You Chose to Live and Face the New Day

Again, I heard that phrase this morning. "Some nonprofits should die. In a business environment, bad managers and poor operations will die naturally. So should nonprofits."

Those of you who have read some of my work know that phrase drives me wild. Because attached to it is the implied or stated introduction or completion --- it's someone else's problem and no one in a community has the role of "management police" --- no one is minding the store for the bad managers. There is no answer to the query on where does the responsibility lay, to call out those who are "dying" because of bad management, not because their cause is poor or their mission is wrong or those for whom they are striving are not deserving enough?

I happen to believe that there is a difference between organizations that are "not-for-profit" and are "for-profit", a very big and distinct difference. For profit is clear --- we are opening a business in order to make money for ourselves, to make a profit for any investors, and to focus on the bottom line. We are employers, but we are also profit seekers.

What is the bottom line for non profits? What is the profit they seek? It should be set down in their mission and purpose, and these are what should draw individuals and supporters to their cause --- to change the world, to provide services and hope and opportunities that help others lift themselves out of whatever peril they face. So, we measure the profit of a NFP on the value they are creating for those they state they are helping. And to honor the dollars that have been given for this purpose, we can't afford an attitude of "they'll die if they aren't managed well."

So, if you chose today to live another day as a manager or board member of a not-for-profit, then face what really is going on in the organization and don't let it die from neglect, ignorance, exhaustion, or creaking old bones.

Kick Your Way Out of That Silo

If you have rolled out of bed and are now out the door and crawling across the surface of life, if you are moving in any direction, please make sure it is forward. If you are heading in the right direction, then hand-pull by hand-pull, knee by knee, you will get someplace. If you are facing the right way, you may get to that space your cranium once dreamed of seeing.

But we can't get there alone. The greatest drain I'm seeing among leaders of nonprofits is the loneliness of what they have begun to believe is their personal long distance run to nowhere. The very scope, complexity, or continuous build-up of tasks and roles, take their toll in a growing isolation and building of a tall narrow silo. The energy necessary to even think of how they will tackle one more activity blocks out the sun, and rather than shift those activities to others, they just say they have to do more. They lose the very voice their members need from them, the voice of collaboration, health and willingness to let go of being in charge of day to day.

Kick out of the silo. Spend part of each day considering who would be helpful for each task or responsibility that must be fulfilled in the next month, season, year. Ask people to support something, ask people to join in answering a need. Make a list and then give away the sole role. Make it a goal that at the end of one month you'll have brought 3 volunteers into the organization who are tackling one or more tasks. Make a goal, an audacious goal to demand that you learn, and the organization, learns to work in an entirely different model of service and leadership; set the goal that at the end of the year there will be 50 new volunteers working to meet the objectives and purpose, doing real work and bringing strength. This new model will leave you able to again be the valued and astute leader, and not the isolated overpaid drudge you've been dragging around on your back for too long.

And you can begin to remember why you took that job in the first place. Because you were excited at what were the possibilities. And this is the real possibility - each person who joins with you brings 6 opportunities along with them.

Be aware. And dare to be well.

10,000 Steps or 10,000 Hours - Either Way You Better be moving

10,000 steps a day is what we're being told is the key to health and long life. 10,000 hours, per Gladwell, is the key to achieving excellence in any one pursuit. Both numbers relate to our need to be active and focused and not give up after a few days or a few hours, a few months or a few years.

10,000 hours at 50 hours per week (for those who jump in deep) equals 200 weeks, with time off for vacation, illness, family breaks, etc, that is approximately 4 years to become exceptional. Having worked with staff and leaders around the country, I was slightly amused to do the math and find it met what I'd been saying - it takes four years to turn around an organization and transition from new leader to accepted leader to appreciated and admired leader, both as an individual and/or as an organization. Given these facts, we all need to consider and address the debilitating drain on our nonprofit human service system by the constant turnover in staff and lack of consistency in boards.

Start today to assess where you are going and how you are going to get there. Plan out how you are going to spend the next 10,000 hours on your purpose in order to bring exceptional services or outcomes to those whom you are hoping and planning to delight --- your customers, friends, funders and staff.

Put on the jogging shoes, the t-shirt and get moving! I'll see you at the next intersection.