Interestingly enough, focusing your organization’s “tribe” on your values can actually lead to higher levels of performance. It makes sense when you think about it. Imagine that an organization has clearly answered the questions “Why are we here? & What do we stand for?” – and that this is widely understood among the staff and key volunteers; your “tribe.” Establishing … [Read more...] about Improve Your “Tribe’s” Performance
Leadership
Quick Tips from the book “Drive”
“Carrots and sticks are so last century. Drive says for 21st century work, we need to upgrade to autonomy, mastery & purpose.” That’s the “Twitter Summary” – provided by the author himself – of Daniel Pink’s most recent book, Drive. It’s a good summary, but here are my take-aways along with some of my interpretation added in. Most organizations today are run like … [Read more...] about Quick Tips from the book “Drive”
Videotape Your Next Board Meeting
Okay – I am kidding. But wouldn’t it be interesting to watch if you did? And instructive! The football season is upon us. After every game, coaches and players huddle around TV monitors to carefully review videos of the game. “What did we do well that we need to keep doing? What did not work as well? How can we improve for the next game?” These are important questions … [Read more...] about Videotape Your Next Board Meeting
Your Leadership Pipeline
Next week I will be teaching a two day course on Leadership Succession for NeighborWorks America (www.nw.org) in Atlanta. A few years ago the leaders at NeighborWorks – a national network of organizations which work to provide affordable housing across the country – realized that their local organizations needed to be prepared for the inevitable retirements of Baby … [Read more...] about Your Leadership Pipeline
“We’re Lost But Making Good Time”
This is the title of Chapter One of Mario Morino’s new book, Leap of Reason. I know that most of you don’t have the time to read a blog much less a book, but I strongly recommend it. He makes a compelling case for the urgency, now, for nonprofits to change the way most operate. As he states: “Here’s the problem in a nutshell: We don’t manage to outcomes, thus greatly … [Read more...] about “We’re Lost But Making Good Time”