“When we know the facts about people, we know what they are. When we know their stories, we know who they are.” John Quincy Adams Leadership, Systems, and Stories One of the most powerful ways to understand your leadership, and the reasons you behave and lead as you do, is to understand your systemic story. …

When I started my career in fundraising, in the late ‘70s, my first employer was one of the traditional capital campaign-consulting firms — one of those firms that, for the most part, only engaged in feasibility studies and capital campaigns. Like many like similar firms, there was little attention paid to the broad concepts of …

Guest Submission by Steven Ober, EdD Leaders live and work in complex systems. In fact, we all do. These systems include our organizations, our teams, our families, our communities, and our larger society. In today’s world, it is incumbent on those of us who coach leaders to deepen and broaden our ability to coach from …

For the last 50-60 years, a Feasibility Study has been “required” before planning and/or implementing a Capital Campaign, and its basic concept and structure hasn’t changed in all that time. I contend that it’s more than obsolete, it’s counter-productive. Now don’t get me wrong. I’m not saying that we shouldn’t first determine the feasibility of …

Here’s an Example of a Disconnected Conversation A couple of weeks ago, a friend of mine and I were talking about a particular consulting project. We just weren’t connecting in our conversation somehow — I kept repeating my points and he kept repeating his. It felt like we were disagreeing somehow, but neither of us …

Understanding a Board’s System: Key of Improving Recent Breakthrough in Development: Systems Thinking One of the recent breakthroughs in organizational and management development is the ability to understand organizations and each of the various functions in them as a system. Each of the functions, such as Boards, planning, leadership, management, marketing, sales and finances is …

The principles of strategy are timeless. The following notes on the essentials of strategy are drawn from the great works of strategy… Sun Tzu’s The Art of War, Napoleon’s Maxims, Clausewitz’ On War. Though dating up to 2,500 years ago, the advice of these strategists is helpful today no matter your competitive landscape, from high …

Does your company have a crisis communications plan? Regardless of size, every organization should have one for many reasons. First, you owe it to your constituents whether they are stakeholders or users of the service you provide or the wiki you sell. Second, the public at large — and most definitely the news media — …

KEEPING THE WOLVES AT BAY — The Ever-Present Conundrum The recent events in the financial sector, while perhaps skirting the edges of legality, certainly highlighted the issue of the ethical dilemma often faced when increasing pressure to perform, deliver and maximize profitability butts up against moral and ethical (as well as legal) compliance. Certainly in …

The Corporate Secretaries International Association recently released a report, “Twenty Practical Steps to Better Corporate Governance.” It struck me that almost all of the steps applied to nonprofit Boards as well. (The Report refers to “corporate” governance, the phrase commonly used for for-profit Boards, which is a misnomer I believe because Boards are required for …