Weekly Posts and Insights
Managers Who Motivate: A Preview from the US Chamber's Institute for Organization Management
I am excited to share that this week, as a faculty member of the US Chamber's Institute for Organization Management, I will be teaching over 30 enthusiastic nonprofit leaders on a subject close to my heart: "Managers Who Motivate."
Grief, Loss and Leadership
Dealing with loss and grief can be tough for leaders. We are often built, designed, and hardwired to look at the optimistic horizon. Grief and loss are a suspension of that optimism. That is a hard place to be in, but worthy of exploration nonetheless.
Mastering Facilitation: Your Go-To Script
Effective listening is essential for successful facilitation. This involves techniques like paraphrasing, asking open-ended questions, and synthesizing ideas. Skilled facilitators also track opinions, engagement levels, and group feedback. Here is your go-to script to handle many items you might run into as a facilitator.
No, You're Not Supposed To Be The Most Dominate Voice In The Room: The Leader as a Facilitator
A top-level community leader excels by facilitating team interactions rather than dominating discussions. Their focus should be on managing the process and relationships within the team, allowing team members to share content and ideas. Like a conductor guiding an orchestra, a leader's role is to support collaboration, ensure balanced participation, and create an environment where everyone feels heard and valued.
The Important Pheromones of Good Leaders
Leaders can enhance community trust and cohesion by being present, providing resources, managing alarms wisely, maintaining calm, and unifying people around a common purpose. We would be wise to model our leadership style off of the industrious honey bee who’s pheromone systems can provide insights into effective leadership through five key "pheromones" - footprint, resource, alarm, calming, and unity.
The Power of Trust in Leadership
In leadership, trust is the cornerstone that transforms a crowd into a cohesive community. Trust isn't given—it's earned through consistent acts of character and competency.
Community Conflict: Regulate, Relate, and Reason
In an era of escalating conflicts, understanding how to manage disagreements is crucial for personal and community well-being. This blog post explores the essential steps of regulating emotions, relating to others, and reasoning effectively to foster safe, connected, and productive environments. Learn practical strategies to transform conflict into constructive communication and collaboration.
Mastering First Steps in Community Change and Transformation
Expanding upon the element of the F in the formula, or First Steps (DxVxF>R), it's crucial to understand that this phase is where the rubber meets the road in implementing change. Simply talking about change isn't enough; action must be taken to initiate the transformation process.
Creating a Clear and Compelling Vision for Change: Part 2
During the Visioning process, it’s also good to ask the following questions about the current reality as well as the desired future reality. Look for gaps in thinking and identify the action steps that will need to be taken to close the gap.
Creating a Clear and Compelling Vision for Change: Part 1
The Vision needs to be so clear that everyone gets it. No management mumbo-jumbo, no statistics that are meaningless to most people; no negative visioning. The vision needs to capture our imagination so clearly in our mind's eye that we know exactly what it will look like when we get there. A compelling vision transcends mere strategic objectives; it paints a holistic picture of the organization's identity, values, and aspirations. It resonates with employees on a deeply personal level, evoking a shared sense of belonging and commitment to a common cause.