Discovering a New Prosperity: Leaders First!

A 103-year old woman in a retirement home where my mother lived cruised the halls everyday behind her walker - she was fast! ...always smiling and happy. On her
104th birthday I asked her suggestions for achieving a long life.

She said: "I don't do negativity. Of any kind. When I'm seated with people who are complaining, I get up and leave. No negativity. It doesn't exist for me."

Negativity becomes a default: "There's not enough money." "Our board doesn't get it." "Nobody's doing what they should be doing," "We'll never make out goals and it's going to be tough," etc.

Negativity is an energy drain and a choice that takes a tremendous toll on the body with headaches, sadness, frustration, sarcasm, resentment, and more.

The truth is, many of us aren't really aware of how often we take a negative stance. It's a default frame of mind. As a leader, it begins with you. Are you ready to shift from a negative stance?

An Exercise
For one day, write down every negative thought you have. Is your first thought in the morning something like, "good grief, another day at work." Write it down. Driving into work, you think, "this traffic is terrible and I'll never make it on time." Write that down. If, when the phone rings at your desk, you think, "oh, here we go, it's starting already," add it to the list. Looking at your desk you think: "I can't possibly get all of this done and here comes more" as you sit down to begin your day....make a note.

Notice every time a negative thought enters your head and write it down. At the end of the day, is your list longer than you imagined it would be? Do this for another day. Keep going until you notice the list getting shorter and shorter. You'll be surprised how easily you can shift your negative default.

What will happen is you'll re-program yourself to choose another perspective. You'll choose a more positive one and this will create a shift in subtle and profound ways in your life.

Are you ready for change? Choose it. You have to become aware of your negativity before you can change it. Just try this exercise and see how you feel after a few days. Getting out from under negativity changes everything!

You'll also set a new example with ripple effects in the office and at home. If you're a leader, your responsibility is to look at yourself first.

From Chaos to Peace

In the moments before childbirth, there is anything but peace, as one body rids itself of what can no longer survive inside. On the other side is profound beauty and grace as the newborn enters the world. We experience joy at new life. The cycle of life and growth is continued in that birth. It's time for a celebration! An ending of one phase of life, pregnancy, has ended so that life in a new form may begin.

The business world and, indeed, our lives in every respect, are changing that much, too. As familiar systems continue to break down, and morph into new processes needing different strategies for success and longevity, we must hold the same expectant perspective as when a child is born.....see it with eyes of wonder and delight of the joy that is to come, determined to support it with all of our resources. Determined to see it thrive.

The following is adapted from Gloria Karpinski's Blessings for This Time of Gathering:

May the fragments of our vision be whole.
May we simplify, clarify, love, and heal.
May we find peace in interconnectedness.
May we be poised in the chaos of change.

Childbirth is our finest example of change. From one perspective, there is discomfort, pain, anxiety, uncertainty. And even amidst all of that, there is joy ready to burst forward so that life may be fulfilled.

What is your perspective on change? You get to choose. Will you experience change as chaos or joy? How will you show up? As a leader with quiet confidence and poise?

Choose poise.

Be Inspirational and Do Good

Doing good is a matter of the heart- it's not only done when times are bad or even when times are good. It's just done because it's the right thing to do and because it produces such a high to help someone else.

I hear about all the trouble nonprofits are having and what I see is different. I see people coming together - more volunteers, more commitments, more reporting in the media about how a creative idea saved the day for a nonprofit. These times are challenges not because of the economy, but because we are experiencing a lot of change. The biggest change is a change of heart.

I think communities are taking stock of what matters at the local level and trying to make the most of resources that are available. The economy pressures this....it is good, and it is time we took stock of what really mattered. We have everything we need to take care of each other....if we take stock of what really matters.

For nonprofits, this is a time of true leadership, of being the voice of light in the perceived darkness. Maybe nonprofits should move beyond being recipients of generosity and use the support they have to express a new, stronger voice - a voice of hope, strength, love, and creativity.

Each nonprofit has the opportunity to stand out as a beacon of love and light and when it does, the others of us know that that beacon represents a network of other compassionate people, a board, volunteers, staff, donors, vendors, etc. That's heartening.

It's time to choose optimism. Decide that whatever happens to the economy, or the weather, or even with public health, that you, you will take your fuel from the voices of wisdom around you that express joy, hope, and love for the challenges of life that bring us closer together. Choose your sources of inspiration so that you may lead more confidently.

I liked what consultant Alan Weiss said in his Monday Morning Message: There are people who profit from a prolonged downturn, so their interest is in spreading only bad news and in perpetuating fear. There are others who profit from an upturn and who want to find places to add value as people are able to recover. Find, listen to, and associate with the latter group. There is no contribution in perpetuating and profiting from others' misery. As George Merck noted, "Do good, and good will follow."

Let people follow you. Be the voice of wisdom and hope in your community.

How innovative new nonprofits grow

"If one advances confidently in the directio of his dreams, and endeavors to live the life which he has imagined, he will meet with a succesws unexpected in common hours." Thoreau

Watching founders of new, innovative nonprofits navigate their way from blueprint to start-up, I am constantly amazed at their determination and drive. I think it comes from passion. One founder of an animal sanctuary describes a dream she has whenever she thinks of quitting and in the dream, an animal appears and says, "But if you don't do this, who will?"

Most of these people have no nonprofit training, no experience with donors, and they don't worry about that. They don't worry about formal "Best Practices", choosing to be guided by an ethical standard that comes naturally.

They focus on building their vision and they are different from their counterparts at established organizations. Any hurdles in front of them are just that - hurdles to be crossed over. They can't always tell me how they will manage it, yet they always do and it's on to the next hurdle.

It's more than excitement. It's a drive. Sometimes, it doesn't even seem rational.....it's just very real. They are hear for a purpose - their calling. Thank goodness they are here...we need them.

The future looks good...it's the present that concerns me.

One nonprofit executive director explains sleepless nights this way: "The future looks good. The present, however, looks impossible."

Year after year this is the concern of nonprofit leaders, even in strong economies. You can change the forecast by changing development priorities. If you do, you'll be the person someone in the future looks back and sees that changed the course of history for the organization.

It's not one thing, like planned giving, that is the answer. It's a blend of several things that mark change.

1. Vision - What is your intention? If you had more than enough resources, what could happen? Pause at some point today and just think about where your nonprofit - and you - are headed. What's the potential?

2. Impact - What difference is your nonprofit making? What would not get done if your group was not around to do it? What is it you do that matters? Remember web-thinking: Your work impacts more than board members, staff, donors, volunteers, and recipients of services. The impact is also felt by family members of all concerned and children (the next generation), and colleagues, and your vendors, and many more that you may not be aware of. They benefit.

3. Relationships - Who are your stakeholders? It may not be your biggest donors at all. Look at consistent givers and disregard amount of gift - what do you know about these people? Why do they give? Approach annual givers as stakeholders and you'll begin to notice a difference in that perspective. They are more than year-to-year givers - they understand what you're doing.

Vision, impact, relationships = sustainability.

Sometimes the best development keeps things the same.

"You said something brilliant a minute ago when you said....." . This is the way my nonprofit client got my attention this morning. A flash through my mental rolodex came up with nothing that was brilliant. We had been talking about fund raising dilemmas facing conservation minded nonprofit development leaders and how important it is to talk with donors about the possibilities for change, about the difference their support makes, about the long-term vision for the environment and how they can change outcomes with big gifts. That's when I commented that when it comes to clean air and water, mountain vistas, and open spaces - we want them to remain as they are.

With all the changes swirling around us day in and day out, it is nice to go to sleep at night knowing that the moon will shine, the sun will come up, and the mountains will still be there. That's a stabilizing thought.

"Nature is telling us that in these years when we as a nation like to think how great we are, we would do well to remember that the process of life itself is only sustained by inches of topsoil and the fact that it rains every now and then." -Lindsay Pettus, founder, Katawba Valley Land Trust