Beyond Silos: Building a Collaborative Team Culture
Collaboration among team members helps move an organization forward and make it more effective in reaching its goals. However, many people lack the skills and attitudes that make collaboration...
View ArticleThe 90/10 Rule for Board Members
Among non-profit leaders, there is a saying: “Board members seem to check their brains at the door.” This rude statement reflects CEO frustration with the apparent failure of one or more Board members...
View ArticleManaging Up: How to Manage a Boss, Board member, Even Co-workers
Managing Up – a boss, a Board member, any authority figure – even co-workers! Click the link above for a great article on how the author’s 4 year old daughter provides examples of how to manage up. I’m...
View ArticleLeadership: Bad and Good
Over the years, I’ve talked with so many people who seek new jobs because of their bosses. These are what I would call bad leaders. Bad leaders exert their power in self-serving ways: for instance,...
View ArticleOne Bad Apple Does Spoil the Whole Bunch: Firing Someone Who’s a Bad Fit
Mark C. Crowley, a Twitter “colleague” of mine, recently tweeted this: Have the #courage to weed out employees who make everyone around them miserable. Let go of the non-collaborators & employees...
View ArticleA Leader’s Challenge: Firing People
Firing people from their jobs is one of the worst things I’ve had to do as a leader in a non-profit organization. Laying others off was equally difficult. How could it not be awful? I was directly...
View ArticleBest Leadership Advice I Ever Got
My father, the Rev. Dr. John D. Erickson, was the CEO of two large organizations, one of which was an international non-profit. He mentored me, and gave me a lot of great advice on leadership and...
View ArticleLeading Non-Profits from the Heart, Not the Balance Sheet
Baby boomers, Gen Xers, and now Millennials heed the call to seek meaning in our lives. “Make a difference” is the hope. The entry fee seems low. Just teach the skills from business, and make...
View ArticleLeader or Manager: What Difference Does a Name Make?
Mark Crowley, a writer on leadership I admire greatly, tweeted this weekend: “I’ve honestly never bought into that leader vs. manager dichotomy. If you are going to manage other human beings, you...
View ArticleLeaders Need to Learn “It’s Good Enough”
Years ago, I learned the principle of “good enough.” To be a good leader, I had to accept that people would not do things the same way I did things. They could do things well enough to accomplish the...
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