Resource Library
September 08, 2020
Looking Backward: How Did We Get Here? (Part 1 of 3)
It is not difficult for a nonprofit executive director or CEO to describe the current strategic position of their organization. To test this, ask the three following questions: 1. What services do you provide, and for whom? 2. How are you different from others providing similar services? 3. Who pays to support your work? The […]
July 07, 2020
How Strong are Your Strategy Bones?
“The house don’t fall when the bones are good.” (The Bones, by Maren Morris) A crisis reveals our true colors. Misfortune lays bare the strength of our principles. Ambiguity tests our leadership. These aphorisms point to the belief that our behavior in trying times is more indicative of who we really are than is our […]
October 30, 2019
The Other Side of the Strategy Coin
Recently, I participated in a brief online discussion that was prompted by an article titled, “Why Strategic Planning Sucks the Life Out of Nonprofits”. (The author could have stopped after the first four words and made a much stronger point. But I digress.). A contributor to the discussion shared an exchange she had with a […]
September 03, 2019
Are Your SMART Goals the Right Goals?
It is human nature to short-cut our thinking by simplifying complicated or multi-dimensional ideas into bite-sized, digestible bits. Such is the case with SMART goals, an acronym for…well, that’s part of the problem: no one seems to know exactly what it stands for. A cursory search of the term “SMART goals” revealed some disorder in […]
August 22, 2019
The Physics of Conflict
We’ve all experienced the excitement of discovering that hidden gem of a book that seemed to come along at just the right time in our lives. One of those books for me is Organizational Physics: The Science of Growing a Business, by Lex Sisney. The book was published in 2012 and I stumbled upon it […]
August 14, 2019
Conflict Mediation in 3 Easy Steps
Well, “easy” may not be the best way to characterize conflict mediation. Often, the roots of conflict run deep, so deep that we may not fully understand what it is we are reacting to. Is it a clash of values? Differing perceptions of the same situation? Unmet expectations? When we find ourselves at odds with […]
July 18, 2019
Clarity. Consensus. Impact.
As an organizational development practitioner with 20+ years of experience, looking toward growth is engrained in my DNA. I reflect, investigate and aspire. And I help my clients do the same. Group facilitation. Conflict mediation. Strategy development. These are the skills that brought me to this phase of my practice, and I’m excited to continue […]
February 01, 2019
A Nose for Strategy
Strategy is all around us. We are conditioned to look for strategy in the formal strategic plan. Sometimes, however, strategy is embedded in other documents that we don’t think of as being strategic in nature. A budget, for example, reveals priorities; and priorities are the stuff of strategy. There must be a reason that you […]
January 22, 2019
When is it Strategy?
I often struggle to help nonprofits differentiate between what is important and what is strategic. I know from experience that recognizing that is one is not synonymous with the other can be the difference between a positive experience and yet another frustrating attempt at strategic planning. But how do you help someone whose daily existence […]
February 28, 2018
Inspiration…From the Inside Out
I’ll begin with a confession. I harbor mild contempt for individuals who anoint themselves as being inspirational or motivational. Talk about heightened self-promotion. Part of my skepticism stems from my wholesale rejection of the core message of the self-esteem industry. Namely, the ability to reach your full potential seems to depend on your ability to […]