Mission impact is driven by strategy. Yet there is very little written on the reality that strategy is driven by culture. As president of a small, independent college in mid-America who embraces the teachings of Rob Sheehan in Mission Impact, I'd like to share from the trenches why a nonprofit CEO should not overlook the cautionary adage, “culture eats strategy for … [Read more...] about Tug-of-War: Strategy vs Culture (Part 1)
Culture
Maximizing Personal Energy
Recently, I was on a panel at a conference for 250+ nonprofit executives when I suggested that in order to effectively address today’s challenges they need to lead with a sense of urgency because that is what it takes to accomplish important changes required today in the sector. But it’s not going to happen overnight. So they also need to lead as if they are running … [Read more...] about Maximizing Personal Energy
Leading Innovation
We know that leading innovation is key for any organization which wants to thrive – or even survive. In fact, not so long ago a Nonprofit CEO was quoted in The Chronicle of Philanthropy that we are now in an environment where it is “innovate or die.” But how do executives go about leading innovation? In the June 2014 issue of Harvard Business Review, Harvard leadership … [Read more...] about Leading Innovation
Being Fantastic
The basic question is this – if you want excellence, awesomeness, fantastic performance from your team/organization then what do you need? Talent & Teamwork. Both of these aspects of performance are appreciated, but I am suggesting that the way in which they complement one another is underappreciated. Some organizations tend to go the Talent route. “Let’s just hire … [Read more...] about Being Fantastic
Pallotta Insights from The Bridge
As reported in my last blog, my friend John Thomas and I facilitated a session on Dan Pallotta’s TED Talk at the recent Bridge Conference. The participants had such great insights that I asked John to join me as co-author of this week’s blog to provide some of the highlights of those comments. Thanks John! Here is our report: *We – nonprofit executives – need to get … [Read more...] about Pallotta Insights from The Bridge