September Strategies
September for many of us means coming Back To Life, Back to Reality (as the 1989 hit from Soul II Soul goes).
This cultural reset is a key opportunity for charity leaders to refocus on what it takes to accomplish your objectives as Healthy Leaders and Healthy Organizations.
It’s a natural time to review your program and fundraising priorities and get the team fired up for all the things you want/need to accomplish before the end of the calendar year. We know how quickly these four months pass and how beneficial it is to get moving right away.
But let me suggest that the wisest leaders are resisting that urge, or at least modifying it a little.
Your staff have been on summer rhythms for more than two months. For many this is the first “normal” feeling summer in three years. Some of them have kids going back to school with more than the usual angst that always brings. Years of pandemic concerns and restrictions leave us missing gears. In short, you are probably more ready to launch into a busy season than your team are able to be launched.
So how can you lead?
How can you restore productivity?
How can you serve your cause well?
Before starting the push for effort and results, take some time to check in with your team sincerely. Figure out with them what capacity you have to work with. Commit to investing some time, energy, and resources into building your capacity and strengthening your culture. (This takes more than just a welcome back barbecue).
This may be the ideal time for a book club, clarifying realistic standards of excellence, a session on the costs and benefits of stress, or even a team training session or REACTION Dashboard workshop.
Whatever you do with the opportunity of September, bear in mind that asking people to do more than the bare minimum their roles require requires that you connect them to the mission of their work.
Summer may be restful and refreshing for many people, but September is often intensely demanding as we try to figure out the rhythms of a new season. Don’t add more demands to your people until after you have invested in them. Make your team better first, the results will surely follow.