Napoleon Bonaparte allegedly once said that an army marches on its stomach, meaning that an army can only function if it has adequate supplies and food. This maxim applies to the modern world of nonprofit management as well, as a nonprofit ‘marches’ on its financial...
A trend has been taking place in the world of business, with consequences for the way nonprofit organizations recruit and grow. According to David E. Edell’s article ‘Transitioning From Business to the Nonprofit Sector’, an increasing number of working business professionals are moving or considering moving into the nonprofit sector,
When we hear the word “leadership”, a few notions often come to mind. We may associate the word with the words “inspiration” and “motivation”, a pair of married concepts, movers and shakers in the forward march which is essential to any advancement—social, personal,...
No matter the role you play during any given moment, your ability to listen to those around you tends to be a huge key to success in the relationship. Your ability to engage in listening – yes, engage in listening – is often determinant of a good outcome in any exchange. This skill is no less important in the workplace whether you are the employee or the CEO than it is in any other affiliation. And, in all cases, you want to do your best. To that end, take a look at the common mistakes people make while listening according to Alison Davis, and then consider how to avoid them.
Both my husband and I have had the privilege of working for supervisors who are known, by name and deed, around the country. The crazy part of these experiences is that neither of us was aware of the widespread prestige of these people until after working for them for a while. It was an interesting evolution of realization into their greatness as we were drawn to the fields through our own interests, and we educated ourselves in ways that positioned us to pursue vital careers. Then, once in the doors, there was so much attention given to us and what we had to offer our respective teams that the status of our leaders wasn’t even “a thing.”
If you want to know what inspires the everyday person to contribute to your cause, take notice of the pointers in the article “How to Tell Your Story Effectively on Your Nonprofit’s Blog.” Make sure they are found in your organization’s favorite forms of communication.
Often, the vision of what it means to be in charge and the reality of it are often very different. The skewed vision is probably ingrained from childhood where, as children, we couldn’t wait to grow up and no longer be told what to do. This ideal is further perpetuated when we are entry-level employees looking up the hierarchy just knowing there will be a day where we’re in charge and won’t have to account for ourselves or answer to anyone. We don’t just know it; we can’t wait for it!
And, then, we grow enough to finally have the years and experience it takes to land a position of authority and be in charge of others. It is then that we have choices to make regarding how we interact with, or manage, others because it is also here that we find effective management is not a one-size-fits-all, “Because I said so” proposition.
It’s human nature to gravitate toward what is known — even if the extent of that is just a recognizable name. Name recognition, all by itself, has a lot of pull because it carries with it the meaning an individual assigns it. As a leader, you want to make sure what’s assigned to your organization’s name is positive and accurate. But, without a dedicated communications/public relations person, much less of team of them, how does a nonprofit’s name and message get out there? Joan Garry offers her thoughts on the powers of the press, as well as how to best work with them, in her article, “How to Get Great Press Coverage For Your Nonprofit.”