Fundraising Leadership ™

Executive Coaching, Leadership Training, and Personal Development

What Did You Appreciate in 2016?

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For many fundraisers the month of December can be a time to appreciate others. Making thank you calls to donors. Writing messages on the stacks of holiday cards being sent to donors, board members and volunteers. Spending time with colleagues during holiday parties and potlucks.

Since it is often a busy time of year – both professionally and personally – you might suddenly find yourself facing the New Year and thinking about those resolutions. Or just wondering where the year has gone.
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The Five Leadership Lessons of FDR (and my Father)

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This week I’m dealing with my father transitioning to an assisted living facility after 10+ years of enduring the aftermath of lymphoma, heart disease, and stroke. We humorously refer to him as the “triple threat.”

Like Frankin Delano Roosevelt (FDR), my father is now mostly confined to a wheelchair. His metaphorical physical wings got clipped some time ago. But not his spiritual wings. Those continue to help him soar.
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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 Three As to Impactful Performance Reviews

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Recently I attended a panel presentation that included an HR representative from a large hospital foundation. This organization is moving towards a coaching-style of management. One of the major decisions they made was to do away with annual performance reviews. The audience audibly and positively reacted to this decision, which is not surprisingly since performance reviews are often dreaded by both managers and staff alike.
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Feeling Stressed? Ask for Help

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We all hear so much about the “fight or flight response” to stress. However, lately I have been reading more about the “tend-and-befriend” response developed by Dr. Shelley E. Taylor of the University of California, Los Angeles. This refers to the evolutionary behavioral response of managing stress by caring for offspring and seeking social support. Dr. Taylor explains that women are more likely than men to look to others for support in times of stress. In the modern work world this means that women create, maintain, and use social networks—especially friendships with other women—to manage stressful conditions.
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