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November 15, 2008: All in the Family? |
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A periodic plea must again be made to those we know starting a
nonprofit: PLEASE, if you are trying to establish a sustainable community
institution, don't start the easy way, the way of the family. All too
often, people establishing 501(c)(3)'s think about the requirement to have
officers as a simple bureaucratic hurdle. They don't understand that they
are creating the foundation for governance and community responsiveness
capacity that is dangerously fragile.
The song of the stakeholder must be sung yet again. Please tell all of
the well-intentioned organization founders that you run across that they should
think about whom will be benefited by the success or failure of the
organization AND put representatives of those impacted parties on the board of
trustees. It never ceases to amaze me how people put only people they
know, beginning with their own family.
Even more amazing, is how these same people have immense difficulty
grasping why it is that they experience such great difficulty in gaining community
awareness, credibility, advocacy and funding support. By choosing the
easy route, the path of least resistance and least consideration, founders
frequently doom the organizational manifestation of their greatest passion
to a life of struggle, if not an early demise.
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November 1, 2008: Power of Shadowing |
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While U.S.
citizens complete selection of national leaders, nonprofits should be
considering their transition plans as well. One technique to implement at
any time, especially toward the end of terms of office, is that of leader
shadowing. There are several aspects of this type of training.
Primarily, an intended future leader can act as an understudy, learning the
role of the shadowed leader. The understudy can be supported in trying
out the role by: developing an agenda, submitting requests for
information to staff, giving assignments to fellow trustees, or chairing a
meeting. The actions can take place in either a virtual or an actual
mode. In the virtual mode, the decisions and proposed actions of the
understudy can be critiqued without actual impact on operations. In the
actual mode, the understudy is allowed to practice with the cooperation of
staff and peer trustees. With a high level of trust, this practice,
accompanied by a thorough debriefing, can provide a great deal of learning for
both the future leader and his/her stakeholders.
There is no one way for shadowing to occur. Whatever makes sense in
the particular circumstances of each unique organization and the personalities
involved is best. The point is, that leadership preparation doesn't need
to be left to chance and organizations are not doomed to suffer the potentially
devastating consequences of trial by fire.
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October 15, 2008: Communication Power of Representation |
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Many important benefits result from thoughtful mapping of an organization’s key
stakeholders in developing board recruitment strategy: diversity of advice; improved risk management;
greater strategic thinking; and connections to power and influence and even
funding sources. However, one simple
dynamic is frequently overlooked that may alone provide the core justification
for stakeholder analysis. This is the communication
capacity that well-positioned trustees bring with them.
A set of trustees who truly represent key community segments of stakeholders
(think of members of financial professional associations for the board of
housing organizations, for example) can automatically connect entire
functioning communication networks directly to the top of an organization.
Many organizations struggle with foundation activities of community/public relations
and fund raising, failing to generate adequate minimal levels of public awareness. Assembling the key messages is the easy
part. It is the lack of distribution
channels (and their proper use) where most communication strategies fall
short. Recruiting for board members that
bring these channels with them can be a great first step toward increasing
community awareness and appreciation of an organization’s value.
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October 1, 2008: Why Put Business on YOUR Board? |
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We are entering the fourth quarter, the traditional season to scramble for new
trustees. This is a great time to remember the value of approaching
successful business managers to serve on your board. I would rather serve
with one person with strengths in the following top 10 list of skills than with
an entire group of five other people who have passion for the mission as their core strength and
are weak in most of these areas.
1) Budget, analyze cash flow and identify potential problems; 2) Protect a niche and
keep operations focused; 3) Challenge staff decisions and assumptions; 4) Set
reasonable goals and police a plan; 5) Explore consequences of decisions
and examine risk 6) Define and market a cause; 7) Form value
propositions and define outcomes for potential partners and investors; 8) Make
and seek financial monetary investments 9) Act and accept accountability
for decisions; 10) Find ways to persist and recover from
setbacks.
Let's add two more entrepreneurial items. In a time when nonprofits
need to be more aggressive than ever to earn their own income, it really helps to
have access to "opportunity seekers" and those that can "make
a deal." Good hunting to all !!!
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September 15, 2008: How to Tango with a Bloodhound |
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Some chief executives have strong preferences for building external
relationships over internal relationships, especially with the board.
These tough-to-keep-on-the- porch" E.D.'s could be termed “bloodhounds.”
Bloodhounds many become easily exasperated at a board which they perceive to be
dominated by members with both inadequate time and capacity to provide the
governance activity that the organization needs to thrive.
In a he said/she said stalemate about who needs to change first, the board
or the E.D., the inadequate relationship chemistry results in the organization,
clients and the community all being losers. In the face of this
situation, committed board members need to put in more time and energy, to improve
their effectiveness and to keep the bloodhound attracted to new possibilities
within the board.
The bloodhound who is committed will understand that the work at home,
although a challenge, is where he/she is needed most and the relationship with
those key internal leaders has to be give priority. The bloodhound cannot
simply be directed by the board to be something against their nature. If
the bloodhound gives up too easily or is too demanding, then only a parting of
the ways will create less pain for all parties and create a renewed opportunity
for the organization to move forward.
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