Star Trek, Nonprofits and Ideals
I grew up on Star Trek “ not just the show, but the idealistic vision of a future in which a United Federation of Planets could boldly go where no one has gone before, seeking out new life forms and new civilizations. Conquest was wrong. Help was right. People got...
Even full plates can be rearranged: 5 questions to evaluate a change in plans
Sometimes in life, we have a really full plate of things that we're focusing on and need to deal with. And it's at that moment, that something happens that demands that we switch focus, so that we need to move things around. From this we learn that the items on the...
Expansion Joints for your Strategic Plan
Ever notice how your tires seem to have a rhythmic thump when you drive across a bridge? Those are the spaces engineers deliberately put between the steel plates “ the expansion joints. Expansion joints on a bridge accommodate the stresses that come with different...
The Leverage to Move Really Big Things
That's the way things are always done. It's too big to move. It's too hard to change. We hear these statements all the time. The group comes up with a lofty goal, and the naysayers start their work. We don't have enough staff to do that. The ship is already moving...
One way to multiply your professional development budget
Professional development? What professional development? Nonprofit organizations often shortchange the budget line for professional development. And if there is a professional development line, it's not always extended to the whole staff. Nor is it common to budget...
Need a Reason for Board Committees? Here are Six.
(Image Credit: Wikimedia Commons) It happens all the time, especially when a board is transitioning from a working board to a governing board. The organization grows. It gets more complicated. Board members used to being involved in everything have trouble releasing...
Making the Most of Summer: Strengthening the Board Chair/ED Bond
Mid-summer. The time of transition. While we enjoy the ease of summer days, Labor Day looms on the horizon, with all the busy-ness that autumn brings. Many nonprofit organizations take the summer off. Or rather, the Board does. If you generally meet monthly, you skip...
3 Questions to Move from Helplessness to Action in Troubled Times
Thank you to Hildy Gottlieb, of Creating the Future, for this important message. Originally posted July 10, 2016 on LinkedIn. Republished with permission from the author. There comes a time for many of us when we stop thinking, Somebody should do something about...
Where’s Your Comfort Zone?
We've never done that before. But that's the way we've always done it. I don't know those people. But they're for-profit! Why would those liberals care about this?! Why would those conservatives care about this!? Over the years, I've heard variations on each one...
Can you share responsibility and maintain accountability?
The authoritarian approach to management “ top down, we know best, we'll make the decisions, you just do it “ is usually pretty good at demanding accountability. It is the Board that answers the questions: Who will take on this task? When will it be accomplished? How...
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