Fundraising Leadership ™

Executive Coaching, Leadership Training, and Personal Development

Mindful Leadership–A Pathway to Increased Wisdom, Compassion, and Courage

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In his excellent course The Science of Mindfulness, Professor Ron Siegel from the Harvard Medical School lays out the modern scientific evidence for the benefits of meditation practice–one of the pathways toward mindfulness.

It is becoming clearer through cutting edge research that mindfulness (or the awareness of present experience) which has been practiced for over 2,500 years is a reliable pathway to increased wisdom, compassion, and courage–qualities possessed by great leaders and organizations.
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The Best Leaders Allow Their People to Take Risks

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Most leaders, managers, and administrators do their best to avoid risk and minimize uncertainty. It’s understandable. Taking risk is scary, and it is in our nature as human beings to want to control situations for predictable outcomes.

Sadly, tons of energy and lots of money is wasted organizations on this “controlling” activity. And, very little is ever learned, nor is much accomplished that is worthwhile by playing it safe.
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Fundraising Success–Belief is Key

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I’m fond of Napolean Hill’s expression: “Whatsoever the mind of man can conceive and believe, it can achieve.” It comes back to me time and time again, especially when it seems as if progress is difficult.

I’ll admit that up until recently embracing this axiom was difficult. Then I recently read an excellent book by Claude Bristol entitled The Magic of Believing. It helped me recall several episodes during my life where I held an intention to be, do, have, or accomplish something without being attached to any particular way it manifested.
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Fundraising Enables Freedom

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As we celebrated the Independence of the United States of America this past 4th of July, I was reminded just how important fundraising was (and is) in the formation and nourishment of our private, non-profit organizations. Especially in the realm of post-secondary education.
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21 Secrets of Fundraising Management Success

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Andy Hill wrote an excellent book entitled Be Quick–But Don’t Hurry with the legendary John Wooden, his former basketball coach at UCLA. For any manager or leader, Hill’s book is well worth reading. I did so for the first time over ten years ago. I came back to it again recently and find that it still holds up. I am especially interested in Wooden’s central motto, “Be Quick, But Don’t Hurry”. According to Hill, the primary physical attribute that Coach Wooden looked for when evaluating a player for the UCLA basketball teams was quickness. It’s hard to imagine a college or professional coach drawing that same conclusion today. [Read more…]

Leadership, Honor, and Integrity

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Sidney Mathias Baxter Coulling III, the retired S. Blount Mason Jr. Professor of English at Washington and Lee University died in February at the age of 92. I had the distinct privilege of being taught Old English Literature and Poetry by Professor Coulling in 1981 as a freshman at W&L. It was the toughest “C” I ever earned (one of only two as an undergraduate). How I made my way into a sophomore level course (also taken by many juniors) is a testament to my naiveté–an error that only a greenhorn freshman can make.
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