While many individuals and organizations are great at creating “To Do” lists – and continually adding to them – most of us are not very good at taking things off the list. It makes no sense when you think about it for even a moment. Management guru Peter Drucker once said “If you want to start something new, you have to stop activities not worth the time and effort.” A … [Read more...] about Your “Stop Doing” List
Don’t Compromise on Strategy
Sometimes compromise is necessary. If a group can’t reach collaborative consensus then you have to move to voting, where different factions give up something they want in order to make the result the least distasteful option available – that will get the required votes. The results are quite sub-optimal and, by the way, this describes our current situation (for years) in … [Read more...] about Don’t Compromise on Strategy
The Balanced Life Myth?
The cover story of the March issue of Harvard Business Review* is focused on Work-Life Balance, which – the executives surveyed by the authors – consider either a myth or elusive ideal. However, through the research these authors conducted of senior executives, some helpful ideas emerge. The overall theme of the research is that we each need to own making choices around our … [Read more...] about The Balanced Life Myth?
If Not-For-Profit, Then For What?
We can’t figure out what to call ourselves. I most often hear “non-profit” or “not-for-profit, ” but both describe what we are NOT – not what we are FOR. We certainly aren’t for loss – though some organizations are mistakenly managed this way! We have tried so many alternative labels: philanthropic, independent sector, social sector, non-governmental, mission-based, … [Read more...] about If Not-For-Profit, Then For What?
The Dark Side of Confidence
Confidence is absolutely necessary to be a successful leader. And yet, gone too far, it can become arrogance and can lead to poor decisions – even disastrous decisions. How do we find a balance? One way to balance this is long term versus short term confidence. Long Term: “I am confident in . . . . . . the importance of our mission and the impact we make.” . . . the … [Read more...] about The Dark Side of Confidence