Has this happened to you? All along you thought you were doing fine. Then you get hit with this bomb by your boss: “Peter, we need to talk about your team. I’m concerned about” As you listen to the criticism and your adrenaline starts to flow, pause – take a deep breath – and heed …

Understanding collaboration begins with the definition of the word itself. Collaboration requires more than telling each other what we are doing (communication), is more involved than planning our work together (coordination) and it is also different from its most common substitute, cooperation (working or acting together for a common purpose or benefit). The definition I …

Hopefully, over the last two weeks, you haven’t been cold calling, cold writing, sending “surprise” invitations or making “cold” visits to people who may or may not have been major gifts prospects. With that in mind, we’ll finish making the distinction between a “large” gift and a “major gift.” If the person who suggested the …

Is Your Program “Stuck” Due to Inadequate Funding? Consider Program Evaluation Recently our car would not start. You guessed it– it was the battery. A mechanically-inclined friend made a casual comment about the worth of car batteries, which can provide insight into maximizing funding for your programs. The friend said something to the effect of, …

We give thanks for Mother Earth and Father Sky For the gifts of Nature we can neither earn nor buy; For the grandfather stones, and grandmother moon, the trees, rivers and oceans who grace us with their presence; For the resplendent colors of fall, brilliant colors of spring, blinding white of winter, and cool shades …

This may seem an odd way to use visual aids, but you would be surprised at how effective it can be to brainstorm or even discover new ideas lurking in the audience. I discovered Ignite recently and was so impressed I put it up for my university speech students to see as an unusual way …

Would you be ready to respond? Google Plus Pages for businesses and brands are barely a week old, and already the neophyte social network appears to have its first identity crisis: Someone has created a Google Plus Page for Bank of America trashing the nation’s largest bank with a series of mocking photos, images and …

Bruce Wilkinson is one of those authors whose work has impacted and influenced me beyond belief. There are three books that I’ll share a big thought (the book’s main premise), an important verse or quote along with how I’ve grown spiritually because of his work. All of these books are international bestsellers. Check out his …

My dissertation was on corporate whistle-blowing. Only a small percent of employees will report wrong-doing above and beyond the normal channels of informing a supervisor. Whistle blowing generally won’t occur if people are uncertain regarding the severity of the wrong-doing, or when people don’t believe that corrective action will be taken. Neither of those conditions …

As a consultant, you work with clients to solve problems. Or, perhaps your philosophy is to help them address “priorities,” rather than “problems.” In any case, it’s extremely important to understand your own approach and how it affects others, especially your clients when working with them. Different people have quite different preferences and approaches to …