just change. Ewing understood that capable people already doing good work shouldn't be casualties of leadership transition.
• They invest in relationships before they need them. Notice that former mayor Jim Suttle helped with the transition plan—even after losing his job to Ewing years earlier.
• They promote from within when possible. Ewing elevated two internal candidates to new economic development roles, signaling that institutional knowledge has value.

*then they wonder why good people leave during uncertain times.

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Your best staff members have options. During leadership changes, they're watching to see if staying feels safe and valued, or risky and uncertain.

What are they seeing at your organization during workplace transitions?