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CPR for your Strategic Plan: Review, revise, revitalize.

Jun 28, 2019
3 min

CPR for your Strategic Plan: Review, revise, revitalize.

Planning. It’s one of those things that is really easy to ignore—to shuffle to the side of our desks where it gets dusty. There is no doubt that finding time to sit down and do planning – especially if it involves your team, board, and stakeholders (and it should) – is almost impossible. After all there is so much day-to-day stuff to do that is urgent and important. And yet, planning is essential. It needs to be prioritized. And reviewing the plan is essential too. Dust sh

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Don’t be shy: Invest in cross-sector relationships

Sep 10, 2018
2 min

Don’t be shy: Invest in cross-sector relationships

It’s worth it to make connections and ask for help. Often, when I help organizations with strategic planning, they want to get input from those who they serve (their stakeholders). They want to know what their stakeholders and community members want/need to ensure they offer responsive programs and services. Too often though, they haven’t invested time and energy in building these relationships prior to the process; and are disappointed when the invitation is sent and only a

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A leap of faith: from scarcity to abundance for non-profits

Sep 3, 2018
3 min

A leap of faith: from scarcity to abundance for non-profits

Challenge yourself to see abundance—and the results will amaze you In February of 2017 I made a decision to move from doing community-based contract work with my local planning tables – work I loved! – to doing more consulting and facilitation. Of course, I also love this work, as it’s just a different type of relationship with the same people. It was a risk. Even with as much planning and the marketing I’d done to prepare for the transition, my knees were knocking and I was

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How good is your conversational agility?

Oct 20, 2017
4 min

How good is your conversational agility?

The reality is that not all conversations go the way we want them to. Some plug along in neutral, wishy-washy by their very nature. Others we know going in are going to be tense, as the conversation topic is fraught with misunderstanding or the level of trust between participants is low. And still others take an unexpected turn and we lose control of where the conversation is going and the intent of connecting. This is real life. As individuals who are part of these conversat

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Transformational Conversations: Are you having them?

Oct 20, 2017
4 min

Transformational Conversations: Are you having them?

Judith E. Glaser, founder of the Creating WE Institute and author of Conversational Intelligence, notes that 9/10 conversations miss their mark. As someone who communicates for a living, this statistic is shocking. I’d like to think that my conversations are MUCH more effective and impactful than that. And yet, when I assess my conversations based on the three levels of conversation matrix (see image), I can see that I regularly have conversations in each of the zones – and a

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Tips for Collaboration: hammer out the details up-front

Jul 31, 2017
2 min

Tips for Collaboration: hammer out the details up-front

Do you remember in school when teachers made us come up with group rules before starting a group project? It was an important lesson. Collaboration is a great tool to help us grow our businesses. Like all great tools, it’s important to pre-establish operational guidelines to ensure a common understanding and safe implementation. It is easy to forge ahead without thinking through and discussing the details of how the collaboration will work. However, experience has shown me th

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Management vs. leadership: Are they the same thing? My perspective.

Jul 31, 2017
3 min

Management vs. leadership: Are they the same thing? My perspective.

What is the difference between being a manager and a leader? And what do these differences mean to your business?[1] In more traditional jobs, we so often strive to earn the title of Manager. The title generally comes with more prestige, increased pay, and greater responsibility. There is no doubt that being called the Manager, the Chief Executive Officer (CEO), or Executive Director feels great. Earning the title means that someone has recognized one’s skills and abilities.

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