This blog entry is an introduction to transformational leadership theory. The core elements of transformational leaders are that they inspire followers to extraordinary performance and to a shared sense of commitment to a vision for the organization; encourage and challenge followers to be creative and innovative in their efforts to solve organizational problems; and focus on the development of the leadership skills of others through coaching, mentoring, and other forms of support.

In a world with dynamic markets and fickle customers, it’s best to build into your plan strategies to respond quickly to new opportunities and threats. Long gone are the days when you could just create a valuable product, price it to attract customers while making a profit, and then just keep doing the same thing …

here are some definitions I ran across after reading Carter McNamara's blog titled Are You Doing OD? Training? Consulting? Coaching? All of These? enjoy

Why a Policy for Making Decisions? How often have you heard Board members assert that they’d made a decision, when they really hadn’t — all they had done was talk about a topic for a long while? Or, how often have some Board members or the Executive Director asserted that a decision had been made, …

Too Often, What We Call a Program, Really Isn’t If you spent the day guiding old ladies across the street and someone gave you a dollar for doing it, would that mean you’re delivering a “program?” What many people call a program is too often just a sporadic set of disconnected activities — it’s not …

Over the years, I’ve noticed that when things get really tough or it’s difficult to identify strategies during planning, there are always three strategies you can try. My clients seem to love it when I describe the Solution to them. Try it yourself. Strategy #1: Try Get More Resources? This is the most popular, but …

In a previous post, I discussed the need to not ignore the informal learning systems that are working within your organization. Research indicates that 70-80% of all learning comes in the form of informal learning; however, it seems to be largely ignored in training and HR departments across organizations. (By the way, if you are already thinking of ways to formalize informal learning, you are missing the mark.)

(Adapted from an Article on “Founders Syndrome) Written in 2004) In his blog, “Consulting Skills,” dated April 23, Carter McNamara asked, “What is a Mature Organization.” I’d like to try and answer that question from the perspective of a fundraising consultant. I have to base my “answer” on a couple of basic concepts — that …

We occasionally come across organizations considering franchising as a strategy for developing a social enterprise. A franchisor is a company that has a successful product or service, business model and recognizable trade name (think chain stores), which it offers on a continuing contractual basis to other businesses (its franchisees), for a fee. The advantage of …

I’ve had a fun day! Over at my Bernstein Crisis Management Blog, I posted an open letter to Connecticut Attorney General Richard Blumenthal, the increasingly infamous teller of tall tales about his alleged Vietnam service. The shy title of my blog post? Dear Richard Blumenthal: You’re a Liar Practicing what I preach, I then Tweeted …