Mission: Impact podcast & blog
Build a better world without becoming a martyr to your nonprofit cause
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![]() In episode 102 of Mission: Impact, Carol Hamilton and Jeff De Cagna discuss the concept of the "duty of foresight," stressing the need for boards to prepare for future challenges. They critique traditional leadership paradigms and promote stewardship as a more inclusive and effective approach. The conversation covers various topics, including the evolution from VUCA to BANI and the need to challenge orthodox beliefs to create resilient and forward-thinking organizations. Episode highlights: Duty of Foresight [00:07:00] - [00:010:00] - the concept of the "duty of foresight." - the importance of boards anticipating future challenges and preparing accordingly. Evolution from VUCA to BANI [00:14:00] - [00:17:30] - the shift from VUCA (volatile, uncertain, complex, and ambiguous) to BANI (brittle, anxious, non-linear, and incomprehensible). Challenging Orthodox Beliefs [00:19:00] - [00:24:00] -The need for nonprofit leaders to question and confront orthodox beliefs. - examples of outdated beliefs and suggests alternative approaches to foster innovation and resilience. Leadership vs. Stewardship [00:30:00] - [00:37:00] - Critique of traditional leadership models, arguing that they often emphasize winning and greatness in unproductive ways. - Stewardship as a more collaborative and sustainable approach to governance. Preparing for Future Challenges [00:37:00] - [00:23:00]
Guest Bio:
Jeff De Cagna FRSA FASAE, executive advisor for Foresight First LLC in Reston, Virginia is an association contrarian, foresight practitioner, governing designer, stakeholder/successor advocate, and stewardship catalyst. In August 2019, Jeff became the 32nd recipient of ASAE’s Academy of Leaders Award, the association’s highest individual honor given to consultants or industry partners in recognition of their support of ASAE and the association community. Important Links and Resources: Jeff De Cagna Foresight First LLC VUCA https://www.mindtools.com/asnydwg/managing-in-a-vuca-world BANI https://www.forbes.com/sites/jeroenkraaijenbrink/2022/06/22/what-bani-really-means-and-how-it-corrects-your-world-view/ Reasons to be cheerful newsletter: https://reasonstobecheerful.world/ Threatening Thirties series: https://www.naylor.com/associationadviser/the-threatening-thirties-part-i/ https://www.naylor.com/associationadviser/the-threatening-thirties-part-ii/ https://www.naylor.com/associationadviser/the-threatening-thirties-part-iii/ Characteristics of White Supremacy Culture: https://www.whitesupremacyculture.info/characteristics.html Related Episodes: Episode 15: The Nonprofit Executive Director-Board Chair relationship Episode 42: Building shared governance Episode 55: Helping nonprofit boards move toward greater equity Episode 61: Impactful nonprofit boards Episode 97: The business imperative of facing climate change Episode 99: Elevating nonprofit governance Click "Read More" for a transcript of the interview ![]() In episode 100 of Mission: Impact, Carol Hamilton goes solo to celebrate this special 100th episode. She reflects on the insights and lessons learned from her podcasting journey exploring nonprofit leadership and organizational health. Celebrating a significant milestone, she emphasizes the importance of creating diverse, equitable, and inclusive cultures, addressing toxic organizational behaviors, and reimagining a healthier nonprofit sector. Through her conversations with various guests, she highlights the need for aligning mission and operations, valuing human-centric approaches, and fostering collaborative and supportive environments. The episode concludes with a call to action for nonprofit leaders to prioritize relationships, self-care, and a balanced, sustainable approach to their impactful work. Episode highlights: 10 Lessons from 100 Episodes **[00:01:16]** Reflection on various aspects of nonprofit leadership, from organizational cultures to sector-wide health. Lessons on Organizational Culture **[00:03:32]** Lesson 1: A healthy organizational culture cultivates diverse, equitable, inclusive, and welcoming space by design. **[00:04:28]** Lesson 2: Identifying and moving away from toxic organizational cultures characterized by lack of clarity, microaggressions, internal competition, and unaddressed conflicts. Overwork and Martyrdom in Nonprofits **[00:06:13]** Lesson 3: Addressing overwork, perfectionism, and martyrdom, and understanding their prevalence in the sector. Healthy Nonprofit Organizational Cultures **[00:12:00]** Lesson 4: Characteristics of healthy organizational cultures, including openness to mistakes, effective conflict management, clear roles, and strategic redundancy. Importance of Relationships **[00:16:03]** Lesson 5: Emphasizing the importance of relationships in all aspects of nonprofit work and leadership. Collaborative Support **[00:17:22]** Lesson 6: You Don’t have to go it alone! Encouraging leaders to seek support through coaching, peer groups, and collaborations. Defining Unique Contributions **[00:18:27]** Lesson 7: Finding and claiming a unique niche based on strengths and contributions. Grace and Cultural Humility **[00:21:00]** Lesson 8: Practicing grace, compassion, and cultural humility within organizational contexts. Organizational Alignment **[00:21:22]** Lesson 9: Highlighting the power of alignment in organizational goals, strategies, and values. Embracing Human Imperfection **[00:23:11]** Lesson 10: Emphasizing the importance of being human first in all things and embracing imperfection. Reimaging the nonprofit sector **[00:23:49]** Carol poses important questions about redefining the nonprofit sector, making work sustainable, and promoting play, creativity, and thriving in the workplace. Important Links and Resources:
Laziness does not exist by Dr. Devon Price Start Finishing by Charlie Gilkie Related Episodes: My top 10 lessons from 100 episodes:
![]() In episode 99 of Mission: Impact, Carol Hamilton and Mary Reeves, PhD discuss:
Episode highlights: Ethical Nonprofit Governance - [00:06:00] The importance of ethical and proper governance in educational organizations. The Concept of Ikigai - [00:07:20] The Japanese principle of Ikigai and its four components: what you love, what you are good at, what the world needs, and what you can get paid for. Building positive Nonprofit Board and Executive Director Relationships - [00:08:35] The importance of fostering positive relationships between the board and executive directors. Transformational nonprofit board experiences - [00:011:34] The transformational experience board members often undergo. Managing Conflicts of Interest and Fiduciary Responsibilities - [00:18:26] The inherent conflicts of interest in many association boards and the importance of understanding fiduciary responsibilities. Elevating Nonprofit Board Service - [00:22:20] The high stakes of decision-making in board service and how it can be a transformational experience by rising above personal experiences and biases in board service. Progress over perfection - [00:28:43] Leaders should recognize they cannot do it all and should focus on progress rather than perfection. Guest Bio:
Mary H Reeves, PhD Mary Reeves is the retired executive director of the Commission on English Language Program Accreditation (CEA), the current public member on the Council on Academic Accreditation of ASHA, and a member of the NAFSA: Association of International Educators Board of Directors Governance Committee. Her non-profit board experiences span 50 years, both on the board-side in local service organizations and national leadership positions in professional associations in English language and international education, and in staff-side associate and executive director positions. She now focuses on effective transitions, proactive mentoring, and how to maximize contributions of knowledge, experience, and passion while gracefully passing the torch. Mary holds a PhD in higher education policy studies with a primary focus in international education and a secondary focus in organizational behavior. Important Links and Resources: Leadership without Easy answers by Ronald Heifetz BoardSource Related Episodes: Episode 15: The Nonprofit Executive director – Board chair leadership Episode 42: Building shared governance Episode 55: Helping nonprofit boards move toward greater equity Episode 61: Impactful nonprofit boards Click "Read More" for a transcript of the interview ![]() In episode 97 of Mission: Impact, Carol Hamilton, Elizabeth Engel and Shelly Alcorn discuss
Episode highlights: [00:08:25] Shift from Moral to Business Imperative The shift of climate change from a moral to a business imperative, driven by observable impacts like extreme weather events causing significant property and economic losses. [00:10:15] Association's Role at COP27 The proactive participation of associations like the American Psychological Association and the American Institute of Architects in COP27, bringing attention to industry-specific impacts of climate change. [00:13:17] Climate Impact on Association Operations The direct impacts of climate change on associations, such as disruptions from extreme weather events and the carbon footprint of large gatherings like annual meetings. [00:28:23] Strategic Adaptations for Climate Resilience The need for associations to develop resilience by adopting proactive strategies like no single point of failure in operations, reflecting a shift towards decentralized and adaptable operational models. Guest Bios:
Shelly Alcorn Shelly is a Principal in Michelle Alcorn and Associates and specializes in non-profit trade associations and professional societies. Shelly stands at the intersection of technology, the education-to-employment system, and the association of the future. She conducts strategic, leadership and staff retreats, and speaks on critical issues faced by the association community and society including existential risks such as the rise of artificial intelligence and the coming impacts of climate change. Elizabeth Weaver Engel Elizabeth Weaver Engel, M.A., CAE, is Chief Strategist at Spark Consulting. For more than 25 years, Elizabeth has helped associations grow in membership, marketing, communications, public presence, and especially revenue, which is what Spark is all about. She speaks and writes frequently on a variety of topics in association management. When she's not helping associations grow, Elizabeth loves to dance, listen to live music, cook, and garden. Important Links and Resources: Download the whitepaper at: http://ac3coalition.com Join the Association Climate Action Coalition community at: https://ac3.breezio.com Not too Late: Changing the Climate Story from despair to Possibility, editor - Rebecca Solnit Crystal City example: https://ggwash.org/view/91781/take-note-downtowns-crystal-city-suffered-its-office-apocalypse-and-came-out-better Related Episodes: Episode 6: Uncertainty and Emergence Episode 78: Renegotiating our relationship with work Episode 87: Reimaging the workplace for remote/hybrid Click "Read More" for a transcript of the interview As a nonprofit executive director or leader, you know what you believe to be true about your organization. What its strengths and challenges are, its areas for growth and assets to build on. But what about others involved in your organization, like board members, staff and community members? Does your assessment align? When you are part of the organization’s leadership, your take on how things are going may be quite different from line staff and others further away from decision-making circles. It can also be challenging to get candid feedback from those below you in the organizational structure. One way to learn where you are on the same page and where the gaps are is to complete a nonprofit organization assessment. What is a nonprofit organization assessment?A nonprofit organizational assessment is a third party assessment of your organization, gathering feedback from all your key stakeholders. The goal of the process is to get an accurate assessment of a nonprofit organization's current state. Any organizational assessment will be a snapshot in time synthesizing the feedback of stakeholders. With the final report in hand, you will be able to make better informed decisions about what your key next steps are for your organization. Why should my nonprofit conduct an org assessment?Gathering candid 360 feedback on your nonprofit organization Making the time to engage in a comprehensive nonprofit organizational assessment with a stakeholder analysis gives you the opportunity to get feedback from all your stakeholders and get a 360 perspective on your organization. Working with a consultant to conduct the assessment will ensure that you get more candid feedback. Stakeholders will be more likely to share perspectives with someone outside the organization more directly and frankly. A comprehensive nonprofit organizational assessment provides a rigorous process for getting those views out in the open. Conducting one in-house may mean that you only learn what people think you want to hear. Good practice among high performing nonprofits Conducting a thorough organizational assessment with a focus on stakeholder analysis is a vital practice that sheds light on the multifaceted perceptions of those who interact with your organization at various levels. This is one of the reasons it is considered good practice among high performing organizations. Eight key focus areas of a nonprofit organizational assessmentEight key areas of focus for an overall organizational assessment are your organizational culture, perceptions of your organization’s strengths and areas for strengthening and growth, the workings of your board of directors, staff and volunteer experience and engagement, how decisions are made, as well as stakeholders’ aspirations for the future. Based on conversations with your organizational leadership, there may be additional areas of inquiry that are pertinent at the particular time of the assessment. Mapping your ecosystem: Stakeholder analysisThe initial step to conducting an organizational assessment is to map out your organization’s stakeholders. Who has a stake in your organization’s future? Who are the people and/or groups of people who care about your organization and its mission? These likely include staff and your board of directors at a minimum. Also included are volunteers, those you serve or support, donors, funders, other organizations that you partner with, other related organizations that provide complementary programs to yours, government agencies, policy makers, the community you are situated within and others. Mapping out the ecosystem of people and organizations engaged with your nonprofit provides you with a picture of the network of stakeholders who can help you succeed in pursuing your purpose. In this process, you may also identify individuals and groups who are not yet connected with your organization that could be helpful in achieving your mission. Methods for conducting an organizational assessmentEngaging stakeholders to gather input could happen in a variety of ways. These include 1-1 interviews, focus groups and surveys. The exact combination of approaches will depend on the focus of the assessment as well as the scope of the organization. Stakeholder Interviews Having a consultant conduct 1-1 interviews as part of the organizational assessment provides stakeholders with a confidential and safer space to share their perspectives. Interviews may vary in focus and length depending on the stakeholders. Stakeholder Focus Groups When a consultant facilitates focus groups for your organization, you can hear from a larger group of people that represent a segment of your stakeholders. Those participating in the focus group will learn about their counterparts’ perspectives and conversation may be generated during the focus group as people participating build on each other’s ideas. Participants may be more reticent to share their opinions in a group setting than 1-1. Both interviews and focus groups provide the opportunity to follow up with additional clarifying questions as well as questions to dig deeper to gain more insight into the person/groups’ viewpoint. Thus, both these methods enable you to gain further insights into the lived experience of those participating. Stakeholder Surveys Having a consultant design and conduct a survey for your organization, you can gather information from an even larger group of people. The survey can also be designed to gather input from a variety of stakeholders as the survey can be designed in a way to have certain questions only be answered by individuals who fit certain criteria. Surveys provide you with the opportunity to gather comparative and quantitative data. Drawbacks to surveys include possible lower response rates and the limited capacity to gather input in the respondent’s own words. Including too many open-ended questions in a survey will make it less likely that respondents answer or fully complete the survey. The length and complexity of the survey can also impact the response rate. In addition, it is not possible to follow up in the survey itself for clarification or elaboration as it is in an interview or focus group. Thus combining a survey with interviews and focus groups provides the opportunity to go deeper. Wider Community Engagement As part of the organizational assessment, you may choose to take a wider look at the community you are situated in and conduct a community assessment as well. Again, a stakeholder analysis, design of the inquiry, choice of methods (interviews, focus groups, surveys) would all be steps in the process. Moving from insight to action: How a nonprofit organizational assessment can help kick start your nonprofit’s next strategic plan. Once an organizational assessment is complete, the consultant will share the synthesis of the input that has been gathered in a set of findings. Typically, this will happen as one or a series of facilitated sessions. This could include a cascade sharing the findings with leadership and then staff, board, and other stakeholders. Once the findings have been shared, the group will need to make meaning of it. You heard “what” in terms of the themes coming out of the feedback – and often – a set of recommendations from the consultant. What meaning do you make of this? What surprises you? What confirms what you were already thinking? What are the implications of these findings for your organization? What next steps or actions do you need to take based on the assessment? A nonprofit organizational assessment is the first step in a strategic planning process, so in deciding what your next steps are you may decide you are well positioned to engage in strategic planning for your next 3-5 years. Related posts: Strategic planning process for nonprofits: 5 steps to a plan that supports your vision Bringing issues out in the open Often people are surprised by the level of commonality and agreement within the findings. Though they may not yet have shared these thoughts and attitudes out loud with colleagues, they learn that others are thinking similar things to them. The assessment provides context and opportunity to get those views out in the open and on the table. It creates space to have conversations and discuss issues that may not emerge in the day to day running of your organization. When there are challenging issues to confront, having a consultant conduct the assessment and facilitate the dialogue about the findings provides a safer psychological space to have the hard conversation that needs to happen to make progress. Closing the loop with all stakeholders Stakeholders engaged in the process of gathering data all need to hear something back about the process. You will likely share different levels of detail from the findings with different stakeholder groups. But it is critical to close the loop with anyone you involve in the process. One of the benefits of engaging stakeholders in an assessment is that it can strengthen the relationship with your organization. Yet if those stakeholders do not hear anything back about the results, it can actually have a detrimental impact on the relationship. Let them know highlights of what you heard and even more importantly what you plan to do based on the feedback. The benefits and outcomes of a nonprofit organizational assessmentThe insights garnered from confidential interviews, dynamic focus groups, and comprehensive surveys, especially when guided by an external consultant, can unveil truths that may not surface in everyday internal communications. With candid feedback, facilitated by a consultant's neutral stance, nonprofits can navigate the delicate intricacies of internal and external expectations. It's a process that fosters a culture of transparency, encourages inclusive dialogue, and strengthens the collective resolve to advance the mission.
With the findings in hand, the real work begins—interpreting the 'what' to discern the 'so what' for your organization. This critical evaluation leads to the 'now what,' where the synthesis of feedback and recommendations propels informed decision-making. It's a moment for collective reflection, and a chance to align your nonprofit's trajectory with the genuine needs and aspirations of your stakeholders. As the assessment culminates and you translate the feedback into actionable insights, you tap into the collective wisdom and engagement of your stakeholders with every person linked to the nonprofit's vision. This isn't just about closing the feedback loop; it's about opening a gateway to continuous improvement and impactful change. |
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Grace Social Sector Consulting, LLC, owns the copyright in and to all content in, including transcripts and audio of the Mission: Impact podcast and all content on this website, with all rights reserved, including right of publicity.
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