What conversation are most important to your cause? The ones that would gather everyone around the fire because the magnitude of the decisions sparked from these discussions would be monumental.
Around the Fire
What Could You Ask?
The quality of a leader cannot be judged by the answers they give, but by the questions they ask. ~Simon Sinek
If you listen to NPR’s Car Talk, you have encounter Click and Clack, the Tappet Brother’s (Tom and Ray) ability to offer credible and/or humorous advice on a variety of possible vehicle ailments. One of their super powers (beside working for one-hour a week) is effectively diagnosing automotive problems. Their sleuthing typically involves a series of pointed questions followed by some random pondering noises before offering an “ah ha.” They engage callers in a back-and-forth line of inquiry before delivering their diagnosis, then offer empathy and suggestions to fix the predicament.
Informed questions built a tribe of 3.3 million listeners for a show designed to address automotive issues (image making that original pitch to NPR). The power of great questions can empower a community.
Pre-Plan
The quality of an organization can often be judged by the conversations it convenes for events that have not taken place.
How Do You Play?
“It is like bowling in the dark. You bowl, hear some pins go down and then when the lights come on you see the results.” Melinda Gates
Are you getting real-time results or waiting until the lights are turned on?
Buy A Fun Pass on October 6th!
Take the leap, create your version of Caine’s Arcade (or anything that inspires). Where will your imagination take you?
Impact
A simple way to measure impact is to ask, “what difference would it make if we ceased to operate?” Enterprises exist that can offers lower prices, faster service, and bigger selections. What cannot be readily replaced is a unique purpose and how you employ your beliefs help others.
The Best of the BoardSource Leadership Forum
I had to pleasure to attend the BoardSource Leadership Forum in Chicago this weekend. The speakers were innovators in the nonprofit sector who had much to share from their enterprises. Here are a few highlights.
Reid Hoffman, founder of LinkedIn
- Innovation is like jumping off a cliff and trying to assemble a plane before you hit the ground. You have to think about what innovation is worth jumping off the cliff to achieve.
- Studies have shown that every board member a corporation add after reaching seven exponentially degrades the effectiveness of a board, hampering discussion, connectedness, and personal responsibility.
- The function of a board is to make the CEO and organization as powerful as possible and fulfill the mission. They should constantly ask, how can we be in the best possible place over the next five years.
- One a year every organization should ask, should we continue as an independent organization or is there another way to fulfill our mission?
Bill Shore, Share Our Strengths
- Go Big or Go home: there is a cultural discomfort with being held accountable. Select initiatives where you demand accountability.
- Capacity equals impact: invest in recruiting and retaining talented staff and board.
- Accountability: share specific goals and metrics and allow people to see results.
- Robust public policy component: find where to intersect powerfully with public policy.
- Understand we have to collaborate but we also are competing: competing to bring out the best in the organization.
- Ask, where is the national conversation taking place: reframe discussions and make connections.
- Too late: it is always too late somewhere. The window of opportunity can close at any moment.
Steve Rothschild, author of The Non Nonprofit
- Have a clear purpose: hold organization accountable to purpose in everything you do.
- Measure what counts: does it connect to purpose?
- Be market driven: understand and identify who is your customer (may not be your clients).
- Create mutual accountability: be clear and specific. Serve the whole.
- Support personal empowerment: develop a root system to support the growth above ground (tree metaphor).
- Create economic value from social benefit: every improvement in social benefit has a direct economic benefit.
- Be learning driven: Allow for unanticipated consequences and change.
Man Overboard
Simon Sinek: If You Don’t Understand People, You Don’t Understand Business from 99U on Vimeo.
What are you doing each and everyday to help the person next to you?
The Importance of Climbing
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| Grand Teton National Park |
You cannot stay on the summit forever; you have to come down again. So why bother in the first place? Just this: What is above knows what is below, but what is below does not know what is above. One climbs, one sees. One descends, one sees no longer, but one has seen. There is art of conducting oneself in the lower regions by the memory of what one saw higher up. When one can no longer see, one can at least still know.”
René Daumal
