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.

Go Gentle Into That Merger

In the banking industry, merger means one big bad thing: the big one gobbles up the smaller one and jobs are lost. Now, as the nasty "m" word highlights the headlines about nonprofit organizations, the automatic assumption is that the bigger organizations are going to swallow the smaller ones which will lose their identities in the process. This is not how mergers need to happen. It certainly doesn't serve communities to have more giant-box nonprofits.

Communities are better served by a series, a network, of smaller, well-connected nonprofits working at the local level, managed by passionate citizens who care about the outcomes.

Consider this article in the Davidson News about three nonprofits that are sharing resources....a merger of sorts....to raise awareness of their work through social media. Each retains its own identity, mission, leadership, and fiscal responsibilities while helping each other. Check here.

“It’s innovative because we are asking the public to understand that our strength lies in cooperation and not just in the individual work we do as agencies.”
Kathryn Firmin-Sellers, United Family Services/Tell Two organizer.

A merger is not a case of "We win - you lose," although it feels like that if you're the smaller nonprofit. Again, this interpretation of merger is a hold-over of a by-gone era. A smaller organization is usually more nimble. They can adapt quicker. They may not have the debt that a larger organization with its own building carries.
The element of creativity of smaller nonprofits is a valued asset. It's intangible and easily overlooked, but in a rapidly changing and economically volatile environment, creativity is a key to problem solving.

To reach a new level of effective organization, a re-ordering comes when the value of all parties around the table is fully understood and when the re-ordering emerges from mutual discussions about how all parties are served, rather than from a mandated process with a bigger-is-better mentality.

This natural re-ordering perspective was explained another way in an email arriving this morning: "Pirate societies, in fact, provide evidence for Smith's theory that economies are the result of bottom-up spontaneous self-organized order that naturally arises from social interactions, as opposed to top-down bureaucratic design. Just as historians have demonstrated that the 'Wild West' of 19th-century America was a relatively ordered society in which ranchers, farmers and miners concocted their own rules and institutions for conflict resolution .....(delanceyplace.com 10/2/09 - pirates and anarchy)

An open and creative approach to merger may produce a new and unexpected outcome: nonprofit leaders must be open to the possibilities. This means releasing the outdated modes of thinking that declare A winner and A loser. We can all win if we choose it.

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!

One way to challenge assumptions

The phrase, "challenging the assumptions" seems to be popping up everywhere these days. It sounds easy enough until I realize that some of the assumptions that need to be challenged are mine.

When the economy crashed in 2008, I challenged the assumption that someone else would have the answers. While watching financial and business experts point fingers of blame at each other, it became apparent that unlike in the past, no one had the answers. The problems are too big, they're too complex, and they're changing too rapidly to fix easily or quickly. The problems are of a global nature. They're on a scale that's hard to wrap your mind around. Until you look at the community level - where we see rising unemployment, cancelled programs for women and children, and services that enrich a quality of life we've come to expect.

Sitting and waiting for answers was not for me. These problems may be of a new breed, but I know that creativity, innovation, passion, determination, and hope are innate traits that are already organized around more than a million nonprofit organizations in the US. The nonprofit system is uniquely structured for adaptive planning and creative thinking. What assumptions need to be challenged there?

Are nonprofit leaders aware of the nature of change that is bearing down on communities? Are they prepared to lead with new skills? What new skills are needed? Are there other ways to mobilize the talent that is clustered on each nonprofit board? Are nonprofit leaders building resilience? Or, are they waiting for things to get better? Are they cooperating or competing?

For a new perspective, read this article about funding a new world: http://www.jeancraiglong.com/pdfs/COTFTHEUPSIDEDOWNOFFICUCIARYRESPONSIBILITY.pdf

If it raises more questions than it answers, then it served its purpose.

Creativity Connects the Dots in New Ways

"Creativity is having enough dots to connect." Steve Jobs CEO, Apple, Inc.

Sticking with the familiar seems like a safety zone. We think we are safe when we are on familiar ground. In reality, there is no guarantee of security that comes with familiarity at all, we just like to think it does.

We encourage children to experiment with the unknown all the time: try this new food, ride your bike without the training wheels now, walk into that new classroom - nothing to fear, it's easy.

As adults, we don 't like changing things. From daily routines, to our work schedules, to the processes we move through to complete our work, even including habits and opinions, it's easier to stick to the familiar than reach into the unknown. We're comfortable when the expectations and outcomes are familiar.

The problems facing us today in the world are massive, gaining in complexity and speed. Solving them with the same thinking that built them is not the answer. That will be more of the same. Everything is so tangled up and fragile and one slight movement over there affects something over here and then the entire thing is out of balance.

Each one of us was born with a creative side to our brain. Some access it easier than others. All of us have the capacity to access it. Thinking from the creative side of the mind enables us to see things in new ways. It enables us to connect the dots in new ways.

This is where each one of us can contribute to solving the massive problems we face today: Start with ourselves and develop our own creative capacity. Color. Sing. Make something. Imagine shapes in the stars and clouds. Sit so quietly in the woods that birds and squirrels approach. Play in water. Throw clay pots. Write stories. Take classes in things you think you might not be very good at. Explore and experiment.

This is how you begin to add more dots to the picture and then you can connect them in new ways. Get rid of what no longer fits. This is when new solutions form and a new thinking takes hold. You begin to see problems in new ways and connect to new ideas and solutions. Eventually, you will find solutions beyond where you accepted limits before.

This is the direction we're headed in as a mass of humanity and the Universe seems to be sending us clues about how to get there: the need for more networking and connectedness, the need for more creativity so that we stop trying to solve problems with the same thinking that we used to create them.

Transforming Your Mindset

Talking to nonprofit leaders during the week keeps me focused on their priorities, issues, and concerns. Lately, by the end of the week, I'm feeling all of their fears: the money is drying up, budgets are cut to the quick, donor's are dropping off and existing ones will probably leave, no one's giving or wants to talk about charitable gifts. How will services continue to be offered? How will staff be paid? What will happen to conservation, education, healthcare, animal sanctuaries, preservation, enrichment?

Today, I'm looking for another way to end my week and am sharing my approach with you.

First, I stop the relentless negative messages rolling around in my head that tell me to be alarmed and worried. How to stop them? I take a sheet of paper and divide it into 2 columns, one column is labeled: My limited way of thinking. The other column is labeled: What I want.

In the "limited" column, I list every fear and negative thought I have.

Example: Col 1: I must be on the wrong track with my ideas.

If you're a development professional or executive raising money, you might have the limited view that: There's not enough money out there and why would anyone give now anyway?

The next step is to question every statement in the limited column by asking: Is this really true? If it's not universally true, then the answer is No, this is not true. It's simply a negative that doesn't make me feel very good, and it's a limiting thought.

Example, Col 1: There's not enough money out there.
Question: Is this really true? Well, I read in the paper last week about an anonymous $45 million donor who gave to several colleges and universities. Also last week I learned about a $1 million donor who gave to medical research in local and promising new labs. Personally, I wrote a $100 check to a nonprofit. Are we the only 3 donors out there? Of course not.

My mind relaxes with the realization that there is definitely still money out there. So now, the question is: What thought is at least as true if not truer than that negative thought?

That's the list I make for column 2: "What I want". (It's basically the opposite of the thought listed in Col 1.) How about for Col 2: There is definitely money out there. That's true for me.

It feels better to have productive, optimistic, and results-oriented thoughts in my head than the negative ones. It gives me energy. Considering the old adage, "what you think about comes about," I'm in good shape.

This is the work of Byron Katie. I've used it for years. If you'd like to read more, check out her website: http://www.thework.com/index.asp

During the week, I take company with positive thinkers. I take company with people who are focused on making things better, who are determined to grow and change no matter what, and who are passionate about what they do. It's so much fun.

Are you like me? Working in the nonprofit system to make life better? Collaborating with others who seem to have good ideas and are resourceful? Sharing what you know and the connections you have that might support someone else as much as you?

Are you like me? Life is about manhandling our current social challenges so that when we break them down into smaller pieces, we can get rid of the dysfunction and re-assemble them into productive new methods that fully serve our missions?

Are you like me? It is fun and is your reason for being?

Try not to buy into the prevailing attitude that everything is falling apart. It's not so. It might be that the worn out, rotten, rusted systems, attitudes, and behaviors are ready to be cleaned out so that better ones can emerge.

As a development consultant, I know that the current economic challenges are scary and unpredictable. That's why I choose to stay focused on what works, surrounding myself with productive and creative thinkers, cultivating innovative processes and encouraging other people likewise.

Today is Thursday. My week is ending on a high note because I choose it. I allow it. I am smiling and excited already about the possibilities.

Are you like me?

Life is not about waiting for the storm to pass....

Life is not about waiting for the storm to pass. It's about learning how to dance in the rain. (author unknown.)

Financial advisors say to hold for now - an indefinite "now." My vet says he feels like he's "just waiting for the other shoe to drop." A nonprofit executive friend says she's unhappy in her job and would like to find another one but "there is nothing out there so I'll just hold on." Another friend who is a board member of a nonprofit says they have withdrawn from everything and are just sitting still trying not to spend money. A community foundation colleague says their travel and training budget is totally eliminated.

At the same time, I know 3 executive directors who have all established new nonprofits in the last 3 - 5 years. What a time for launching new concepts! The reality is that they are succeeding when the economy would indicate otherwise. They are in hot pursuit of missions that they each visualized, conceptualized, and wrestle with everyday. They do not consider themselves successful and are surprised when I call them leaders or visionaries.

How can they be so focused on growth - and be growing - when the economy says we're supposed to be contracting and withdrawing? What drives them so fiercely that they don't have time to pause in negativity? What keeps them going when others all around them want to curl up? Interestingly enough, they each talk about curling up...and they don't b/c they're too busy visualizing another opportunity. They each describe financial difficulties....with an attitude almost of humor that another hurdle has had the audacity to present itself in front of them....and then they proceed to skim over it seemingly oblivious that it's what they're doing.

They don't see themselves as leaders. They each talk about a vision. A vision that fills a huge gap in the quality of life we can have. The questions they bring to me are: "Why am I doing this? I'm crazy aren't I?" "How in the world am I going to get this done?" "Where am I going to find the energy, resources, answers to do this?" And the best one of all: "I've never done this before."

I'm baffled every time by their questions. I don't know where or how they're going to do what they do. All I know is that they get it done....and the economy says it shouldn't be happening. Because we're supposed to be in contraction mode, right?

I think the answer is passion. I think each one of them is inspired by a vision larger than life itself. And I think each one of them knows down inside that a force stronger than anything is driving them forward. I believe it's a spiritual journey for them.

They are innovative. Creative. Clear. Poised. Talk to any one of them and their intentions are so well defined that you can see through their eyes an achievable goal. They don't see this and I do. I want to expose it, and share it with others who may have lost their inspiration. Who may be focusing on loss, and dread, and the negative side of "what if". Who may be wondering what they should be doing other than working on a nonprofit mission.

Nonprofit people hear different music playing. It's why they work in the field. I've tried to get off this path several times and I'm always turned back to it. An executive recruiter friend says, "Most people don't come out of college with the goal of a career based on other people's benevolence. There's a reason they choose the nonprofit field."

So for all of the people who choose to listen to the different music.......now's your chance to dance.

What these 3 executive directors have to share is priceless...we'll just have to draw it out of them.

Consider a new perspective in your nonprofit work

Most conversations with nonprofit leaders lately have centered on this economy and its effect on incoming cash gifts. Between gift revenues slowing down and bleak (depressing) media reports about the sad state of world economic world affairs, nonprofit people are feeling vulnerable and lonely and not much like visiting prospects and donors for fear of hearing more of the same.

What if you remember that not all people are affected the same by the economy? What if you turn off the tv and think of the determination & commitment of the individuals that created the 50 and 100 year old institutions we have today? They gave during depressions and other recessions- arent' there people like that around now? Of course there are! Some of them are on your donor list, too.

So, what if you assume that your donors still want to hear from you and learn what's going on with your nonprofit? What if you are honest and say that you're offering a cup of coffee instead of lunch to protect their investment of previous gifts?

What if you visit with no particular agenda (like a solicitation) and simply because you want to stay in touch? What if you phone all donors who do make gifts and personally thank them in addition to the usual acknowledgement letter? Wouldn't that make a positive impression?

What if you focus on the positive impact that your organization is making.. giving people a sense of the important role your nonprofit continues to play in local life -as they are probably making more thoughtful choices about which nonprofits to support this year and why.

People who have cared before don't suddenly stop caring. So instead of thinking that no one will give and that they don't want to see you, assume that they want to hear from you now and that they will do their best to support you. Assume that and yours will be one of those 50 year old institutions future nonprofit leaders admire.

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