Newsletter &
Blog

Weekly inspiration for building your nonprofit leadership skills.

First Assistant

It’s useful to think of yourself as “first assistant to” your direct reports. You want people at every level to understand the organization’s goals and objectives and make decisions that align with th

Develop Court Sense

I’ve always liked basketball because it is an intense and fluid game. There’s no standing around waiting for a pitch or lining up and waiting for a snap. While you have a game plan, you have to adjust

Participating on Nonprofit Boards

The other day I heard from the president of a local nonprofit. She shared with me what she has found are the keys to being a successful contributor to a nonprofit board. Here is her list: Always be on

Treating People With Respect

Respect and trust your people This is the foundation of all good management. Without it, you will never be a successful manager. A key element of respect is modeling every behavior you expect in your

The “Let’s Do” Attitude

When your primary focus is just on solving problems, it shapes your attitude toward new ideas and how to put them to work. You want to go beyond pondering a problem to imagining the solution. It’s not

Face the Elevator Door

Change is the medium of opportunity. At Applied Materials, my team came up with a concept we called “facing the elevator door,” as a way of thinking about opportunity. With shifting economic cycles, t

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