Search ML
5208 results found

Is a “Working Board” an Immature Board?

(The following post applies as much to for-profit Boards as nonprofit Boards — many for-profit Boards, especially in family-owned corporations, operate as working Boards.) A “working Board” is a personality of a governing Board. There is no clear delineation as to what’s a definitely a working Board or not. However, it’s commonly viewed as a …

Awards R Us

There are awards for everything and you don’t have too look far to find them. Why just this week there were four award-related pieces of business on Media Savant’s radar. The first was a Media Alert drafted for the news about Token Media (http://www.token.com/shortfilms) and its film-making crew (that extends into the greater Twin Cities …

The Hope Theory of Leadership

I came to the overlapping fields of Leadership Development and Coaching through the stage door. I studied Theatre in college, have a graduate degree in Acting and started my adult life performing in Chicago’s Off-Loop theaters. Like my father in the newspaper business, I’ve grown up right alongside both the coaching profession and the field …

Overcoming the Myth of the Paper Trail #1

As mentioned in two previous posts, the paper trail seems to be a concept widely understood by individuals in multiple organizations. The concept is a reality for many and represents how the competing interests in organizations can work against the common goal of the company and its employees.

When Good Words Go Bad

“Capacity building” is a term from the Grantonese language usually referring to an organization’s systemic effort to secure ever greater amounts of money on a consistent basis. It is not to be confused with “sustainability,” another word from the original Grantonese, referring to that state of fiscal nirvana in which a nonprofit believes it will …

How to Describe Spirit in the Workplace – Another Perspective.

It’s an honor to be co-hosting this blog with Linda and we look forward to exploring this meaningful topic with you! Linda shared with you her insights on what spirituality at work is and I’m going to do the same. As I’ve been studying and living out this topic for the past 15 years all …

Running On Empty

Way too many social enterprises are way too undercapitalized. They don’t have the cash on hand to make rational spending decisions on staffing, inventory, professional expertise, marketing, and so on, to grow their venture. Their tendency is not only to go cheap, but to go without for things they desperately need to turn their social …

How to Start Strategic Planning: Do a Plan for a Plan – Part 5

In Parts 1, 2, 3, and 4 of this topic, we reviewed the first 12 of the 15 questions to be answered during the “plan for a plan” portion of strategic planning. Part 5 describes questions 13-15. 13. How will you get the buy-in of members of the organization? There seems to be growing cynicism …