Strategic Succession
Leadership Change With Confidence
The essential board member's guide to navigating executive transitions while safeguarding your organization's mission and long-term success.
Leadership transitions don't have to disrupt your mission. They can deepen it.
Most nonprofits are one departure away from operational chaos — not because they lack good people, but because they lack a plan. When a leader leaves without a succession strategy in place, organizations scramble to recreate processes, reassure donors, and hold programs together.
This workbook was built to change that. Developed from years of hands-on experience guiding nonprofits through some of their most vulnerable moments, Strategic Succession gives boards, executive teams, and transition leaders a clear, structured path forward — whether a change is planned, imminent, or already underway.
Built for the people who lead through change
Board Members
Understand your legal duties during transition, strengthen governance, and lead with confidence when it matters most.
Founders Stepping Down
Exit with grace and intention. Protect the culture you built and set your successor up for lasting success.
Executive Directors
Prepare your organization before a transition begins — document what lives in your head and build a bench that holds.
Nonprofit Consultants
A structured companion for guiding client organizations through leadership change with objectivity and clarity.
10 sections. One complete roadmap.
Each section includes real-world tools, worksheets, field insights, and breakout conversation prompts.
Introduction & Overview
Set the stage for why succession planning protects your mission — and what happens when it's absent.
Assessing Organizational Readiness
Evaluate your current state across governance, finances, operations, and donor relations.
Building the Bench
Define and clarify the roles that lead — and identify where the gaps are before a crisis reveals them.
Board Engagement & Governance
Strengthen fiduciary understanding and board involvement through every phase of transition.
Your "Oh Crap" Plan
When leadership leaves tomorrow — emergency and interim planning tools you need now, not later.
Developing Talent for Seamless Transition
Identify and grow internal leaders before the pressure is on. Build a pipeline, not a panic.
Aligning Strategy With What Matters Most
Protect revenue, engage stakeholders, and eliminate mission drift during the change.
Say It Well: Guiding the Conversation
Communication timelines, messaging templates, press release scripts, and stakeholder maps.
Planning for Your New Great Leader
Execute a structured, values-based search — and onboard with intention so they can succeed.
Implementation With Confidence
Bring the full plan to life with timelines, accountability structures, and post-transition review.
More than a workbook — a complete transition system
"Leadership transitions aren't just about replacing a role. They are about strengthening the organization for the future."
— Jodee O'Brien, AJO Solutions
Created from the field, not the classroom.
Jodee O'Brien is a Leadership Transition Specialist, Nonprofit Strategy Expert, and Business Growth Consultant. As the owner of AJO Solutions and ActionCOACH Central Texas, she has spent her career guiding organizations through complex leadership changes — ensuring not just stability, but growth and long-term impact.
She created this workbook because she's seen firsthand how overwhelming a transition can feel — and how powerful it becomes when the right tools, mindset, and structure are in place.
Learn More About Jodee ↗
Strategic Succession: Leadership Change With Confidence
Available in paperback. Digital formats coming soon. Want coaching support alongside the workbook?