Like a Foot in Two Canoes
I am the only person I know who has actually lived the metaphor. I was on vacation with my family years ago, staying at a cottage at a lake in New Hampshire. At the dock, there were two canoes and so, for a moment, I put one foot in one and a second in another.…
Management is Both Art and Science
I have a lot of respect and admiration for good teachers, for those who can relate to their students, convey information in ways that stick, and leave a lasting impression over time. It always amuses me how often content experts believe they will be good teachers solely because of that content expertise. They massively under…
Lessons From the Restaurant Industry
I was dining at a restaurant a few nights ago with friends and, during the course of the evening, met the owner and chatted about her experience during the Covid lockdown. She talked about paring down to just three people working there, moving exclusively to take-out, and the various efforts they went through in order…
Why do some organizations endlessly “spin”?
I certainly don’t want to insult anyone with this week’s post, but I have been reflecting on why organization’s continue to struggle and leadership teams do what some would describe as spinning. It easy to oversimplify here as management challenges can be incredibly complicated and strategic decision making can be rife with considerable risk. That…
Three questions to jumpstart your turnaround
As a general rule, I don’t recommend “jumpstarting” a major turnaround initiative. Careful planning, goal setting, preparation, and analysis are essential; still, though, I thought I would offer some advice to those who are plotting a critical course change for their organization, particularly if it has been facing a sustained financial decline. In my book,…
Strategic Planning: The Process is the Product
Many of us have participated in strategic planning initiatives that focused intently on the creation of a physical product. Years back, that was the three ring binder full of tables and graphics and highly detailed task lists outlining exactly who was going to do what and when. The organizers of such efforts likely took a…
The Defining Characteristics of a True Turnaround
Today’s post was prompted by a recent discussion with a colleague who argued that her organization was “in a constant state of turnaround”. Constant state? Turnaround? Something is not right here, I thought to myself. Upon some further reflection, it occurred to me – based on the numerous turnarounds in which I’ve participated – that…
The Three Reasons Decisions are Difficult
In last week’s post, I described the fact that making difficult decisions is the essential responsibility of mission driven organization leaders. Sure, sure… you say, but I’ll take it one layer further back. Why are some decisions difficult in the first place? And why does that even matter? Sometimes leadership teams, boards, and individual executives…
What Exactly is a Mission Driven Organization Anyways?
I know that I throw around the term “mission driven organization” with a seeming reckless abandon. The expression mission driven is too frequently used without context and in a wildly wide range of scenarios… so much so that it has lost its meaning and impact. I myself consult to mission driven organizations and, if pressed,…
When Optimism Becomes Denial
It’s human nature. More specifically, it’s the leader’s nature… to be upbeat, to see the positive, to look forward and into the future with optimism. This is not a universal truth, but in my experience people tend to gravitate toward those leaders who see the good and who exhibit strong virtues… and so when times…
Sell… sell… sell, baby… sell!
I have a lot of respect for those who professionally sell and for leaders who can design effective marketing and business development processes that demonstrate a reliable return on investment for such activities. This is important to the success of most modern enterprises – even mission driven not-for-profits. But it all starts and ends with…
Running Through a Tunnel of Fire
In my book, Saving Organizations That Matter, I talk about the notion of leaders and staff “running through a tunnel of fire”… together. Sometimes, groups will do so. Sometimes, they won’t… to the ultimate detriment of their organization and future prospects. Here is a direct excerpt from the chapter entitled Tunnels of Fire. Here I…
You have to have A system!
I learned early on in my career (and probably before that, while in school) that a major determinant of success is “the system”. This is the methodology and associated tools that a person uses to remember stuff. To track details. To know when something is due. To ensure you get back to people when you…
We all have blind spots
I have blind spots. You have blind spots. It’s part of our nature because we learn from our distinct experiences, are constantly shaped over the course of our lives, adopt or discard beliefs, and experience both joy and pain. The practice of leadership benefits from tools and methodologies for sure, but it is a distinctly…
The importance of external feedback
Some of us kittens look into a mirror and see a mighty lion staring back at us. Some of us lions see little kittens. Honest and clear-headed self evaluation is important… but alas this is a blog about leading mission driven organizations and I’m no pop psychologist. Nevertheless, I believe that the parallels to leadership…
Make sure you know what your Board really wants. Really, really wants.
Sometimes, when organizations are struggling, trustees will hope to bring in a new CEO who can stir things up a bit, make change, and alter the trajectory of that organization. As someone who has sat on not-for-profit boards, who has consulted to such groups, and who has served as CEO for mission driven organizations, I…
How to Storytell the Mission
Every CEO, most board members, and many executives need to be able to describe the work of their organization in compelling, even emotionally stirring terms. This is vitally important to that organization’s success, though I sometimes encounter some within such organizations who do not recognize this fact. Fundraising, securing and building the workforce and culture,…
What I Learned About Racism Working at an Inner City Health Center
This is a topic I could write, and write, and write about… because I learned a lot. A lot. So, this will very likely be the first of many posts on this topic. I’m committed to keeping the Mission Leader’s Journal Blog pithy and to the point and in honor Martin Luther King, I thought…
“You lied to me”: The Perils of M&A
I have been involved in a number of mergers and acquisitions during my career. Most have gone quite well, after a number of ups and downs (mostly downs at first), but a few have not been successful. M&A, as I’ve written about on these pages in the past, is a tricky business. This is true…
Why Resolutions Don’t Stick
Many of us make New Year’s Resolutions. Some of us succeed. Many of us don’t. Lots of us have tried so many times and failed that we don’t bother any more. We can become jaded like that. Companies can view strategic planning in much the same way. Leaders may go through the motions of setting…
Where does DEI “Belong” When Creating Your Strategic Plan?
Awareness, concern, and motivation have never been higher when it comes to diversity, equity, inclusion, and belonging within corporations across the United States. Thankfully. There’s much room for more progress and no one should declare victory just yet, but I do detect forward motion in this regard within the organizations I support. That said, as…
What The Beatles and Alec Baldwin Can Teach Us About Management
Inspiration can – and often does – come from the most unexpected places. For example, I have been watching the “Get Back” documentary about the waning days of the Beatles as they recorded “Let It Be” and prepared for their first live performance in years. I also recently listened to an interview with Alec Baldwin…
Calling All Cows and Elephants
Sacred cows and elephants in the room – those issues that no one likes to talk about, or has the courage to bring up, for fear of awkwardness, repercussions, or conflict. These are the things that lie off to the periphery and remain in the shadows… and which linger, sometimes to the detriment of the…
What’s Your Strategic Disposition?
At the beginning of any type of strategic assessment or planning project, I like to take some time to try to understand the organization’s “strategic disposition”, that is it’s fundamental personality and tendencies when it comes to self evaluation. Then, I like to apply a bit of pressure to see how deeply held and widespread…
We’ll Fix It With a Reorg!
Sometimes, you need to lay the pieces down on the table, sort and rearrange them, and then reassemble. Organizations change, internal and external pressures intensify, fortunes rise and fall like the tide, and historical approaches should be challenged in the name of innovation, improvement, efficiency, and effectiveness. Such is the case for leaders who wonder…
Why mergers and acquisitions FAIL: They were set up to do just that from the very start!
For many not-for-profit boards, stewardship of the organization’s longstanding mission is job one. They take the enhancement and preservation of the mission quite seriously and frequently that means keeping the structure, operational character, brand, and historical context intact to the greatest extent possible. Anything else would be deemed an abandonment of post, a breakdown, a…
When it’s time to BE MORE DIRECT!
Because I often speak to groups about my book on organizational transformations and ways to manage toxic work cultures, I sometime find myself inadvertently triggering confessions from participants about their particularly difficult personal work situations. I frequently discuss the characteristics of leaders and cultures that can cause an organizational “descent” before I talk about strategies…
Making it Personal by Getting Close
For many who work in mission driven organizations, the mission itself is little more than words touted on the company’s website or documented on posters in conference rooms. It suggests a purpose, an identity, but those words contain little of the essence of the work, of the day-to-day reality, of the meaning. They are, after…
The Valuable Language of Value
There are lots of ways to talk about value. The most straightforward would be to cite the formula: quality divided by cost. This is useful as it demonstrates the relationship between quality and the costs associated with achieving that level of quality. The higher the quality and/or lower the cost, then the higher the value.…
When New Leaders Encounter Toxic Cultures
I have spent a great deal of time working within challenging and toxic organizational cultures, whether as CEO, executive, or consultant, and can say with great confidence that they can prove highly vexing or even fatal for a new leader if he or she does not pursue a deliberate course to tackle that culture head…
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