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Presentation:
17 key lessons for leaders culled from 22 years in the business
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| Introduction |
The typical job description for an executive director or public sector leader will describe a person who does not exist.
- Incredible drive and focus
- Deep compassion and sensitivity, ability to motivate
- Substantial analytical skills of all sorts, creative problem solving and planning abilities
- Deep experience and knowledge of a particular service area or sector
- Enjoyment of and effectiveness at all forms of fund raising
No one person will ever have all the positive traits and abilities implied in most job descriptions.
The following 17 slides represent a short list of lessons I've learned that really do count in creating effective organizations They emerge from a combination of 10 years as an Executive Director and 12 years consulting.
They are not fully inclusive, and speak mostly to issues of governance and the creation of strategy.
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| Viewing & Printing |
The slides for this presentation are shown below as a part of this web page.
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Slide 1
Slide 2
Note:
A key goal of strategic management is stability. The various enhancements, changes, and new investments have as one outcome the creation of stability. But here’s a key question: What are you doing now that needs no change? Where are you now successful? Do you know what current success is?
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Slide 3
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Do you know what you want for your organization? Are you able to see and imagine various enhancements of any sort that will ultimately serve the mission?
Don’t let an ethic of participation allow you to avoid leading. The board empowers you to lead, and you empower yourself. You generally don’t wait for your board; rather, you work with your Board president to lead the organization.
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Slide 4
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People around you do not necessarily want to be fully involved in various decisions. There is a broad continuum of possible involvement within any decision-making or planning process.
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Slide 5
Slide 6
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Again and again, I note how people love to talk about the past and present. They are extremely articulate about problems and the quirks of the people around them. This, of course, is much easier that proposing what should be done in the future to create the organization and culture they want.
Considering that most resources will necessarily be devoted to on-going work, most organizations can only be successful with a very short list of new initiatives. It’s all about creating focus.
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Slide 7
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Full details on running a committee decision process
Make sure that committee chairs feel they have authority. Make sure to publicly authorize committee work as an action item within general board meetings.
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Slide 8
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Slide 10
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Initial entry by board members into the organization may have been based on personal connection or interest in the mission. However, this initial commitment must be nurtured by the executive director/CEO. Otherwise, the commitment will dissipate.
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Slide 11
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Slide 13
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The typical board has members who bring very different beliefs and interpretations about board function and role. Don’t expect that this will ever change.
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Slide 14
Slide 15
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Henry Mintzberg makes an interesting distinction between a) commitment building types of behavior and b)critically scrutinizing types of behavior. When organizations place a premium on being nimble, flexible, and entrepreneurial, they accept and understand that all change and all movement forward brings risk and uncertainty.
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Slide 16
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Most people are highly skilled at avoiding threat or embarrassment, so you may well not know the real story.
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Slide 17
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People become highly skilled at avoiding processes of detecting and correcting implementation problems. Evaluation never takes place. The problems stay buried. (Adapted from Chris Argyris, 1993)
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Slide 18
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