I’ve watched many non-profits struggle because they have the wrong people on their boards. Even conscientious organizations with lists of criteria used to carefully recruit qualifying board members usually get it wrong. Yes, you need diversity. At the very least, that likely means you need to consider race, gender, and age. Depending on your focus, you may need diversity of experience and socio-economic representation as well. If you are a member organization, the diversity of your board must reflect your member base or desired member base.
When my parents died, their wills suggested an onerous process for dividing belongings among 5 siblings. But at least they provided a process! They also indicated we were welcome to come up with a better process, if we so desired. My parents, who probably had something to do with my clarity(!), clearly knew the importance of having a process! As executrix, I gladly proposed a better process. Being me, I’m pretty sure I would have done so regardless of whether or not it was my responsibility. So I wrote up a simple process, explained it to all siblings, asked for opinions, and then got their signatures to confirm agreement before anyone began claiming anything. The process worked smoothly. Success depended only on the thought invested by each sibling into their desires and needs. Everyone left with a combination of cherished and practical items. There was one opportunity for dissension, however.
Massachusetts is suffering from a serious drought. Town water supplies are low. Reservoirs sport wide gravelly necklaces on every shoreline. Private wells are drying up. The grass is brown and crunchy. And the gypsy moths are destined for a banner year in 2017 because their only natural predator, a fungus, requires moist conditions to thrive. Millions of trees devastated by drought and gypsy moths this year are unlikely to survive another horrendous year. Nonetheless, the weatherman on my radio says, “Not a great forecast today. You can expect lots of clouds and rain.” Not a great forecast? Where have you been? We need every drop of moisture those clouds can deliver, as well as the reduced evaporation the same cloud cover can provide! Think before you speak!
The year is half over. If that is bad news for you, I am sorry to be the one to break it! In our not too distant past, weather, daylight hours, changing seasons, and the calendar year ruled all. These days – not so much! Nonetheless, old habits die hard and that calendar controls far too much in the business world. While you reflect on progress to date at this half-year mark, reflect also on all the things that should NOT be controlled by the calendar year. Here are a few just for starters: Strategic planning Budgeting Performance reviews Goal setting Something to ponder while at the beach this summer. Have a great July!
Great bosses are hard to come by. If you have one, quit taking him or her for granted! If you don’t and your boss is preventing you from doing your best, what can you do about it? 1. First, try to work things out with your boss
You can’t solve a problem without eliminating its cause. Unfortunately, most organizations either struggle to find the real cause or they skip that step and just try “solutions” at random. Those solutions range from seemingly small changes such as: • New forms • New rules • New meetings • New forms and rules for meetings To enormous initiatives such as: • New employee engagement programs • New performance management systems • New organizational charts, titles, and office assignments You get the idea. (Contribute your favorite “futile fixes” in the comment section of this article!) What do these ”solutions” have in common?
My clients, readers, and audiences complain frequently about getting dragged into issues that ought to be resolved without their help. Every time an issue is escalated one, two, three, even more levels, the cost is significant. “Why can’t people just solve these problems themselves?” they ask. Well, you can’t eliminate a problem without eliminating its cause so here are the 10 most frequent causes of unnecessary escalation. 1. Unclear Priorities Employees can’t make decisions without understanding the factors that should govern those decisions. Sometimes those factors are project specific – requirements, customer expectations, cost/schedule trade-offs – and sometimes they are company wide and involve strategic priorities – priority accounts, product life-cycle plans, customer service expectations, quality/schedule trade-offs, etc. Without clarity, employees often need to escalate what could be simple decisions.
When I opened the refrigerator this morning, the space normally occupied by 100% natural orange juice was taken by an alternative. The unnaturally long list of unrecognizable ingredients and pledges of less sugar and calories raised my hackles almost as fast as my pause raised my husband’s defenses. He thought we could try it. I thought he had flipped. In some marriages, this could be the burnt toast that breaks the camel’s back. Why? Because we shop the perimeter of the grocery store. Our cart contains little other than fresh fruit, vegetables, chicken, and seafood. Since we don’t squeeze our own juice or keep a cow, we venture into the center aisles for things like juice and milk. However, the criteria that drive our selections remain constant. The brand of juice and milk matters little; the length and contents of the ingredients list matters a lot.
The Patriots lost last night for the first time this season. But that is the least of their problems. Gronkowski was carted off the field and he now joins Amendola, Edelman, Lewis, Dobson, Jones – more players than I can list – who are injured. Brady looked crestfallen when Gronk went down. But this morning, what are they saying? “Just wasn’t our night.” In true Patriots fashion, they refuse to contemplate what Gronk’s injury means for the next game or the rest of the season. “It was a very hard loss” and “players gave a tremendous effort” are all that we will hear. Their job is to get it done. One game at a time. No matter what comes at them. Whether they will get it done remains to be seen, but we all know Tom Brady is special because of his uncanny ability to get it done by focusing on that and nothing else. Everyone has problems. Most people spend far more time agonizing, talking, and worrying about those problems than actually doing something about them. Save that energy. Channel Tom Brady. Your job is to get it done. One step at a time. No matter what comes at you.
A client called to talk to me about creating a vision. He was struggling because he felt hand-cuffed by too many constraints. I responded by explaining the need to maintain a clear distinction between the vision and the journey. That evening, while watching Nelson Mandela’s Long Road to Freedom, I remembered our conversation. Right in the middle of the movie, Nelson Mandela, his fellow leaders of the ANC, and two wives embodied the problems that occur when that distinction is blurred.