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How to build a great nonprofit Board of Directors
Identifying and recruiting board members can be a daunting task, especially if an organization is new or reshaping itself. Either way, existing members of the board and community have a challenge ahead of them when identifying and recruiting qualified candidates. Blue Avocado, a nonprofit magazine for nonprofits, compiled a list of the Ten Biggest Mistakes Boards and Executives Make. Some of the mistakes mentioned can be avoided by trying out a couple strategies.
One of the more overwhelming challenges is determining the “Who,” “What,” and, eventually, “How” of establishing a board. Who do we want? What is actually necessary? How do we even find them?
More here: Building a board | MSU Extension.
What is the real cost of email?
Tom Cochran believes that email is the most abused method of communication in every office environment. And the widespread perception that it has no incremental cost is chronically damaging workplace efficiency. According to Tom, the challenge we are facing isn’t an aversion to technology, but change. I think that sums it up very well.
Tom suggests there is an entrenched level of comfort with email, making it habitual and a communications crutch. We have to take a holistic view and see email as one of many channels for collaboration. Adopt a breadth of tools to connect people, teach them the appropriate use of each and encourage smarter use of the right technology.
I also find that an open office environment creates less of a dependency on email as “literally” walls come down and teams naturally collaborate.
More here: Email Is Not Free – Tom Cochran – Harvard Business Review.
Why are the most successful leaders also givers?
Inc. editor-at-large Leigh Buchanan talks to organizational psychologist Adam Grant about his new book, Give and Take: A Revolutionary Approach to Success. Expect to sit through heated conversations in the next few months about who in your circle is generous to a fault, who expects a quo for every quid, and who is out for what he can get.
That’s how Adam Grant categorizes the ways people use interactions to succeed–or not–in their careers and lives. Grant’s book, Give and Take: A Revolutionary Approach to Success, is already garnering plaudits for the rigor of its science, the freshness of its arguments, and the pleasure of its prose. Inc. editor-at-large Leigh Buchanan spoke to Grant, a professor at the University of Pennsylvania’s Wharton School, about how giving can help you lead.
More here: Why the Most Successful Leaders Are Givers | Inc.com.
Related articles
- Finding a Mentor. | Inc.com (csuitementor.wordpress.com)
- Inc.com, 7 Steps to a Culture of Innovation, in IT as well as in business (itconnecter.wordpress.com)
- Give. And give. And give more. (davidkanigan.com)
How to get ahead.I disagree.
This is a very disturbing article from Harvard Business Review. Here is one tidbit.
First, remember “A-B-D” — always be disagreeable:
People who are disagreeable earn more than people who are agreeable, and the gap is biggest among men, according to an analysis of four surveys spanning almost 20 years. Men who are significantly less agreeable than average earn 18.31% more than men who are significantly more agreeable than average, while the comparable figure for women is 5.47%, says the study, led by Beth A. Livingston of Cornell. Men’s disagreeable behavior “conforms to expectations of ‘masculine’ behavior,” the authors say.
From there, a long list of pretty disagreeable items continue. I kept looking for something redeeming. Nothing. Hmmm. If this is the list of what to do, I object.
What is architecture and governance?
I love simplicity. Sometimes we just make things too difficult to understand.
This quote simply explains architecture (and why it is important) and governance.
Architecture is a belief system. And then governance is having the discipline to put that belief system into action.
— Ralph Loura, CIO, Clorox
Are the number-cruncher days numbered?
OK, full disclosure. I have a Bachelor of Arts degree. Yes, I went the Liberal Arts route in college. This can be an asset when puzzling through complex or ambiguous situations; innovating; communicating; and understanding the customer through the power of “observation and psychology—the stuff of poets and novelists.” Yes, I also write poetry. 🙂
Do you have a Liberal Arts degree? Has it helped you in the business world?
Nobody is saying that numbers-crunchers’ days are numbered. But the idea that having people with a strong background in the humanities—what Peter Drucker termed “Management as a Liberal Art”—can provide companies with a great advantage is gaining some real momentum.
via Drucker’s Lost Art of Management | The Drucker Exchange.
What is the best advice you ever got?
We all get lots of advice over the years. If you looked back on it, what is the best advice you’ve ever received.
Here is a good summary from Antonio Neves, the founder and CEO of Thinqaction. He takes his start-up cues from a decade-long television career. Best Advice I Ever Got: Antonio Neves | Inc.com.
1. Adopt a “make it happen” mentality.
Launching a live daily television show is no small undertaking. But back in 2002, this challenge didn’t deter the lean staff of Nickelodeon’s U-Pick Live where I was a co-host and associate producer. Our head producer empowered us to embrace our lack of resources and adopt a “make it happen” attitude of real-time problem solving. Graphic designer out sick? No problem, here’s Photoshop–figure it out. A segment that airs in three minutes was just rejected by Standards & Practices? Okay, rewrite it, right here on the set. Misplaced that music video that the record label sent over? No worries–convince the Grammy Award-winning artist that reenacting the video was her idea. When you adopt a “make it happen” mentality, you shift from solving problems to identifying opportunities.
2. You can do anything you want, but you can’t do everything.
I still remember when my professor from the Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism said this to me after I shared the 10 different things I wanted to pursue after graduation. Our conversation led me to view my work like a computer operating system. Of course, when you have multiple apps open on a computer, your processor speed can slow to a crawl or crash altogether. I would regularly ask myself which “apps” or projects I wanted to keep open. Keeping multiples “apps” open in business is the equivalent of FOMO–the Fear of Missing Out — and not being focused. This advice reminds me of what author Jim Collins said: “If you have more than three priorities, then you don’t have any.”
3. Don’t tell the whole story, tell a story.
This is another great piece of advice that I received as a graduate student. It’s no coincidence that when you read a national news article on, say, unemployment, journalists tend to begin with the story of an individual directly affected by it. This makes the story feel closer to home. It’s the same process when targeting an audience. Initially, I targeted “young professionals” with my coaching services. Quickly I realized that this was far too broad. After some research and adding an application process, I shifted my target audience to high-potential young professionals and entrepreneurs, many in the media industry. These aren’t individuals who are content to sit in a cubicle. They want to be challenged and supported by a coach who has been in their shoes. I immediately noticed a marked shift in the quality of applicants and even had to create a waiting list. When you tell a story versus the whole story, it’s easier for potential clients to connect to your brand.
How can we build a culture of learning?
As leaders we should be about the process of learning all the time. Creating a learning culture is not always easy work. How can we build learning activities into our daily routines?
Here is a very good list via Learn From Others | Lolly Daskal.
Exchange roles: Learning is a two-way street. Connecting and exchanging with key stakeholders around shared development challenges catalyzes considerable results.
Collaborate: When we realize we don’t have to acquire knowledge on our own. Collaboration and sharing make it twice as rich.
Find the smartest person in the room: Who’s the local expert on what we need to know? Who’s been in the department or organization the longest and has a long-term perspective? Who has the deepest well of experience for us to draw from?
Mix it up: Engage in multiple levels of learning. Hone your expertise in one area while you’re taking your first steps in another.
Build a support team: It can be hard to see for yourself how your work is paying off and where it might be falling short. Having a support team of trusted people allows you to get feedback and direction.
Read the past: Read and experience as much history, biography, and autobiography as you can. Learning the past leads us toward the future.
Invest in yourself: Take a risk and do something out of your comfort zone. It’s okay to fail. Its okay to take a chance. Start with small steps and build from there.
We learn when we read, what we hear, how we see, the way we discuss, and where we experience our lives.
Most of all we can learn from what we teach others. The purpose of learning is growth, and our hearts are eager for actualization.
Learning is a practice, not an event. Leadership and learning are invaluable to each other.
Make learning inspirational enough for us to dream more, learn more, do more and be more.
Lead From Within: There is a magnet in our heart that attracts growth. Allow the magnet to focus you— to learn from others and lead you deeper into inner growth.
Related articles
- for the love of learning: From a culture of performance to a culture of learning (sharingtree.wordpress.com)
- How Collaborative Learning Can Make Organizations Smarter, Stronger, and Better Positioned to Scale: A Q&A with Andrew Wolk and Wendy Yallowitz (pndblog.typepad.com)
- Thinking and Learning (sophisticatedfinance.typepad.com)
- You’re Never Finished Learning (michellesmotivation.com)
What is the future of digital education?
Now this is radical thinking and it clearly has some big advantages and big disadvantages. My guess is that more and more of our world, including education, will move to be “virtual”, including the social aspects.
Online education and Financial Aid (Photo credit: Wikipedia)
In a radical rethinking of what it means to go to school, states and districts nationwide are launching online public schools that let students from kindergarten to 12th grade take some—or all—of their classes from their bedrooms, living rooms and kitchens. Other states and districts are bringing students into brick-and-mortar schools for instruction that is largely computer-based and self-directed.
Very balanced article from the WSJ. Online Education: My Teacher Is an App – WSJ.com
Related articles
- Law offers new online education opportunities (utsandiego.com)
- Mark Cuban’s Advice to College Students (bostinno.com)
- Newark charter high schools make strides in online education (nj.com)
- Parents need to be cautious about moving their children’s education online (kansascity.com)
As a great leader, do you pay attention to politics?
Linda A. Hill and Kent Lineback, authors of “Being the Boss: The 3 Imperatives for Becoming a Great Leader,” describe the three types of networks you need to succeed. Harvard Business Review video with Linda A. Hill, the Wallace Brett Donham Professor Business Administration at Harvard Business School and Kent Lineback who has spent many years as a manager and an executive in business and government.
A very honest conversation about politics in organizations and why it is important not to ignore it. You may be a CIO or a part of the C-Suite, a VP, a Director, a manager or team player. Should you ignore the politics of relationships?
Related articles
- Weekly Hotlist: Solving Gen Y’s Passion Problem (womensphilanthropy.typepad.com)
- Emphasize Your Potential Rather Than Your Accomplishments When Selling Yourself [Interviews] (lifehacker.com)
- HBR’s Morning Advantage – September 14, 2012 (womensphilanthropy.typepad.com)
- Why You Need Charisma – Bloomberg (bloomberg.com)
- Weekly Hotlist: What I Learned from the Best Bosses I Ever Had (womensphilanthropy.typepad.com)
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