Fundraising Leadership ™

Executive Coaching, Leadership Training, and Personal Development

Have You Heard? They’re Ending Gossip. No Way! Way.

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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.

[Read more…]

Episode 34: Co-Leading with Dawn Marie Schlegel and Steven Endicott

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Fundraising Leadership
Fundraising Leadership
Episode 34: Co-Leading with Dawn Marie Schlegel and Steven Endicott
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In this episode, David Langiulli and Janice Cunning are joined by Dawn Marie Schlegel and Steven Endicott who share their unique experience of co-leading a fundraising program.

Dawn Marie and Steven share the impact of formally designing their alliance with a focus on asking what is best for the organization.

We challenge our listeners to apply these lessons and design an alliance with their colleagues.

The Power of Two: Co-Leading a Fundraising Program

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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…]

5 Ways to Lead from Behind

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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…]

5 Tips to Cultivate a Growth Mindset Culture

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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…]

Episode 12: Healthy Conflict Builds Stronger Teams

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Fundraising Leadership
Fundraising Leadership
Episode 12: Healthy Conflict Builds Stronger Teams
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David and Janice discuss the essential qualities of successful nonprofit leaders. In this episode, they focus on the quality of teamwork. Strong teams are built by creating trust and engaging in healthy conflict.

They explain the power of seeking alignment versus agreement and challenge listeners to put that into action.

If you are a leader who would like to develop confidence in your ability to manage conflict, join us in July for our online course Leading High Performance Teams in the Nonprofit World.

9 Essential Qualities of Successful Nonprofit Leaders

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Human resource professionals and hiring managers often ask me if there are certain qualities to look for when hiring prospective new successful nonprofit leaders that are likely to make them extraordinarily successful in their leadership roles. While there are no absolutes, Janice Cunning and I identified nine essential qualities through our personal experience in the nonprofit world as well as our work training and coaching nonprofit professionals that make nonprofit executives extraordinary.  We found that there are a few characteristics that if carefully screened for can yield excellent new-hire results. [Read more…]

Episode 6: Being with Emotions At Work

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Fundraising Leadership
Fundraising Leadership
Episode 6: Being with Emotions At Work
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In the leadership context, it is helpful to acknowledge that people come to work as human beings that possess and experience a FULL RANGE of emotions at work.

Janice and David share their own experiences with handling difficult emotions at work and in other professional settings. They offer a technique to help leaders create space for emotions in order to ensure a team is present and ready to work together.

Episode 1: Creating a Culture of Accountability

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Fundraising Leadership
Fundraising Leadership
Episode 1: Creating a Culture of Accountability
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Creating a culture of accountability on teams is easier said than done.  David and Janice talk about the three key questions that lead to clarity around commitments. And why it is so important to hold accountability without judgement. Then they offer tips to help you put this learning into practice.

Accountability is a key coaching skill that managers and leaders use to reduce their stress and get results for their organizations.

If you want to bring coaching skills to your organization, check out our Create a Coaching Culture to Maximize Performance workshop.

Creating a Culture of Accountability

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In his 2002 business classic, The Five Dysfunction of a Team, Patrick Lencioni describes “Avoidance of Accountability” as one of the core behaviors that teams exhibit when they are dysfunctional.  In Pat’s words: “In the context of teamwork…it refers specifically to the [un]willingness of team members to call their peers on performance or behaviors that might hurt the team.” [Read more…]