Episode 74 – Nonprofit Finance with Alex Romero
Patrick chats with CPA Alex Romero about the things nonprofit leaders often miss when it comes to the financial operations and considerations of their nonprofit.
The Leadership Convergence
In our definition of leadership, three things converge: Vision, inspiration, and empowerment. I have covered each of those in previous posts. This post is about their coming together. I have been absorbed recently in the writings of Gary Yukl. His … Read entire article…
10 Ways to Empower Your Team Members
Leadership is not about being the individual high performer anymore. It’s about getting the best out of others. When vision, inspiration, and empowerment converge to propel teams toward shared goals, what does the empowerment part look like? Here are 10 … Read entire article…
Inspire vs. Motivate
Leaders don’t motivate. There. I said it. Got it out of the way early. Inspire wins. Why? Simple. Because motivation comes from within. We are driven by our own motivators. Leaders don’t put motivation into us. They draw it out. … Read entire article…
Everyday Vision
Leaders cast vision. We all know that. Have a compelling vision, and people will follow, right? Mmmehh… Maybe. From the Jinks Perspective, vision happens every day, in the small moments. During the “windows of opportunity” we talk about as leadership. … Read entire article…
Unlocking the Leadership Window
Let’s do a quick recap of the meaning of “The Leadership Window”: Leadership is like a combination lock. When vision, inspiration, and empowerment converge, the lock opens. VISION Perhaps a leader’s top job is vision casting. But the magic lies … Read entire article…
How to Handle Leadership Regrets
As we have established in this blog, leadership is about seizing moments — windows of opportunity. When we fail to take advantage of leadership moments, regret and guilt can take over. Not to oversimplify, but we basically have two choices … Read entire article…
Defining Leadership: A Window of Opportunity
As a leadership nerd, I have collected definitions of leadership for years. There are many excellent ones. Perhaps we’ll cover them later in this blog. But after becoming certified in executive leadership coaching, I realized I should articulate my own … Read entire article…
Collaborating in Crisis
Since the world became affected by the COVID-19 health and economic crisis, nonprofit leaders have worked tirelessly to access resources for their clients and for themselves. The Jinks Perspective has collaborated during this time with an amazing team of nonprofit … Read entire article…
Turn Your Video ON
Quick request here folks — when conducting a video meeting during the COVID-19 crisis (or anytime, really), enable your video/webcam. Random right? Why is it such a big deal that I would write a blog post about it? To be … Read entire article…
What’s REALLY Important?
2019 is upon us! Are you ready? Here’s a question I ask most of my clients: If you could only accomplish 5 things in the coming year for your organization, what had those 5 things better be? Not 4 — not … Read entire article…
Reducing Your Work to its Simplest Form
For me, there is something magical about the number 5. My clients know this well, as I often pull their attention to that number. There is some cool science behind the number 5, but I use it simply because I … Read entire article…
Are You Successful?
How do you define success? Do you consider yourself successful? What does success look like for you? What about your organization? Let’s look at both the organization AND the leader (YOU). Nonprofits typically define success in fairly conventional ways: Successful … Read entire article…
5 Tips to Increase Your Credibility
Nonprofits rely on community credibility to achieve their missions. The community determines the legitimacy of an organization. The same applies to the organization’s leaders. Leaders are either granted or denied credibility based on a few key factors including, but not … Read entire article…
Plan for 2018 NOW
It’s almost here…. No, not Halloween. I am talking about 2018. Where did the past 10 months go? The reality is, time flies whether you’re having fun or not! So how do you prepare? Do you wait until December 31 … Read entire article…
Nailed or Hailed — What to Do?
I like to collect leadership definitions, and one of my favorites comes from author and Kennedy School of Government professor Marty Linsky: Disappointing your own people at a rate they can absorb. This definition relates to change, but for me, … Read entire article…
Less is More
More is not always more. A 100-page plan, a one-hour speech, or a business performance dashboard with 50 data points can remove you from the essence of whatever you are doing. BELLS AND WHISTLES Bells and whistles are great. I … Read entire article…
Nonprofits DO Compete
Attention nonprofit leaders….. You ARE in competition. If your strategy doesn’t address this, you will lose ground. Strategy consists of multiple components. Nonprofits seem to keep missing one of the most important ones. Read more in our latest Forbes … Read entire article…
Can’t Fix THEM
It wasn’t your fault. Of course it wasn’t. You are blameless. You were simply done wrong. It’s because of George, or Carrie, or Jeff, or the board, or the mayor, or someone else. I have been there many times, each … Read entire article…
Mow the Lawn – Time Management Technique
I have had this time management conversation with a few coachees lately, so I thought I would share what is an old but still useful principle: I love to mow the lawn. I’ll push mow, or ride. Why? Well, there’s … Read entire article…
Taller or Smaller
Coaching an executive recently, he told me that his CEO had a way of making people feel smaller instead of taller. That really hit me. It was as if my client was now coaching ME. So I started asking this … Read entire article…
Make Your Message Stand Out
More is not always more. A 100-page plan, a one-hour speech, or a business performance dashboard with 50 data points can remove you from the essence of whatever you are doing. BELLS AND WHISTLES Bells and whistles are great. I … Read entire article…
Can You Pass This Leadership Test?
Are you a leader with a team? I have a challenge for you. Here’s how it works. Start with your own team. For example, if you are a CEO, start with your senior team. If you do well there, go … Read entire article…
Strategic Performance Reviews
Do your employee performance appraisals tell the real story for your employees? Here are FIVE things to consider: Are you still merely measuring whether or not employees show up on time and are nice to others? Is this where you want … Read entire article…
Pause for a Minute
How often do you pause? I mean really pause? Pause to think about where you are, what you’re doing, and why. Pause for just a moment, right now, as you read this, and think about these 5 questions: Are you … Read entire article…
A Better Board Meeting
What are your board meetings like? Are they exceptional? What do you do at board meetings? Approve minutes or consent agendas? Review the monthly financial statements? Hear static reports from various committees about things that have already happened? Are they … Read entire article…
3 Simple Questions
If you are like me, you get more book recommendations from people than you can possibly read. But I am going to give you one anyway. And it is for ANYONE, but for most of my readers, clients, and colleagues, … Read entire article…
Is Your Mission Statement the Mission?
Mission Statement: A series of words and phrases, composed of everyone’s input, word-smithed in such a way that gives website viewers the impression that the organization is smart, successful, and caring. Vision Statement: A series of words and phrases, composed … Read entire article…
Did You Miss This Step?
Strategic Direction — Check. Strategic Plan — Check. Operational Plan — Check. Leadership Plan — Che…. wait…WHAT? Are you trying to lead a new strategy and take your organization to a higher place, using the same leadership tactics and skills … Read entire article…
Is IMPACT a Buzz Word?
What Does Impact Mean? A respected colleague and member of The Jinks Perspective Advisory Board reminded me this past week that the term “impact” was overused in the social sector. I was actually considering using the term in naming one … Read entire article…
It’s MY Year! – FAIL!
If you have read much of my perspective, you already know that I have a bent against strategic planning – the tired, old, conventional strategic planning, that is. Why is this? Because it rarely works! It fails more often than … Read entire article…
You Can’t Break These Laws
Who would you suppose is the better candidate for leadership coaching: the low-performing leader who obviously needs help strengthening leadership competencies, or the high-performing leader who already has a track record for results? Of course, a strong case can be made … Read entire article…
I HATE My Strategic Plan!
Have you ever said this? There are a lot of reasons to hate strategic plans. Today, I am writing about one of them — their COMPLEXITY. If a PhD is required to comprehend your organization’s strategic plan, or if it … Read entire article…
Wait…Where Am I Going Again?
“We need a strategic plan.” Really? Are you sure? Have you first crafted an agreed-upon strategic DIRECTION? What’s the difference, you ask? Many (dare I say MOST) boards jump right into strategic planning, without first getting to the essence of … Read entire article…
What Keeps You Up at Night?
Have you ever been asked this question? I was asked this question on a job interview once. I figured they were trying to get at what my most challenging/stressful issue was. But I think my answer took them by surprise … Read entire article…
Coach? Mentor? Consultant? Which is Which?
Lots of terms are tossed about in the world of leadership development, executive performance, and employee engagement when it comes to external support. Organizations have formal MENTORING programs, high-performing CEOs have COACHES, and of course, people hire CONSULTANTS for all … Read entire article…
Strategic Fail – The Budget
Why do so many strategic planning efforts fail? Why do so many managers, boards, CEOs and other stakeholders despise the process? I have addressed many reasons for this, but here’s one you may not have considered: Strategic Planning fails when … Read entire article…
Are You Really Focused?
Are you driving your day today, or is it driving you? How about your week? Month? Year? Life? How intentional are you about the work you do on a daily basis? Where is it leading you? When will you arrive? … Read entire article…
5 Ways to Increase Employee Retention
Are you losing your young talent? Is employee retention a problem? In the nonprofit sector, employee turnover is an issue, particularly among organizations with 20 or more people. I recently read the story of a $40,000 donor who wanted her … Read entire article…
It’s Not Rocket Science, But….
Leading an organization to the achievement of the mission is really a simple process, right? First, you establish the mission, vision, and values. You agree on value creation. Then you set a strategic direction and plan. From there, you create … Read entire article…
Does Your Board Know Its Job?
Do your organization’s board members really know what their job is? Do they MANAGE when they should be GOVERNING? Often, CEO’s chalk it up to a character issue with the board chair or executive committee. But in reality, it’s more simple … Read entire article…
Tired, Old Strategic Planning – Part 2
It’s that time of year again. Time to renew that strategic plan. After all, it has been 5 years, right? The strategic plan has become somewhat the pain in the (let’s say ‘neck’) that a financial audit is. We moan … Read entire article…
Good Start
Thanks to Rachel Perry, Director of Issues Communications at United Way Worldwide, for reminding me this week how incumbent politicians frame there message. It always goes something like this… “Good start…. right direction…. more to do.” They start with the … Read entire article…
Tired, Old Strategic Planning – Part 1
Does your organization have a strategic plan? If so, does it sit in a nice binder on a shelf? Was the board process excruciating and boring? Is it all just a bunch of the same old stuff? Or does it … Read entire article…
What’s Stopping You?
What are 3 goals you have set for yourself that you honestly should have achieved by now, but haven’t? Are they really important goals? Does it really matter to you whether you actually achieve them? If not, remove them from … Read entire article…
It’s Monday. Deal With It.
I have written about Mondays before. I love Monday. It’s like a mini-New Years Days for me. It’s a fresh start for the week, and I love fresh starts. So it interests me that so many people are Monday averse. … Read entire article…
Goals Are Not Actions.
Recently, while coaching an executive toward getting important things done, I asked him to make a list of all the things he should have done by now, but hasn’t. When he finished his list, he quickly realized why he hadn’t … Read entire article…
The IDEA of Change
We’ve all heard it said. People resist change. But some like the idea of change. The problem is that they stop there — at the IDEA of change. Do you consider yourself a change agent? Are you asking your team … Read entire article…