Authentic Leadership in Uncertain Times — with Dr. Nicole Assisi, CEO of Thrive

Authentic Leadership in Uncertain Times — with Dr. Nicole Assisi, CEO of Thrive

What does it take to lead — and to keep leaders — when nonprofits and schools are navigating more uncertainty than ever before? In this episode of The Ground Floor, Christina sits down with Dr. Nicole Assisi, CEO of Thrive, to talk about what it really takes to build leadership that lasts. Nicole brings decades of experience as a teacher, principal, superintendent, and now executive coach and strategy partner to nonprofits and school systems across California and beyond. She and Christina dig into: * Why the era of buttoned-up "persona leadership" is over — and what authentic leadership looks like in practice * The four C's of retaining great people when compensation alone isn't enough: collaboration, culture, coaching, and yes, comp (including the story of a leader who turned down a $700K role over culture) * Why hiring is only step one — and why losing a leader is more expensive than finding one * What boards need to learn to be great supervisors of CEOs and EDs, not just great fiduciaries * Coaching as "becoming yourself with more skill" — not becoming someone else * Why coherence beats more initiatives in a hectic moment, and how leaders can resist the hamster wheel of putting out fires A grounded, practical conversation for board members, executives, and anyone thinking about how to build organizations where leaders can do their best work — and stay. Enjoyed this episode? Subscribe to The Ground Floor wherever you listen to podcasts. Leave a rating and review on Apple Podcasts — it helps more nonprofit leaders find the show. Follow Christina on LinkedIn for more on leadership, hiring, and building stronger organizations.

Strategic Planning Is Broken — Here's What to Do Instead with Lia Izenberg

What if the strategic plan everyone's been waiting on is the very thing keeping your organization stuck? In this episode of The Ground Floor podcast, Christina Greenberg sits down with Lia Izenberg — executive coach, former nonprofit leader, and writer of the Leadership Material newsletter — for an honest conversation about why traditional strategic planning so often fails the leaders it's supposed to serve, and what to build in its place. Christina and Lia unpack the difference between strategic planning (eight months, hundreds of stakeholders, a 30-page document on a shelf) and strategic clarity (a tight, leader-driven set of choices the whole team can actually rally around). They get into why the wide-funnel input process can leave staff feeling disenfranchised, where boards belong in the conversation, and how the absence of a real plan shows up in the search room — including how it shapes who you should hire and how long a new leader needs in seat before driving their own strategy work. What you'll hear: * Why "we did a plan, it's around here somewhere" is a leadership red flag * How to tell the difference between gathering input and abdicating decision-making * The questions that produce strategic clarity in weeks, not quarters * What boards owe their leaders on goals, evaluation, and on-track conversations * Lia's checklist for whether you actually have strategic clarity — or just think you do If you've ever finished a strategic planning process and wondered why nothing changed, this one's for you. Connect with Lia: liaizenberg.com | LinkedIn [http://www.linkedin.com/in/liaizenberg] | Leadership Material on Substack [https://liairisizenberg.substack.com/]  Connect with Christina: edgilitysearch.com | LinkedIn [http://www.linkedin.com/in/christinalgreenberg] | Forbes Business Council [https://www.forbes.com/councils/forbesbusinesscouncil/people/christinagreenberg/] Enjoyed this episode? Subscribe to The Ground Floor wherever you listen to podcasts. Leave a rating and review on Apple Podcasts — it helps more nonprofit leaders find the show. Follow Christina on LinkedIn for more on leadership, hiring, and building stronger organizations.

The AI Paradox: Building Tomorrow's Leaders When the Pipeline Is Disappearing

What happens to the leaders of tomorrow if AI is quietly eliminating the entry-level jobs that used to build them? In this inaugural episode of The Ground Floor, Christina Greenberg sits down with Ellen Weinreb — founder of Weinreb Group Sustainability Consulting and one of the foremost recruiters in the corporate sustainability space — for an honest, wide-ranging conversation about purpose-driven careers, leadership development, and the forces reshaping the workforce. From greenhouse gas accounting to the disappearing junior role, they dig into what organizations are actually doing to build talent pipelines — and what they're getting wrong. They also get personal. As two recruiters with over 20 years in the field — and as parents of college-aged kids — Christina and Ellen wrestle with the AI paradox facing today's graduates: universities are restricting AI use in classrooms while employers expect fluency on day one. Their conversation covers how mid-career professionals can make meaningful pivots into purpose-driven work, what skills are actually growing in the sustainability sector, and why networking — old school, in-person, relationship-first — remains the one constant in a rapidly changing landscape. Enjoyed this episode? Subscribe to The Ground Floor wherever you listen to podcasts. Leave a rating and review on Apple Podcasts — it helps more nonprofit leaders find the show. Follow Christina on LinkedIn for more on leadership, hiring, and building stronger organizations.