Executive Coaching, Professional Development, Training, and Career Advancement for Nonprofit Leaders in the United States, Canada, and Europe.
Recently Stephen Halasnik and David Langiulli spoke on the Nonprofit MBA Podcast about what it takes to be an effective board member and what happens when a board functions with high levels of trust and candor.
It is no secret that open communication helps an organization run more effectively, but what does this look like in practice? With strategic planning and proper board culture, nonprofits run more effectively, enabling the organization to achieve its mission.
As our society passed through its second spring equinox under a global pandemic, I took personal stock of my spring renewal achieved by successfully leading a team through a significant transition last year. Since change is constant and accelerating, two luminary leaders guided my daily journey of being a leader in transition. They are, President Theodore Roosevelt and author William Bridges, who pioneered “Managing Transitions,” a guidepost for leading a change process. [Read more…]
In September 2020, I was elected as the Chair of the Board of a local community health centre (CHC). I have served on the board of this organization for almost four years. Visually it’s a board that is diverse and reflects the community it serves. However, visual diversity is only a part of the story of this board.
As we come together and learn more about each other and our backgrounds, the depth and richness of our diversity is becoming even more apparent. Working with members of the board, organizational leadership, staff and community members, the opportunity to fully leverage our diverse perspectives is a personal and shared goal to be pursued with vigour and intentionality.
Now more than ever, the current climate demands a board profile with a range of competencies and diversity of perspectives. The best way to achieve diverse competencies and perspectives is to ensure homogeneity isn’t the blueprint for engaging people in the work of organizations. There is richness in diversity because it allows us to obtain a more complete picture of whatever confronts us, be they challenges or opportunities. The more comprehensive picture one has of a situation, the decisions made are more informed, thoughtful and considered. [Read more…]
Two months ago, I was on my way to a reunion weekend at New College of Florida in Sarasota. I am currently on the college’s foundation board, and a trip to Sarasota was long overdue. I made the reunion a quarterly goal. Perfect timing! As the director of programs and research at HERS, we were in between the February and March delivery of the HERS Leadership Institute, our signature leadership program for women leaders in higher education. My team was moving forward as planned. It was the right time for my vacation. Furthermore, I needed time away. Well being, particularly self-care, is essential as a team leader. I was glad to take the time off and committed to not working. In the past, my team felt that I wasn’t sincere when I would encourage them to truly leave the work during their vacations, because they knew I never did. I was determined to be a good example. [Read more…]
Prior to becoming a parent, I managed a development team and relied heavily on my HR experience to shape my management style. I managed to make it work. However, there was room for improvement.
Little did I know that, for me, improvement came in the form of parenting.
I became a parent nine years ago. And as many new parents do, I read a lot on how to be a better parent. Aside from the practical tips of how to install a car seat, I read books on how to get children on a path of healthy sleeping, how to manage toddlers and their raw emotions, how to raise confident children, and this list goes on and on.
At the same time, in my professional life, I found myself again building a development team. I was also reading books on leadership, some of it was a review from my corporate years in HR, but some of it new. [Read more…]
One of our passions at Fundraising Leadership is helping nonprofit leaders to bring a coach-like approach to their organizations. And of course we like to walk our talk in this regard. This means we focus on building trust, setting goals, measuring progress, being curious, and creating a culture of accountability within our own team.
So as our Q2 came to a close, the Fundraising Leadership Team gathered together for a mid-year review.
We structured our conversation around our OGSM (Objectives, Goals, Strategies and Metrics) tool that we created at the beginning of our fiscal year. Simply put an OGSM provides clear goals and identifies the strategic choices to achieve them. [Read more…]
Gossip–The practice of sharing information about people who are not present in a “casual or unconstrained conversation [that] typically involves details not confirmed as being true.”
We are all familiar with it. Every organization seems to be infused with it, and many leaders in the nonprofit world with whom I work believe it’s a good thing. They mistakenly believe that it helps grease the wheels of communication and that it will somehow serve as a source of valuable information that enables the organization to function smoothly.
Is two better than one? In the right situation with the right combination of people, YES!
Two is always better than one when it comes to things like puppies or vacations or pieces of cake (maybe even glasses of wine) but what about fundraisers in the same role at the same time? This was the situation for me when I started a new role in an arts organization after spending three years at an academic institution. I was excited to return to being a full-time major gift fundraiser with great opportunities in front of me at a transitional time in the organization. One unexpected element was learning that it would, in fact, be two of us starting the same senior role, two weeks apart. After a brief pause, and a request to meet my double, my surprise became delight and things began to fall into place. [Read more…]
When did you begin to see yourself as a leader? Some of us only see ourselves as leaders when we attain a certain job title. Or once we have staff reporting to us.
The Fundraising Leadership team (David, Silvia, Michelle and I) have all completed the CTI Leadership program. This program rejects the top-down, one-dimensional leadership model and expands our definition of leadership.
This new model is grounded in the idea that everyone is a leader because “leaders are those who are responsible for their world.” [Read more…]
Fostering a culture of accountability within your team is a key skill and it aligns perfectly with the coach-like style of leadership. We have covered the topic of accountability in past posts “Creating a Culture of Accountability” and “A is For Accountability.”
The foundation of accountability lies in asking three questions:
What will you do? When will it be completed? How will you report back?
When you create a work culture that embraces accountability you need to ensure that it is held without judgement. This creates an environment where everyone can learn from success and failure. [Read more…]
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