Learning to Lead for Impact
leadership insight from Tom Okarma
the latest and greatest…
5 Unspoken Thoughts of Your New Board Members
With the end of the calendar/fiscal year approaching, many nonprofit boards will be undergoing important change. New directors are coming and term-expired directors will be leaving. Thank you to...
Transformational Thinking on Board Recruitment
On a trip out west recently I visited a nonprofit organization that just blew me away. I have written in the past about the importance of strategic alignment and impact in the past and this...
Harvesting a Team of New Key Partners
I recently met with a board president and Executive Director wanting to rebuild their board, generate new "buzz" around their brand, and increase the number of strategic partners. They had been...
This Time Around, get Edgy!
With Fall just about upon us, thoughts naturally turn toward planning for 2014, year end board meetings, and next year's budget. In other words, a lot of deep thinking on some important issues....
Why Your NP Board Gets Nothing Done
I talk to a lot of board members and board chairs in my travels and one complaint I hear quite often, is "We just don't seem to get anything done. How can we make progress during our term in...
A Full 180 Degree Turn
It won't come as a shock to many of you that I am a big sports fan. Always have been, always will be. For the record, I pull for any team with "Chicago" on its jersey--even soccer-tho I have no idea...
leadership
Governance Part 2: Board Composition
What would be the ideal composition of your board? What skill sets should you have represented by board members that you can therefore leverage to your organization’s advantage? What does your board development committee look for in a board candidate? I’m currently...
Lencioni’s Four Keys To A Healthy Culture
At the Chick-fil-A Leadercast conference last week, Pat Lencioni identified 4 keys to a healthy organizational culture. Like so many other tips, they are easy to understand and accept, but they can be so hard to execute. Pat says the keys to a healthy organizational...
Tough Calls Made…Easier?
I recently attended the Chick-Fil-A Leadercast one day Conference and hear Andy Stanley speak on making choices and decision making. He set up the scenario in which an important decision must be made, one that you, the leader must make...not your team. HE gave us...
Board Presidents That Don’t Bore
Over coffee with a friend who recently retired as a nonprofit board president, I learned how she kept board meetings lively and got her directors engaged right from the opening gavel. I had not served on this board so I was interested to learn her secret. Before she...
Read It and Reap!
I recently re-tweeted an interesting short article based on management guru Peter Drucker. The more I thought about it, though, the material is worth far more than a simple re-tweet. When I led a for-profit business and came across stimulating written materials, we...
Board Meetings That Don’t Bore!
Tired of ineffective board meetings and directors that show up unprepared? Have you had it with board members that sit around at meetings like so many potted plants? Maybe you have trouble just getting enough directors to show up to have a quorum! I don't like wasting...
board development
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everything…
Just in Time Recognition
It is pretty obvious, but still bears mentioning, how important it is to recognize and celebrate your employees' desired behavior whenever you see it demonstrated, and then, to reward it appropriately and publicly. The rewards don't have to be expensive, but they do...
Shaping the Organization’s Future
Have you ever had to rebuild a department, ministry, or an entire organization or church? Did you wrestle with how much to structure the process versus letting others handle it? We did. One of our departments had gone through a tough period. An ego-driven leader had...
Expenses vs Investments
Sometimes, leaders fall into a trap and get these two concepts confused, especially when their budget is tight…like these days. Simply stated, expenses represent dollars that go out the door with little or no return. Investments, however, bring about change and...
What’s your plan? You do have one, don’t you?
I think there is a lot to say about the Law of Attraction, which can loosely be defined as “like attracting like”. I found that simple definition on the Internet so you know it has to be true. Anyway, I seem to be attracting a lot of organizations lately that suffer...
Celebrating Volunteers and Employees
These are tough times for a lot of people. Some are out of work; those with jobs fear for them; in business, clients are very demanding and have little tolerance for problems or excuses. In the nonprofit world, you probably are seeing record numbers of clients...
Generational Change and Your Organization
With October quickly slipping away many organizations are hard at work developing business plans for the coming year. Others may be engaged in creating new long-range (whatever that means) strategic plans. For nonprofits and churches, that means leaders, board...
Purpose, Meaning, Motivation
Sure employees work for a pay check. At some level, we all do. However, many people work for other reasons. And volunteers, well, they are totally mission-driven. Some employees actually love their jobs or how their jobs positively impact others. One person on my...
Leader vs Manager
I know, I know. You’ve heard this before. One of the oldest distinctions every aspiring leader has to understand. But, stay with me. I recently saw this distinction demonstrated in a new, very clear, very demonstrative way…not once, but twice. Leaders naturally...
Shaping the Organization’s Future
Have you ever had to rebuild a department, ministry, or an entire organization or church? Did you wrestle with how much to structure the process versus letting others handle it? We did. One of our departments had gone through a tough period. An ego-driven leader had...