12 REASONS YOUR NON-PROFIT WILL SUCCEED IN 2012

It’s January 2012. There are 12 months ahead to make this year a success. Twelve months to advance your organizations to the next level. Twelve months to make it happen.

Based on our work with non-profit organizations, there are 12 things to consider as you prepare for the year ahead. There are six aspects of high-performing boards that make them great and six areas in which all nonprofit boards can improve.

The six reasons that make nonprofits great - their boards have:

1. Knowledge of the mission

2. Passion for the vision

3. Dedication to the organization

4. Commitment to achieve results

5. Desire to maintain a strong foundation

6. Outstanding Executive Leadership

The six things most nonprofits need to improve:

1. More engagement (in committees & fundraising)

2. Increased collaboration

3. Improved knowledge and skill in fundraising

4. Enhanced community connection

5. Better awareness of advocacy issues

6. Clarity about how the board can make an impact

The last one is perhaps the most crucial. The organization's board, made up of volunteers, really needs to see positive outcomes result from their work. They want to make a difference.

Our work continues to help nonprofit leaders advance their organization to the next level. We activate the relationship between the board and management. We help them make it happen – not just let it happen. In 2012 you’ll have 12 months to accomplish your goals. We’d like to help you achieve your potential.

Make it a great year!

Non-profits win more donations through high-performance

Interesting article about how high-performance leads to more success. It reinforces that success leads to success. Check out the article here.

‘Tis the Season to Help Nonprofits Achieve their Potential

November 16, 2011 was known as “Give to the Max Day” – a highly publicized fundraising event created to call to action Minnesotans for support of their local charities. This “Great Minnesota Give Together” was declared a success when more than 47,500 donors raised $13,414,253 for community nonprofit organizations. Because of the unprecedented generosity of these thousands of donors, millions of dollars will be invested in almost 4000 nonprofit organizations to improve the quality of life for all Minnesotans.

The success of “Give to the Max Day” is significant in light of today’s economic environment when the need for the services that nonprofit organizations provide has steadily increased. As public and private funding decreases, nonprofits are forced to do more with less.

This is the time of year when holiday giving further accentuates the importance of the work of nonprofits. With bells ringing, carolers singing, and donation requests flooding our mailboxes, we can’t miss the fact that charities are an integral and necessary part of our life. Charitable organizations need us to give to ensure their sustainability. Nonprofits don’t just need money; they need dedicated volunteers who give their valuable time and expertise.

Perhaps most importantly, nonprofits need competent and committed leaders who are willing to serve on their board of directors. This is clearly a time when the leadership of nonprofits must rise up and strategically advance their organizations to the next level in order to successfully fulfill the mission and achieve the vision.

I have had the privilege of serving as a director on five nonprofit boards. I also had the opportunity to be the executive director of a prominent Minnesota nonprofit agency and most recently my company has enjoyed consulting with nonprofit organizations in our community. From each of these perspectives, I have learned a great deal about the roles, responsibilities and dynamics of boards and nonprofit executive leaders.

I look forward to sharing with you more about the insights I have gained in the next several blogs that will be dedicated to helping nonprofit leaders achieve their potential.

Helping Nonprofit Boards Achieve Their Performance Potential

November 16, 2010 was known as “Give to the Max Day” – a highly publicized fundraising event created to call to action Minnesotans for support of their local charities. This “Great Minnesota Give Together” was declared a success when nearly 42,600 donors raised more than $10,000,000 for community nonprofit organizations. Because of the unprecedented generosity of these thousands of donors, millions of dollars will be invested in nonprofits to improve the quality of life for all Minnesotans.

The success of “Give to the Max Day” is significant in light of today’s economic environment when the need for the services that nonprofit organizations provide has steadily increased. This is clearly a time when the leadership of nonprofits must rise up and strategically advance their organizations to the next level in order to successfully fulfill their mission and achieve their vision.

To gain further insight into how boards operate, their best practices and their challenges, we have designed a nonprofit performance survey and invite anyone who has ever served on a nonprofit board (past or present) and executive leaders from the nonprofit community to participate. Responses will be compiled and added to a framework to help boards attain higher performance. All responses are anonymous. Take survey now.

At the end of the survey, if you provide your email address we will share summarized results with you. Feel free to forward this survey to other board chairs, members and management leaders within the nonprofit community.

Thank you in advance for your participation. Together we can help nonprofit boards and the organizations supported by “Give to the Max Day” achieve their full performance potential.

Transforming The Leadership Paradigm

Imagine a world where all individuals are empowered to develop their full potential. Imagine the strength of an organization that is able to tap into the intellectual capacity, resourcefulness and creativity of its entire workforce. Imagine the employees who are embraced for their innate talents and unique gifts – producing quality results with a profound sense of fulfillment. Imagine these possibilities in your organization and in your life.

Today, people and organizations are being pushed to perform. There are increasing competitive demands for productivity and growth. Leaders are being called upon to guide and inspire their teams to achieve desired results. Effective communication, collaborative teamwork and quality leadership have never been more important.

In response to the critical demand to develop effective leaders, a variety of leadership approaches have been proposed and popularized. Well-known authors and leadership experts such as Peter Senge, Ken Blanchard, Jim Collins and Stephen Covey have offered their own strategies and tools for developing leaders who inspire and empower others to be their best.

All of these contemporary leadership authors identify essential competencies that an individual should possess and practice to be an effective leader. These attributes are vital if one is to become an authentic, strategic, collaborative and visionary leader. Furthermore, many of these prominent leadership approaches are synergistically aligned with the leadership philosophy conceived of by Robert Greenleaf, a retired AT&T executive, in his essay “The Servant as Leader. “

His paradoxical term, Servant Leader, has created a quiet revolution and a paradigm shift in management philosophy during the past thirty years. Written in 1970, Greenleaf’s thesis highlights characteristics of a leader who successfully serves the needs of others. Upon close examination, the same attributes that Greenleaf espouses are either explicitly or implicitly present in today’s most popular leadership training methodologies.

Servant Leadership draws its strength from Greenleaf’s premise that “the first and most important choice a leader makes is the choice to serve, without which one’s capacity to lead is severely limited.” Inherent in this model is the belief that these leaders possess certain quintessential human traits, such as awareness, listening, empathy, and a commitment to the growth of people.

The focus is clearly on serving the needs of others. Leaders who possess these qualities have the ability to recognize the intrinsic value and unique talents of other individuals. Their capacity to affirm other people’s self-worth is what initiates growth and unleashes potential.

For more information visit The Greenleaf Center.

The Human Side of Business

Profits and People: Two sides of the same coin. But it is not a toss up – they must go hand in hand to reap the rewards and achieve the greatest bottom-line results. In the late 1990’s, CEOs often reported that not only were people their most important asset, but retention of key people was their biggest concern. In today’s economy, driving productivity and profits has become the number cause of angst for American business leaders. The most successful executives know that there must a balance between profits and people, and the correlation between them is what “humanizing the workplace” is all about.

In the new millennium, we have seen businesses close, downsizing as well as mergers and acquisitions. All of which have impacted moral and employee productivity and employability. Companies will cut costs by rightsizing and then stretch productivity across the remaining workforce. With an emphasis on humanizing the workplace, companies can achieve the same or better results. In addition, today’s current economy and national security issues have increased anxiety and stress among our nation’s workers. When morale is negatively impacted, productivity slows down, workers become less effective and profits suffer.

The solutions are many and quite diversified. Research has demonstrated that even the physical environment at a place of employment can have a positive effect on worker morale and productivity. Studies have shown that sprucing up the office with green plants (making the environment more “homelike”) can decrease stress while enhancing productivity.

A tour of new corporate offices, like the Ryan Companies headquarters in downtown Minneapolis, is another example of how a more ‘homey’ environment leads to a positive culture and enhanced employee morale. The Ryan offices are not only welcoming but also warm and engaging for employees and visitors. Ryan is a leader in the construction industry but it is also known as a wonderful place to work. For example, each desk displays a yellow hard-hat nameplate for each employee, clearly demonstrating the total unity of everyone to the firm’s core business: construction.

There is family warmth to the main gathering room that hosts large company meetings and informal get-togethers. Even small intimate conference rooms were designed with the comfort of the inhabitants in mind! When asked what they enjoyed most about working at Ryan, several employees commented, “It’s like a family here. They owners make you feel like part of a family.”

In the wake of 9/11, Americans saw the devastation among co-workers, with the loss of their fellow employees. We witnessed family-like cohesiveness, on nationally broadcast news programs, between surviving employees. That scenario is becoming more prevalent in all types of businesses. Senior executives acknowledging their own humanity, talking with employees about adversity in their personal lives, and recognizing that “a whole person” shows up each day to be an employee of the company, is what humanizing the workplace is about. When people are acknowledged for who they are and for what they achieve, morale improves, productivity increases and loyalty prevails.

Bob Nelson, Ph.D., author of "1001 Ways to Reward Employees", emphasizes that money doesn’t matter most. He offers many ways that companies can make employees feel appreciated and recognized. He proposes that simple gestures do wonders for building morale and personal praise (treats and small tokens of appreciation), along with increased autonomy, decision-making involvement, and recognition of the need for flexibility are all ways to humanize the workplace and honor the individuality of the workforce.

In Fortune Magazine’s survey on the “100 Best Companies in America to Work For”, respondents cited childcare, telecommuting, work/life balance and flexible schedules as the best benefits they receive. All of these benefits directly relate to the lifestyle of the contemporary workforce. The survey validates the position that money doesn’t matter most and that embracing the human side of employee life is extremely important.

An organization’s success depends increasingly on its ability to embrace the human side of life which not only unleashes potential, but it ultimately increases productivity and retention. Embracing the “human side of business” means valuing employees by committing to their success, development and well-being.

The bottom-line on people is value. Valuing the people adds value to the company. Humanizing the workplace comes in many forms and it’s the creativity of corporate leaders as they accentuate people that makes the difference and produces results.

Authenticity

Authenticity is the outward projection of your identity. It is what you project to others. It is how you live your life in accordance with your values and your truth. In its purest sense, authenticity means not changing the real you to make someone like you or to be accepted by others.

The opposite of living authentically is assimilation (also referred to as conformity). By definition, assimilation means the state of being assimilated. This definition highlights that conformity takes place when a person or minority group, for example, gradually adopts the customs and attitudes of a prevailing culture. If authenticity is more desirous, let’s explore why people may assimilate instead of remaining true to their identity.

The reasons for assimilation may be twofold. People may choose to conform so that they will be accepted. They may choose a form of assimilation to avoid suffering the potentially negative consequences of being different if their values, beliefs or personal preferences are different from others. This most often happens when the individual’s emotional needs are not met and they rely on external sources for self-definition and acceptance. As stated earlier, excessive conformity leads to a complete detachment from personal identity.

Conformity may also be imposed on people and, therefore, it is coerced, not chosen. A case in point is cultural conformity that is expected by the majority. Religious and racial groups have most often felt the sting of this kind of forced assimilation. Even in America, historically people have been expected to speak English to communicate regardless of their country of origin, which is representative of a cultural undertone of expected assimilation. Total conformity, for the most part, does not exist in our country. The current trend, with our global marketplace, celebrates diversity as we strive to embrace differences and recognize the value of individuals.

However, we all assimilate (or conform), to some degree, at different times in order to be a part of a larger system. In a diverse environment like the United States, assimilation may be necessary in order to preserve economic survival. People may need to adjust language and lifestyle practices in order to secure a job and a safe place to live for their families. As long as core values and beliefs are not sacrificed, assimilation may be necessary for survival and, therefore, acceptable.

In an idealistic world, individuals would always be free to be who they are (consistent with their values and beliefs) without fear of rejection or consequences. There would be no expectation of assimilation or conformity. True diversity would be appreciated, the world would be richer, and human differences would be celebrated and valued. Being authentic would be consistently rewarded, regardless of the presence of divergent viewpoints.

In the real world, complete with political, economic and social pressures, however, people are not always able to sustain the purest form of authenticity at all times. When individuals are not authentic, they may experience negative consequences that impact their health and well-being. So the question remains, how can you hold firm to your authentic self while coexisting in a world with expectations and group pressures? The answer lies somewhere between conformity and compromise.

If conformity means that an individual has to deny his core values and beliefs in order to exist within a group or an organization, then his authenticity is diminished or eradicated. If, however, in order to succeed in a society, community or organization, individuals adjust their behavior to be accepted, while keeping their core values intact, then their authenticity is not sacrificed.

In business today, it is often necessary to conform to organizational norms, beliefs, ideologies and social practices in order to be accepted, be evaluated as “effective” and/or advance to a desired position. Sometimes there is a great deal of pressure to conform, and the consequences for not adhering to expected practices may result in loss of employment. Some feel that conformity is a form of “selling out” because it may involve denouncing one’s preferences (or values) in lieu of the corporate norm, which is akin to “selling your soul.”

There are a few things to consider in relation to authenticity and assimilation if you are working in today’s business community: First, there are modifications that all individuals need to make in order to “fit in” or adjust to different corporate cultures. Usually these changes pertain to behaviors rather than beliefs. The extent to which a person conforms is an individual choice and one that must be made in alignment with his or her core values. These are the choices people make every day in their employment. As long as these choices don’t contradict your core values, then you can still be authentic. You need to always trust your internal truth even in the midst of accepting or participating in alternative behavior.

Also, when you are in a position or in an organization that does not support your authenticity – one that is not aligned with your values, you create the potential for great internal emotional and physical suffering that results from the incongruity between your behavior and your values.

To evaluate your authenticity, ask yourself these questions: “When do I feel most authentic and free to be myself?” “When has it been difficult for me to be authentic?” “How have I balanced the need to assimilate in an organization with the need to be authentic?”

Whenever possible, it is always best to choose an organization that fits your values or one that celebrates diversity (including diversity of cultures, lifestyles and thought) so that you don’t have to compromise to be accepted. Adapting to a new or different culture, while expected, should not require you to compromise your sense of identity or core values. Choosing to be authentic, in some circumstances, can be difficult. Making the choices necessary to achieve your goals and succeed in all of these situations requires self-esteem and confidence. Only when we are completely authentic and true to our self, can we achieve our full potential.