Just Say No…..3 Keys to Staying Focused
Focus “means saying no to the hundred other good ideas that there are…innovation is saying no to 1000 things.†We naturally want to help the world; we naturally want to do everything that will contribute to our mission. But we can’t. At least not all at once.
You are Hereby Invited to a Boring Job
 “A committee is a group of people who individually can do nothing, but who, as a group, can meet and decide that nothing can be done.†Fred Allen “A committee is a group that keeps minutes and loses hours.â€Â Milton Berle Then there’s this rubber stamp I...
Rant, Vent, Resent or Remind? Two questions to set the stage for your board’s success.
Stop resenting board members who don’t follow through. Here are two questions that can help set the stage for their success.
Stop the Blame! Six questions to get to continuous improvement.
“It is crucial….to identify aspects of the process that worked well and why, and changes to the process that will improve success in the future.â€* If you do 10 things in a day, and 9 of them go fabulously, which one do you focus on? Right. The one thing that was...
When Consensus is a Bad Idea
Which is better - an idea that everyone agrees with, or one that's the result of conflict? That depends. It’s an interesting phenomenon. As human beings, we like being with people who agree with us. It’s comfortable. We know what others are thinking. Boards have...
Is Your Executive Director A Farmer? (And that’s not a bad thing!)
How is the CEO of a nonprofit like a farmer? Both must acquire and husband their resources to the benefit of the entire enterprise. The role of an Executive Director is to acquire and husband all the resources of an organization, so those resources can best serve the...
3 Ways to Build Nonprofit Growth Mindset
Organizations, like people, can have growth mindsets. What does that mean for you?
Just Say No. Or, How FOMO* is Hurting Your Organization
The board member is excited. “My cousin in Arizona just told me how his nonprofit is partnering their day care with a senior center and just drinking in the money from all the funders. We should do that!†Right. Never mind that you’re a public garden with a...
No Bootstraps — The Curse of the Unconnected Community
An article about how Wyoming relies on Federal dollars to support its arts, brought back memories of a panel of philanthropists I heard speak many years ago. It was a frustrating experience. At the time, I was Executive Director of a small nonprofit. The panelists...
5 ways to build staff – board relations
Does your staff know what the board does? Really? In conversations with emerging professionals, I find they often haven’t a clue what the point of a board is. Frankly, I sometimes get that question from Executive Directors, too [but that’s a whole ‘nother...
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