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.

A Thanksgiving Question

Who is behind your success? Rarely is any achievement the result of the efforts of one person. It just doesn't happen that way, although, our society seems to encourage that singular view.

In nonprofit development,it is common for credit for gifts to reflect in performance evaluations. I've even heard professionals argue over who had the most substantive conversations and interactions with a donor and why one or the other deserved more credit for the gift. This is a sign of poor management. It's not sustainable either for the organization's fundraising track record or for employee retention.

Who gives you moral support? Who keeps you focused on why you work in nonprofit at all? Who gives you good ideas? Who do you turn to for a joke or to break the monotony of a bad day?

Thanksgiving 2009 is marked by another question: What matters? This question will come up over and over again as our world continues to change in unexpected ways. You're going to find that you turn back to a simpler life. One driven by values. You're going to find that you de-clutter your desk, closets, even your mind, and that this helps you focus on what really matters.

This Thanksgiving, consider people who support your success.

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.

Putting Your Quirks to Work

We have been programmed to weigh ourselves in terms of strengths and weaknesses. Strengths give momentum. We can be proud of strengths. We're more hesitant to look at or talk about our weaknesses. We are programmed to think of them as problems and so we: ignore them, deny them, blame them on others, justify or cover them up altogether. Since we all have weaknesses and since they are obviously here to stay, isn't it time we re-think their role in our lives? Can we think of them in constructive ways? How can understanding my weaknesses help me?

Enter David Randall, who sent me a link to his paper which I'm sharing below. David says weaknesses point out your strengths and that there is nothing wrong with you (yes!). He says you need to match your unique characteristics with situations that reward those qualities (yes!). He points out these things and more in a light and funny way that is important to anyone leading nonprofits and working with volunteers and donors.

More importantly, we are living in a time when it is important to challenge assumptions. How we think of ourselves can be transferred to how we work with co-workers, board members, and donors. As we build our resource networks, we're drawing all sorts of new and different people into our arena, and we need to tap all of these resources optimally. Let's challenge how we think about weaknesses. As David says it, let's "put our quirks to work." To read the article, click: here!

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.