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Transforming The Leadership Paradigm

Imagine a world where all individuals are empowered to develop their full potential. Imagine the strength of an organization that is able to tap into the intellectual capacity, resourcefulness and creativity of its entire workforce. Imagine the employees who are embraced for their innate talents and unique gifts – producing quality results with a profound sense of fulfillment. Imagine the possibilities in your organization and in your life.

Today, people and organizations are being pushed to perform. There are increasing competitive demands for productivity and growth. Leaders are being called upon to guide and inspire their teams to achieve desired results. Effective communication, collaborative teamwork and quality leadership have never been more important.

In response to the critical demand to develop effective leaders, a variety of leadership approaches have been proposed and popularized. Well-known authors and leadership experts such as Peter Senge, Ken Blanchard, Jim Collins and Stephen Covey have offered their own strategies and tools for developing leaders who inspire and empower others to be their best.

All of these contemporary leadership authors identify essential competencies that an individual should possess and practice to be an effective leader. These attributes are vital if one is to become an authentic, strategic, collaborative and visionary leader. Furthermore, many of these prominent leadership approaches are synergistically aligned with the leadership philosophy conceived of by Robert Greenleaf in his essay “The Servant as Leader. “

His paradoxical term, Servant Leader, has created a quiet revolution and a paradigm shift in management philosophy during the past forty years. Written in 1970, Greenleaf’s thesis highlights characteristics of a leader who successfully serves the needs of others. Upon close examination, the same attributes that Greenleaf espouses are either explicitly or implicitly present in today’s most popular leadership training methodologies.

Servant Leadership draws its strength from Greenleaf’s premise that “the first and most important choice a leader makes is the choice to serve, without which one’s capacity to lead is severely limited.” The focus is clearly on serving the needs of others. Leaders who possess these qualities have the ability to recognize the intrinsic value and unique talents of others. Their capacity to affirm other people’s self-worth is what initiates growth and unleashes potential.

For more information visit The Greenleaf Center.

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Five Steps to Goal Attainment

Remember the model of making SMART (specific, measurable, achievable, realist and time-limited) goals? It’s a strong foundation for success, but how do you take it a step further and ensure you’ll follow through on those great goals you’ve set for yourself?

Let’s take a look at five steps for goal attainment:

1. Find a challenge about which you’re passionate. Make it compelling and magnetic so that you are drawn to your vision. If you’re bored with your goal, you’ll forget about it before you come close to achievement.

2. Share it with others. Good intentions are great, but they won’t necessarily get you across the finish line. Making your goals public creates accountability. Talking about them can also give you clarity on what you want to gain.

3. Creative positive emotional connectors. Simply put, when you focus on the positive outcomes of attaining your goal, you’re more likely to achieve it. Dig in for results that excite you. Think: “I will have more freedom and spare time to pursue my hobbies” versus the more negative associations of “I will be less stressed out.”

4. Make it visual. So much of the way we think, feel and are motivated is tied to images. Basically, we think in pictures. Associate your goals with a positive visual of what its achievement will introduce into your life. Think: a desktop image of a coveted vacation spot to motivate that savings goal.

5. Celebrate the progress steps along the way. Take note of the small achievements involved in reaching a larger goal. Meditate on these and your future success. Celebrate even your small successes.

What are some of the ways you stay focused on your goals? Do you have tips for SMART success? Share them with JD Coaching & Consulting on our Facebook page. We’d love to hear from you!

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Why Board Performance Matters

Why does board performance really matter? Because success starts at the top, and the organization’s leaders—board members and executive management—are there as guardians of the mission and caretakers who ensure service to their distinct community. In a classic servant-leadership model, each tier of an organization serves the level beneath it so that service reaches the ultimate end user. In the nonprofit world, the end users are the people who receive the benefits and services from these critically important agencies.

Some could argue the duties of today’s boards, particularly in the nonprofit sector, are among the most important in all of society’s work. Nonprofit boards shepherd and champion the least-served in the least-funded arenas: human services, social causes, education, health and the arts.

Yet as fluctuating economic and business conditions affect the philanthropic sector, nonprofits are too often spotlighted on the precarious edge.  Articles about financial mismanagement and other struggles are more prevalent than ever. When there is negative publicity, it affects an organization’s ability to raise funds and achieve programmatic and financial goals. It can also inhibit an organization’s ability to strategically prepare for the future or achieve sustainable performance.

While most boards do a solid job, forward-thinking board members are asking how to measure their performance to ensure they meet their responsibilities and limit their liabilities. In these challenging times, evaluating board performance is not just a concern—it’s an essential principle of good governance and legal and fiduciary responsibility.

Individuals on boards are often successful high achievers. If a board is not functioning at peak performance, board members may become disillusioned and detached. When board members disengage or when they resign, the organization loses not only committed volunteers, but also valuable donors and a link to the financial community.

Today’s challenge for many organizations is to secure both funding and committed board members. In a time of economic scarcity and competitive adversity, nonprofit boards, already inherently challenged, have an intensified need to successfully execute their duties and achieve consistently high performance. Organizational success and board performance are inextricably linked. Board members are your visionaries and your champions—take care of them so they will stay and make sure you achieve your potential.

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The Basis of Success: Board Composition

Composition is the foundation of board performance, and it has a strong correlation to a board’s engagement—its ability to work together to be effective. Composition of the board defines who the directors are, their capabilities and how they utilize their areas of expertise to help the organization move strategically forward.

A nonprofit board is really just the sum total of wisdom and experience of its collective members and their attributes and skills:

  • Leadership
  • Competency (diversity of skill sets) and expertise
  • Capacity to give (time and money)
  • Capacity to get (resources, donors, etc.)

JD Coaching & Consulting developed a Board Performance Assessment that helps identify a board’s key areas of proficiency as well as their performance gaps. From this evaluation, we are able to offer key solutions to help the board better serve their organization. Targeted recommendations concerning what type of additions your board could benefit from can make an enormous difference. Request a copy of our benchmark study.

Would you like to explore how your board be more effective? Let’s keep the conversation going.

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Achieve Your Potential with Organizational Development

Organization development is a deliberately planned effort to increase an organization’s effectiveness. One way to look at Organizational Development (OD) is to compare it to exercising: it’s body building for the organization.

Athletes, even in the best of shape, follow a strict exercise regime. They keep their body fit for the long run. And non-athlete, health-conscious adults exercise and eat well as a preventative measure. Organizations need to adopt this same kind of thinking.

Organizations need to weather economic stresses and unexpected infirmity like financial recession, employee attrition, budget cuts and other elements that could pose a threat to an organization. Strong organizations develop their people—invigorating them to perform most effectively. Employee development, management training and succession planning all focus on an organization’s core, their people—their most vital internal assets.

Some would argue that OD is not just about training, human resource or team development. Theorists and OD practitioners generally look at the structure of a current organization to ensure it is positioned to absorb disruptive forces and changing market environments. They focus on the processes and systems that are inextricably linked to the people inside and outside of the organization. The organization is a complex system of financial, research and development, marketing, sales and customer service operations that need to function well together.

People and process are both important, just like diet and exercise. The best-run organization assesses its core strength, vitality, pulse and temperature on a regular basis. Annual analyses and reviews are the annual physical. The doctor’s orders maintain organizational health and wellness.

Sometimes, it’s hard to get to the gym—especially when we are so busy with the challenges of our daily business. But that is when we need it the most. A healthy body will be stronger and more resistant to stress. As leaders, we need to keep our organizations strong to compete effectively.

When was your last check-up? How recently did you evaluate internal systems and processes? How are your employee and customer satisfaction ratings? What structures need to be revitalized to ensure their ability to manage change? Maybe now is a good time to take your organization’s pulse to ensure it achieves its full potential.

 

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Company Profile

JD Consulting and Coaching is an organization development firm that helps corporate and nonprofit leaders, their teams and key contributors improve performance.

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JD Coaching & Consulting
49 North 4th Avenue, #103
Minneapolis, MN 55401

(612) 845.6896
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