A nonprofit leader I coach recently started as the CEO of an organization that’s a significant step up in budget, staff and size from the charity she was with prior.  From the outside, this new job might look like a random opportunity that presented itself at the right moment.  It happens.  The truth is; however, that her applying for, being offered and accepting this role was so much more.  It was the culmination of a well thought out approach to to thriving in her prior role, building out the organization and it’s team (both staff and board) all while keeping an eye on the next ideal step in her career progression.

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I’m highlighting the above as leaders often want to be coached on how to strike that delicate balance between serving at a high level in a current role while being mindful of what’s next.  Since I believe this leader did such a masterful job of this, I wanted to share the best practices she utilized.  If you find yourself  in this inquiry, hopefully these suggestions will be helpful and support you in your career journey.  


First off, the leader I’m referring to truly models intention, integrity and clear direction.  When we first started our coaching work together, the first thing she wanted to focus on was helping her  team grow and develop professionally.  No agenda about her whatsoever - just a pure commitment to seeing the team she worked with be better and create results more effectively.  

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Ultimately, my client continued to make solid contributions toward the growth of her organization while casting an eye over the horizon.  This is an art form: staying committed while having an inner knowing that it’s time to start thinking beyond the now. She achieved this by doing the following:

• Building a stronger team:  As noted, she focused on developing the team around her for their benefit and in service to the organization itself.  For example, one member of her team was content to play a supporting role and had little interest in stepping into a leadership role.  My client met her employee where he was at, gave him opportunities to shine, learn from other leaders and see the joy in helping others develop.  For another staff member, she created opportunities for them to learn new marketable skills.   Bottom line, my client made each member of her team better while creating a viable succession plan for that “whenever” moment. 

 

• Patiently developing the board:  When we began our work together, board engagement was a significant struggle and my client was laser-focused on changing that.  This leader’s persistence, patience and commitment to the ongoing development of her board was key to the continued success of her organization and her attractiveness as a candidate to future employers.  She was willing to experiment, risk failure and truly lead.  This approach developed the board into a group of leaders that, while disappointed with her departure, are equally committed to taking a proactive role in continuing the important work they’ve been doing together.

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• Developing thought leadership:  Early on in our engagement, my client shared that she wanted to give back to her profession and share what she was learning.  She developed a daily practice of writing and eventually had several articles published in professional journals.  In addition, she volunteered for a leadership role within her professional organization.  Participating and contributing at this level enabled her to establish long-term relationships with colleagues, network both inside and outside of her sector and develop an even deeper level of service.  The beautiful byproduct is that she is now looked at as a thought leader in her field.  

 

• Having the will to act:  This leader had the courage and willingness to act when the opportunity presents itself.  As she shared with me recently, the hardest thing about putting all the work in to be ready is that it makes the current position much more comfortable when the better opportunity presents itself. The leader must be ready and willing to act when the time is right.

 

• Staying fully grounded in the present while looking over the horizon: Yes, I hear you...This is much easier said than done.  I won’t take the easy way out and say it’s the “secret sauce.”  There are however a few opportunities to look at here.  However, the one intangible demonstrated by this leader - and others that create this type of success story - is a mindset of service.   This starts with asking the question every day:  What can I share today that will truly be of service?  ​​When this is your authentic mindset, it’s hard to NOT manifest good things for those you serve as well as opportunities for you to move forward.  

I've often joked that if I chose to, I could build my entire coaching and consulting business around helping Executive Directors in their efforts to have an outstanding board.  And while much of my work is focused on young and growing nonprofits, the opportunity to do this work is much broader, spanning newer organizations to older and established national charities.  Suffice to say, I rarely hear from  a senior leader of a nonprofit organization anything along the lines of "Nope - no need to improve our board!  We've got it all going on - 100% of our board members are hitting it out of the park on the three T's.  They contribute their Time, their Talent and their Treasure.  All good here."   That's not to say that I don't run into or hear of boards that are more functional than others.  For example, they might have a decent amount of all of the aforementioned T's.  Or, they might have board members who lean into one or two of these components but have an obvious gap in others.  But it's super rare - in my experience - to see a board that's hitting it on all three cylinders.

Why do I bring this up?  Because I was recently discussing a board and its vast improvement in all three key areas with an Executive Director I've had the pleasure of knowing for a little over a year now.    When we started our talks, one of the biggest challenges he faced was that while his board had lots of talent and minimal struggle providing financial support, they struggled with contributing much more than the bare minimum of time.  And more importantly when they "showed up" that was pretty much it.  They showed up, allowed the ED to fully run the show, and simply check the boxes.  During our conversations, my coaching client and I discussed a number of strategies -  one-on-one meetings, individual members goals, committee assignments and several others.

Here's the little twist in this true story.  As I noted above, this ED and I have known each other for about a year.  However, in terms of coaching, we worked together for about two months then, due to a variety of circumstances, there was a pause.  We picked up again in November and it was just recently that we had the discussion about the significant strides his board has made in engagement and taking more ownership in outcomes.      

How did the improvement come about?   That's where I've got some good news and let's call it less good news.   The less good news is that several of the strategies worked better than others but there was no one that jumped out as "the one."  I'm not here to reveal the magic formula for board development.  I'm still working on it but haven't uncovered it yet.  The good news, in my opinion anyway, is that sticking with this plan of being patient, testing out things and reflecting on their success has paid off in a big and very noticeable way.  But it's after a year of being patient and knowing that great boards - and true exemplary leadership - aren't built in a day, a week, a month or even a year.  They are built steadily.  Over time.   On an ongoing basis.

Let's call this new formula for board success Time, Treasure, Talent and Time To Build.  

Should I stay or should I go now?
-  The Clash, 1981

​Sure the Clash made this question pretty popular in 1981.  But in fact, fundraisers are constantly asking themselves this question.  This is borne out by the fact that the average turnover for development professionals is still in the range of 16 to 18 months depending on which of the myriad of articles you read on this topic.  

This was on my mind the other day as I was speaking with a Development Director who had been with his organization for a little more than two years.  As we chatted, he shared that even through the pandemic, the nonprofit he was with had met their fundraising goals and then some.  He was especially proud of that achievement as many of his fundraising colleagues had seen significant declines in their revenue.  Beyond that, he noted that his board of directors wasn't particularly effective.  While three of the nine person board were pulling their weight - they both gave and got  - the rest of the board really wanted to focus on governance.  In my experience, this is the death knell for boards that are going to help their ED and development team fundraise.  In summary, the Development Director was starting to feel that the job wasn't a great fit and that it might be time for a change.  Yet, he wasn't sure and in fact, was very much on the fence.

Truth be told, the story I've shared above is not real.  However, it many ways it is.  It's actually a composite of the conversations I've had with both Development Directors as well as Executive Directors and  it was done this way to maintain confidentiality and provide a broad overview of some common themes.  Does any of it sound a little (or maybe very) familiar?  The reality is that this is a much longer conversation requiring lots of thinking, a bit of stepping back to see  where you're at as well time itself.  Nevertheless, I thought I'd share a few of the key questions I often start with when this is the topic....


Have the reasons you joined the organization originally changed?   Maybe you joined your nonprofit because you loved the mission.    Or, perhaps you thought the CEO was an incredibly dynamic leader you could learn from and was incredibly inspiring.  You might have even gone there because you saw all the seeds of a strong development operation that lacked the right person to nurture them (you!).  These of course are just a few of the reasons I often hear when a fundraiser shares why he or she went to an organization.  A solid first step in evaluating whether it's time to seek your next conquest is seeing if any of these or other reasons you joined have materially changed.   And if so, what is the impact on you?  

Have you done all you've set out to do?  If you came to an organization to fulfill a specific goal, have you truly achieved that goal?  Are there opportunities to do more and do they excite you?  In my conversations, I often find that a fundraiser has gone to an organization as a next step in their career.  That next step can be about the chance to raise a certain amount.  For example, a fundraiser raising a $1 million budget is offered an opportunity to step into a role responsible for raising $3 million.  Or a fundraiser is offered the chance to create a new program such as a major gifts program or launch a capital campaign.   These are just two examples where a fundraiser can notch a very important career achievement.  Does staying at the same organization offer equally compelling opportunities?   

What's your gut (also known as your heart, intuition and inner wisdom) telling you?   In my nearly two decades of working in the nonprofit sector and speaking with fellow fundraisers, I've noticed something consistently:  By the time I'm having this conversation, the individual has usually made up their mind to move on to a new role.  Sometimes they've already been offered it.  Sometimes they're on the cusp of starting a search.  Regardless, if they're talking about it to me (as a coach or otherwise), something is telling them that there's a fit problem - whether it's perceived or real.  It's at this point that I'll typically tell the colleague, friend or person I'm coaching to go back and truly look at the first two questions but with a more realistic perspective.    

If you find yourself in this quandary, I hope this can help encourage some thinking.  But it should be just the beginning as opposed to your call for action.  




  

This past Saturday I participated in a three hour training session for Braven, a terrific nonprofit I'm volunteering with.   Braven's mission is to empower promising, underrepresented young people—first-generation college students, students from low-income backgrounds, and students of color—with the skills, confidence, experiences and networks necessary to transition from college to strong first jobs, which lead to meaningful careers and lives of impact.  They do this in four cities including Bay Area, Chicago,  Newark and NYC.   You can learn much more at (www.braven.org)

This training was Efficient, Engaging and Energizing!  If you read my stuff you know I love 3's of anything (see 3B's To Focus On) so there you have it! I'm grateful that some - maybe many - of the nonprofits I have the privilege of working with read my posts.  If so, here are some best practices when training a new cohort of volunteers - these were all evident in the training I experienced.   Let's go straight down the line.

Timing and Length:  The training kicked off promptly at 10:00 am and went to 1:00 PM for a total of three hours.  Not too much to give up out of a weekend.  More importantly, all of the time was well spent. No filler. Just real content mixed with the opportunity for the volunteers to get to know each other as well as the key team members from the organization.  More on that below:

Content:  As noted above, the training was a valuable mix of the Why, What (Happens) and How.  Specifically, the training started off by providing us volunteers with background information about the nonprofit and why it does what it does.   In this case, since the organization deals with young people, the team shared the benefits to those we'd be serving when we serve in the role we're training for. Next, we took a deeper dive into how we'd be doing what we do.  This included providing a full understanding of the dynamics of the program, the platforms, the technology and the resources that would be available to us.  This included plenty of access to guides as well as yes, humans that could help us (yea!).  Finally, we had the opportunity to test drive what we were learning in small cohorts.  (Bonus:  This gave us additional opportunities to build our network among the volunteering group).

Continuous Learning and Development:  This was just the beginning of the training for what will be a full semester engagement.  Too often I've seen volunteer training viewed as a one and done deal.  Here's what you  do now off you go and do it.  Not here.  After this first session,  we have several more sessions before we begin the actual role.  Once the real program commences, there is ongoing training as well as a liaison - an exemplary volunteer from last year - there to support us as we do our work.  

Oh and other thing - GRATITUDE!  While no one volunteers for the thank you (or the t-shirts, bagels or the other niceties), it's always nice to hear thank you.  And we heard it from everyone on their team both during and after the session.  Personally speaking, I felt beyond appreciated.  

I look forward to continuing to share - and hopefully you've got a takeaway or two that you can add to your toolbox.  

 

A few days ago, I was in conversation with Amy Soper who serves as the Director of Volunteer Growth for Women Doing Well (www.womendoingwell.org).  Among the many things that has impressed me about Amy and this new organization is their approach to developing their team.  Amy mentioned that in the beginning of this year, their President, Julie Wilson shared that their theme for this year is Pace.   In other words; their leaders should be looking at their own Pace, helping others with their Pace, and even perhaps occasionally questioning the Pace of the organization and its growth.

Something about the word Pace immediately resonated with me.  At a simple or surface level, I tend to think of the word as it applies to running, one of my passions.  And in that arena, Pace is simply another way of saying how fast you’re going - or the average speed you were running for a given training run or race.  Pacing can also apply to many other areas of life as we pursue personal goals as well as results we want to bring into the world.   So, as Amy and I talked, we went a bit deeper.  

Since this was actually a coaching conversation, Amy and I were discussing the priorities she was establishing for her new role.  In terms of her work, we discussed what activities and relationships could contribute to the Pace of her recruitment and training of volunteers.  As we explored, I found myself again paralleling this with running and improving your pace.  I say this because I know intuitively, there are things that will help improve your pace.  For good measure, a quick google search brought me to an article called 7 Expert Tips to Improve Your Running Pace.  If you’re a runner, I encourage you to click on the link.  If you’re not, stick with me, as there’s plenty beyond running coming up....

My point in sharing the above is that if you’re like me, there are times you struggle with priorities.   You question whether doing more of this or less of that will get you to the results you’re looking to create.  This is true whether it’s something as critical as your organization’s mission, a personal goal like writing a book or running a marathon or perhaps just finding some inner peace and calm.  It begs the question of what you truly need (to do, be, or focus on) and what you can truly leave behind.  

For example, to build your pace in running it’s worth focusing on your cadence, arm swing and body posture.  You probably don’t need to worry about things like your height (you can’t change that anyway!) or running “harder”.  The same goes for delivering on your mission.  No doubt having quality programs helps, strong servant leadership can make a huge difference and a sustainable financial position is critical.  At the same time, you could spend less time securing the best bagels for your fundraiser, having the snappiest website around and tweeting once an hour and still have a substantial impact on those you serve.  And finally inner peace and tranquility?  I’ll leave that to you but suffice to say getting stuck believing you are your thoughts and vice versa probably won’t help.

Like all good articles, you’ve got to have THE BIG TAKEAWAY and here it is.  I created an acronym to help you as you work to find the optimum Pace in your world.  I truly hope it helps.

P -  Priorities;  Have you identified what results you want to create and how critical it is that you create them?   
A -  Actions; Do you have a clear sense of what you need to do to create those results?
C - Clarity around Challenges; Have you identified the obstacles you’ll need to overcome and what you don’t need?
E - Effort and Energy; Are you truly ready to Expend the Effort and Energy?
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Get out of my dreams, Get into my car
Billy Ocean

These are the lyrics I kept hearing when Brie Seward, Executive Director of the Autism Society of Southern Arizona told me about her recent experience with one of her donors.  I also have to admit that I love it when a post comes together so easily based on a live experience of one of my amazing clients.

I'll back up for a second to provide some context.  As I noted, Brie leads the team of a terrific nonprofit.  We've been discussing a few strategies for building out her organization's fundraising.  We had been talking about how to really connect with her donors and in particular two critical meetings with long time donors she had coming up.  She wanted to help these donors see they that meant more to her than simply dollars in the door.  In fact, we had been discussing opportunities to connect through questions, alignment and most important, true and authentic listening.  An occasional surprise or two doesn't hurt either (can you hear the foreshadowing???)
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I was excited when Brie let me know that she had some great news to share on our next call.  She said the meetings were financially successful and were the best she'd ever had.  She mentioned she'd done a lot more listening than talking.  She asked questions.  She learned more about their business.  She learned what was important to them as both sponsors of the Autism Society as well as growing organizations.  Brie also mentioned that given that their meetings were virtual, she wanted to do something a little special.

When Brie's meeting started, her donor heard a knock on the door.  His assistant then brought in a tray of cookies.  Brie shared that since they'd typically met and had coffee or snacks together for their meetings, she wanted to create the same experience.  So, she simply ordered up the tray and had it timed for their meeting.  Expensive.  Nope!  But thoughtful as anything.  You know it.  And her donor absolutely loved it.

​As Brie and I discussed her success, it was clear the need to get into her donor's world had connected in a very real way.  She articulated it better than I ever could "You have to Get Out of Your Computer and Into their World."  Immediately Billy Ocean's song popped into my head.  

Besides my strange addiction to including aging pop songs in my posts, I really do believe that Brie's experience is one we can learn from.  It's the simple idea of wowing our donors - or clients - depending on who you work with.  It doesn't have to be pricey.  And no, you're not buying their business.  You're simply showing that you care, value the relationship and want to do something a little extra special.

So, in this age of virtual meetings, I'll leave you with Brie's question:  How are you getting out of your computer and into your client's world?

After the disappointment and financial failure of Rocky V in 1990, Sylvester Stallone put out a series of well, let's put it politely, even more disappointing movies.   He tried his hand at something like comedy with "Stop Or My Mom Will Shoot".  He then went for something a bit more dramatic with "Oscar".   He did several others before recognizing that his strong suit - and the place where his talents were more appreciated - were playing his signature characters such as Rocky and Rambo as well as other action-oriented roles.  In fact, there are numerous less memorable projects he was involved in throughout his career - many more in fact than what he's best known for.  Yet, those are the standout.  That is what he's known for.

What are my credentials as a movie reviewer and why am I sharing the above with you?  To the first question, I have no credentials - I'm merely sharing my fan-based opinions.  As to the second question, I'm spending a lot of time in my hometown of Philadelphia these days.  Philly is one of my favorite cities to run in and today I was doing one of the most inspiring routes that ends up at - you guessed it - the Art Museum and those steps that Rocky ascended so many times.  So, my mind was on Stallone and the Rocky movies which I'm not ashamed to say are some of my absolute favorites.  Reality based?  Who cares! You can't watch them and not believe that dreams can come true - and more importantly, every one of us has the ability to make our own dreams come true.  

And perhaps most important, what's my point?  After those brief flirtations with other opportunities, Stallone moved back to the zone of action-oriented films.  Ultimately, he doubled down on the whole Rocky-thing.  He brought him back to the screen in 2006 with the well-received film "Rocky Balboa" even giving the character more depth with a plausible story of a late in life comeback (think George Forman).  And Rocky was given new life in 2015 with the introduction of the Creed movies with the now elder boxer coaching his former opponent's son.

If you're tired of the movie stuff, we're done with that so stick with me.  Take away all of the film stuff and what you have is a story above is a great example of recognizing our true nature (though I have a a hunch the actor never studied up on Syd Banks and the Three Ps).  Stallone realized that he enjoyed the freedom to try other roles on.  At the same time, he stopped running away from the type of acting and creative work that he seemed to embody and come so naturally to him with ease.

We can do the same thing.  I am all about personal growth and development and especially taking on new challenges.  I hope you are too - it's what keeps life really interesting.  If I didn't like getting a little uncomfortable and helping others  stretch, I certainly would be in the wrong line of work as a consultant and coach.  But there is a certain beauty and ease to understanding, accepting and even leveraging our truest selves.  That's the self that emerges when we're doing the work and the creating that comes to us as an extension of ourselves.  

How do you know when you're in that magical zone?  Here are a couple good markers - or at least what I've found to be true for me.  You know it when time stops mattering.   You're not rushed and you have plenty of time to do exactly what you're doing. You know it when there's no gripping and no tension.  You know it when you find people asking you to do more of whatever your thing is (and they'll probably say something like "hey, that's your thing!).  

The other point to remember is that you'll certainly know when you are NOT in that zone.  Much like that "Stop Or My Mom Will Shoot" moment for Sylvester Stallone, you'll instinctually feel it when you're going against your true nature.  And it's great to test those boundaries every so often to see where else we can make a difference.  However, if we get that gift of knowing where we make our most impactful contribution and can truly be of service, there's much to be said for making that our life's work.   I hope you are on the way to finding your inner Rocky.  

Over the past few days I've struggled with my writing.  As I chronicled last week, I took a break from my daily writing and good things happened.  My mind was free and empty and the space allowed for calm and quietness.   Eventually, new and inspired ideas emerged.  It was fresh and unforced.

But this week, with the holidays upon us and a change in my usual routine, I had a new awareness.    It was a need - an almost pressing need - to come up with Something Important to Say.  Reflecting on my experience from last Friday through today, though I wasn't sure how it happened, my freedom was gone.  I wasn't approaching writing with a willingness to be empty and see what would come.  For whatever reason, perhaps it was the excitement of sharing my writing on Less Stress More Success, I had created pressure on myself to Come Up With Something Big.

If you're wondering about the point of capitalizing phrases like Something Important to Say and Come Up With Something Big, there is one.  Quite simply, those were my thoughts on overdrive creating a whirlwind of judgement.  Me judging me.  My thoughts had gone on a Writer's Rampage.  I was worried if whatever I wrote was Significant and Worthy enough for others to read.

This became a recognizable struggle through this morning when I started and ditched three different ideas for articles.  One was about nonprofit work.   Nope - not interesting enough.  Then there was one about Success and why we deem it to be so important.  I liked it but too light and not inspiring enough.  I finally gave up after trying my hand at yet another Bye Bye 2020 article.  I think we've all seen a few of those.   Everyone gets it by now.

With a half hour before a coaching session, I meditated for 15 minutes, something I hadn't done since the previous week.  While the meditation was focused on gratitude and I was appreciating the experience, suddenly I had the idea to write about this experience - exactly what you're reading about now.  I grabbed the piece of paper I had set aside for coaching notes and jotted this down.  All of the sudden, there was no judgement.  My thought about Significance were still there.  Yet I became quite comfortable recognizing that it was a thought.  It might pass and it might not.  Either way it was OK.  All of the sudden I was comfortable in the silence.  Rather, I was comfortable simply writing as a practice and as an exercise in creativity.   

This isn't a pitch for meditation though I do recommend it.  Rather it's a pitch to cut ourselves some slack.  Nina Blackwood put it so well in "What If There's Nothing Wrong With You?"  when she stated that we'll always come up short when we compare ourselves to others.  It's even worse when we compare ourselves to ourselves.  Personally, my thoughts had created an arbitrary bar for Significance (whatever that is!) that my writing had to hurdle over.  I had forgotten the joy of simply creating.  

​It would be extra dramatic and in fact seem very Significant to say Never Again!  I will never let my thoughts rob me of that joy!  The truth is that probably won't be the case.  For the moment though, I'm comfortable in the silence of having nothing terribly significant to say today, just a new awareness.  And I appreciate your being here till the near end of this little journey.

We'll see what happens tomorrow...