The Right Time for Change
Isn’t it amazing how a few days out of the office can affect your outlook? Those days right after you return – when that deluge of emails seems like something …
Transforming Us vs. Them into We
Whether you work in conservation, community health, social services, or another mission-driven field, negotiation skills are a must-have item in your toolbox. In the simplest terms, negotiation is about reaching agreement …
Board Engagement (or getting your board to do the stuff you need!)
One of the most common complaints of Executive Directors is that their boards aren’t engaged. But what does that even mean? Usually it means board members show up once a …
Organizational Analysis (or how to know what you need to know!)
Mission-driven organizations operate in a complex environment. Operating in isolation from the world around you is no longer an option. Economic, political, and technological trends all have an impact on how you …
Making your Strategic Plan Stick
Call it the post-planning let down. The excitement fades after the thrill and rush of the planning process. There’s another grant application to write, a board member with a great …
How do You Make Decisions?
We cannot be all things to all people. Successful organizations (agencies, programs, etc.) focus on who they are, what results they need to achieve, and who they need to engage …
Deciding What Comes Off the Plate
One of the most important steps in strategic planning happens after you create your strategic plan. If you used your planning process to actually make strategic decisions, then you must …
Getting Started with the Integrated Strategy
Daily life in a mission-driven organization can be frenetic – the emails, the meetings, the phone ringing off the hook. Taking time to step back, focus on what’s most important, …
Sustainability 101
Remember playing telephone when you were young? One person would whisper a phrase into the ear of the person sitting next to them and so on down the line. By …