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Why don't the classic change models (ADKAR, Kotter, Lewin) quite fit nonprofits? Dr. Tristan Moore, a change leader and board member with ACMP Texas, set out to answer that question in his doctoral research, which looked at roughly 100 nonprofits and about 800 board members across the San Antonio metro area. In this episode, Tristan and Dr. Dan Freeman dig into what he expected to find versus what the data showed. Not a single board member in the sample held a change management designation, and only 3.8% of the organizations reported a programmatic change on their Form 990. That second finding raises a question every nonprofit leader should think about: is change actually that rare, or is it simply going unreported?

Tristan also shares one of his most surprising findings: a composite measure of board "business acumen" showed no significant relationship to change, and in further analysis even trended negative. That challenges how many organizations recruit board members. Using a food bank's shift to a drive-through model, he shows how volunteers, donors, and relationships create change resistance that corporate models don't anticipate. The episode closes with practical advice for new executive directors on assessing an existing board: identify the key stakeholders who can become change agents, have real one-on-one conversations, and ask board members to put the mission in their own words to reveal where alignment is drifting.

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What do you do when someone slides a blank check across your desk and asks you to fix a grade? For Dr. Fay Niewiadomski, a former university dean, founder and CEO of ICTN since 1993, and an international award-winning change management strategist, that wasn't a hypothetical. In this episode, Fay joins Dr. Dan Freeman to talk about ethics as the everyday standards we set for ourselves, and how those standards get tested when pressure, power, and context shift. She explains why she starts with a culture's proverbs to understand how people were raised to respond to conflict, money, and authority, and why a clear sense of identity matters more than any rulebook when you have seconds to decide.

The conversation then moves into the traps leaders and consultants fall into. Fay explains why accepting the label of "expert" can set you up as a scapegoat, and how to reframe the relationship as a partnership built around shared outcomes. She also covers how to interview a client as carefully as they interview you, and when compromise, resignation, or speaking up is the right move. She makes the case for building a "productive symbiosis" while you create alternatives, and why resigning in anger rarely changes anything. The episode closes with her approach to silence as one of the most underused tools in leadership communication.

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LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/fayniewiadomski/
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/fayniewiadomski/
Substack: https://substack.com/@fayniewiadomski
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/ICTNLLPUK
YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@ICTNonline
Blog: https://www.ictn.com/blog/

The Cost of Poor Judgement..., her Group Coaching session that is available as a course on YouTube.

https://costofpoorjudgement.manus.space/

Her website is https://www.ictn.com/

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📝 If you're reading this and you're in the higher ed, collegiate athletics, or general nonprofit field, I'd love for you to take my survey.

Available for Speaking I'm available for keynotes, leadership retreats, roundtable discussions, and executive panels on fundraising, decision-making, organizational culture, and philanthropic advising. If you're building a lineup for your next event, I'd love to be in that conversation.

→ Reach out at dan@fsgventures.biz or schedule here

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In this episode of the Executive Thought Partner Podcast, Dr. Daniel Freeman sits down with Bradley Harris, a strategic advisor whose career took him from a high-ranking government role at a Secretary of State's office to leading communications for a private utility, and eventually into his own advisory practice. Bradley shares candid, behind-the-scenes stories from years spent operating inside high-pressure news cycles and boardrooms, and unpacks why stakeholder engagement — what he calls "relationship management" long before you need it — separates reactive leaders from prepared ones. He also draws a sharp distinction between vision, mission, positioning, and messaging, arguing that most organizations skip the hard internal work of alignment before ever touching their external message.

The conversation moves through practical, hard-won lessons: the value of focus groups and honest feedback even when it stings, the difference between chasing consensus and building real alignment, and why media training matters for leaders who rarely think they need it. Bradley closes with a challenge for anyone stepping into a bigger leadership identity — you have to live into who you're becoming before the title or the confidence catches up. It's a grounded, story-driven conversation for executives, communicators, and anyone responsible for how their organization shows up to the people who matter most.

Website: thebradleyharris.com

LinkedIn: www.linkedin.com/in/bradley-harris-a4649360

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=61591662461833

Support the show

📝 If you're reading this and you're in the higher ed, collegiate athletics, or general nonprofit field, I'd love for you to take my survey.

Available for Speaking I'm available for keynotes, leadership retreats, roundtable discussions, and executive panels on fundraising, decision-making, organizational culture, and philanthropic advising. If you're building a lineup for your next event, I'd love to be in that conversation.

→ Reach out at dan@fsgventures.biz or schedule here

If you made it this far, I'd love to schedule time to connect with you.

Schedule time with me

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