Category: Leadership
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Why you Lead Matters
I recently came across a study published in Harvard Business Review that crystallized some of my own thinking about how to motivate leadership. The article outlines the results of a…
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A riddle about 5 frogs – updated
About 15 months ago I created a blog entry: 5 frogs sitting on a log. Here’s an updated version. The riddle: Five frogs are sitting on a log. One decides…
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Guest blog: Grantwriting as a Team-building exercise
Guest blog by Sami Fournier of Element Exercise. Faced with the prospect of submitting a grant proposal, consider what a great opportunity you have before you. Beyond being a challenge…
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Learning to let things go “wrong.”
One of the trickier challenges facing a nonprofit Executive Director with supervisory responsibilities is leaning to let things go “wrong.” If you are to empower your staff to have areas…
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Have you sharpened your axe lately?
A friend was recently describing to me a challenge he faced as a new board member of a relatively healthy organization, but one that seemed to have a frenetic culture.…
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Invest in professional development
A recent Huffington Post blog article focused on the importance of the nonprofit sector investing in professional development. As a whole, the sector has a poor track record in training…
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Outcomes Schmoutcomes
I am a big believer in nonprofit organizations measuring the outcomes they achieve. It’s an essential tool for any staff/board to know they’re having the impact desired over time. And…
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“I was waiting for . . .” is not a valid excuse
Pet peeve of mine: Using “I was waiting for” as an excuse. Too often somebody who’s not meeting a deadline responds that they’re failing because: “I was waiting for John…
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Hire for things other than just existing skills
One of my pet peeves when talking to those doing hiring for nonprofit organizations is an overemphasis on finding people with the right existing skills. A recent article suggests the…
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A fascinating video about motivation
The question I keep asking myself after repeatedly re-watching this video is: what are the implications for nonprofit organizations? Some implications are fairly straightforward: For example, with very few exceptions,…