This can be a season for different thinking, for focussed learning, for connection that doesn’t have to produce immediate results. The natural world demonstrates health in seasonal rhythms where plants and animals behave in different ways that serve their life long sustainability. Too many leaders and organizations attempt to always be in rapid growth mode when periods of rest and strengthening what is already present are needed.

This is a great time to experiment with Productive Distraction instead of the all too common Distracted Production.

But for those who use it rarely, or who have not wrestled with (and resolved) our own relationship with power, it often feels like they’re working with the wrong hand.

Part of the challenge here is that we’ve seen values as only kind of important, helpful, but not absolute. We’ve let them be mushy and sometimes optional. We’ve been unwilling to have them cost us anything.

By the time we reach our second session, certainly by the third, I find myself slipping naturally into much of the style and tone of the group. Trust grows quickly and I earn the opportunity to challenge and confront with the sense that I am doing it as someone who is “on our side”, not as an outsider.

One of the things I enjoy most about my work is that I am able to customize programs, building from more then 30 developed workshops, and develop new content as needed to suit the specific situations and priorities of each charity I work with. I’m not forcing them to fit into my box or system.

Ultimately the board is responsible for everything that happens, or doesn’t.

But I now see that, more accurately, celebration is a skill.

No less so than reading financial statements, delivering a performance review, making an ask to a major donor, or putting together a compelling slide deck. It’s something every leader needs to be able to do, and it’s something that can be learned and developed.

Each year I choose a book I want to understand more deeply and invite fellow leaders to join me for a simple shared learning experience.

This summer I’m exploring Erin Meyer’s The Culture Map.

With most organizations having more staff working hybrid/remote and the realities of pandemic considerations and unpredictable travel logistics, high staff turnover, along with the ongoing shifts of generational change in the workforce, the way we did team retreats even 5 years ago just isn’t as effective anymore.

As legitimately frustrating as it may to see what things could and should be so clearly and have to wait and work towards it; we can’t get there from here unless we truly understand where we really are right now.

Plotting a course requires that we know not only where we want to get to, but where we are starting from.

I think every charity executive should have the experience of serving on a board. It will give you an understanding of the world outside your own organization, give back to the sector, and make you better able to interact with you own board.

We can build a culture of honesty when we create psychological safety and decrease the fear that telling the truth will be punished. That means we demonstrate appropriate vulnerability, reward those who ask questions, approach conflict with curiosity instead of defensiveness, and are intentional about building trust.

You have a lot of freedom as a new director to ask about things that others may take for granted. Your outside perspective may expose some things that need attention that others have assumed for years.

It’s legitimately difficult for many leaders to sincerely slow down enough to understand our people’s need to process the ways our decisions affect them when we’ve figured it all out some time ago. It can be frustrating to feel like we’re having to go backwards.

-Don’t contact everyone you know or post about it on social media for at least a couple days. You need some time for your emotions to settle a little bit so you’re not just looking to soothe a wounded ego. Reach out to a small number of trusted friends and mentors.

You probably think about your work 50-60 hours every week; the board may only have it in mind 5-6 hours a month. You need to give them information that equips them to ask you good questions, and make good decisions.

With very low unemployment, a large generation of leaders retiring, decades of insufficient leadership development, higher salary demands, and the growing complexity of charity leadership, the odds of you finding the perfect leader who can make it all better are incredibly low.

You aren’t going to hire your way out of whatever isn’t working.

How is this one of the most common, and least useful, interview questions??

I get that it is supposed to reveal some self-awareness but in most cases all it elicits is a prepared response designed to actually assert more about the candidate’s strengths.

We can do better.

There is one trait, more than any other, that distinguishes healthy leaders from unhealthy leaders.

Are you curious?

People who are inspired by a meaningful vision rarely gripe about minor things. They may be frustrated with decisions they don’t understand, systems that aren’t effective, people who annoy them, or workloads beyond their ability to handle; but they are ultimately desiring the best for your cause and clientele.

They are still inspired. They just want some help.