Staying with Your Vision and Mission

Staying with your Vision/Mission

How do you – or your team members decide whether a project is a good idea or not for you?   All too often my clients (especially my association/non-profit clients) are asked to do something that doesn’t fit their mission but sounds good and certainly would be helpful to others – and so they say YES, when they should be saying “NO, Thank you.”

At a dinner party in my home one evening years ago, Bill was asked by another of my guests to contribute to her charity.  He responded, in his usual courteous manner, “Thank you for asking.  I’m sure it’s a worthwhile cause, but I’ve already selected those organizations I am supporting, and must respectfully decline.”

A careful analysis of your organization’s vision and mission are so essential to deciding where you will be spending resources  If it isn’t B.S. (as so many are) but a comprehensive and clear definition of who you are, why you are and how you are going to achieve your results, it is the guide to all project decisions.

There are so many wonderful projects – creative ideas – and new things to try.  BUT, are they where you should be spending your time.  Working with your teams to help them understand that saying “No, that’s not the right fit for us” is not an insult or being unkind – it is acting in the self-interest of your organization, allowing you to focus on areas that you do best and therefore are of most help to the people you choose to serve.

Management by Intimidation and micro-control

How do you expect to get the best out of people when you treat them badly? I had a very short (and very unsatifying) business relationship with a local non-profit that will remain nameless.

The CEO, who had been with the company all his working life, and had no other working experiences treated everyone with distrust and dislike - under a veneer of charm. I learned when interviewing his employees that no one wanted to be promoted, feeling that they were preserving their jobs by staying under the radar. No one wanted his help and tried avoiding him where ever possible. Really competent people left the firm as soon as they could find other work, and mediocre people kissed up to him and kept their jobs.

Since all the money came from state funding, apparently they have been able to get away with mediocre people doing as little as possible for a very long time.

Waste and Inefficiency Reign Supreme

I recently had the most unusual experience at a client's site. Hired to help them decide how to re-organize, re-assign key employees, and simplify systems, they decided that they liked all their inefficiencies. The overlap among systems was incredible. The over-control of their CEO meant that his key leaders were only given a piece of the information they needed and thus couldn't really make suggestions for any significant improvements. He built his empire by needing more and more employees to do simple tasks - having multiple processes in place requiring more people and time.

He controlled his board absolutely. His money all came from government programs.

Boy, this reminds me of the company my then husband worked for when we were first living in the bay area. This company got its government funding by cost + 10%. That meant that Ray was chastised for completing a job too early - and was told to stall so that the costs would increase.

Empire building in government, corporations and non-profits often leads to incredible waste and inefficiency.

Diamond's to YOU: October, 2010

Hi What a busy month. In addition to teaching and seeing clients, I’ve been busy speaking here and there – something I love to do. I’ve also spent a fair share of time on Facebook, trying my best to stay in touch with friends and to do a little professional networking. This month I am going to add the facebook link to this newsletter (as soon as I figure out how to do it properly.)

Calling Cards/Business Cards

It’s amazing to discover that there are a number of people who are job seekers, or networking professionally and yet don’t have their own business/calling cards. Now that their boss isn’t paying for it, they fail to get themselves a card, which is so essential when meeting new people and wanting them to contact you.

In the old days (before my time, of course!) people carried calling cards. When they stopped by to visit, they would drop their card in the tray in the entry way of the home or business they were visiting. In that way, their host/hostess would know that they’d been by to visit.

Business people always have a card with all their contact information on it. Why not purchase your own card when you are not provided one by your employer? When you decide to have cards made, please don’t be cheap. Cheapness shows. You don’t need to get the most expensive type of card made, but the cheap ones make you look as though you can’t afford anything better. Your card (business or calling) is a reflection on you. Make it a good one.

“Every man builds his world in his own image. He has the power to choose, but no power to escape the necessity of choice.” Ayn Rand “Every person is the creation of himself, the image of his own thinking and believing. As individuals think and believe, so they are.” Claude M. Bristol

Non-Profits and Lexus

What a party! What a concept! What a great gift!
Tonight (Wednesday the 20th) I attended a party given by Lexus Auto in Santa Clara. My friends the DuBois (John, Donna and LaDonn) were the organizers – and according to John, LaDonn did 95% of the organizing and work. I don’t doubt it, knowing her energy and devotion to detail. The party was fabulous. Lots of great food, entertainment, and a superb venue.

I enjoyed seeing some old colleagues and some close friends as well. Mingling was easy because of the way the space was set up. Plenty of room to move around and also a lot of scattered comfortable seating. The food was everywhere. Not only were there food stations, but the wait staff walked around frequently with the tastiest of treats. Of course I blew my diet.

The concept: Lexus is sponsoring an on-line community calendar so that all the non-profits in the area can schedule their events with a minimum amount of overlap on dates. I only hope that it gets well used, and not abused. One of the suggestions I made to a Lexus official (Hi Tim!) was that they find a way to avoid having organizations double and triple book to save tentative and then unused dates.

The gift – well, in addition to holding the party on their rooftop and sponsoring the free flowing food and drinks, Lexus has offered to allow non-profits free use of their roof top for events and also free use of some of their conference rooms for smaller events. My hat is off to Lexus – and to LaDonn DuBois as well as Donna and John.

Seven Ps to Management Success

When preparing for my talk to CSIX, I developed these points. My talk focused on trying to explain to my audience what CEOs were actually wanting and needing when considering hiring.

Yes, of course education, technical skills, etc., are necessary – but in order to think about succession planning, CEOs are concerned to find people who have the necessary soft-skills (interpersonal relationships – communication) to be promoted into management. CEOs look for people with good communication skills, personality, ability to be motivating and creative. They also want A players in A positions.

So, my Ps are: 1. Personable 2. Pleasant 3. Polite 4. Patient 5. Presentation (skills) 6. Persistent 7. Persuasive  

Managing Effective Virtual Meetings

Here are some of the ideas I presented in my talk to the Santa Clara Valley Leadership Association of the National Management Association.

When pre-planning your meeting some of the things you ought to consider include: • Is this meeting necessary – or can e-mail or a phone call do as well?
• How much time do you really need? Informational, a small amount of time. If emotional or creative, more than the typically allotted one hour is better.
• Where should the meeting be held? What time (consider time zone differences)
• Do you have the right people in attendance? Why are they needed?
• What about technical aids – like Skype, Go To Meeting, etc.
• Agenda: Always produce an agenda and supply it beforehand, allowing people to suggest additions and changes. Preparing the people who are expected to contribute to the meeting:
• Do they already know each other? Have they worked together before? • If not, find time before the meeting to let them chat together and learn a little about each other.
• What about the cultural and communication style differences? Are there people who you want to contribute who for whatever the reason don’t speak up in a group or public setting? If so, how can you work with them to get their best ideas? Some observations on Cultural Differences:
• Universalism (decisions based on rational goals – in theory at least) - Particularism (decisions heavily influenced by relationships)
• Individualism (US) v. Communitarianism (the community)
• Rational v. Emotional – Different thinking styles
• Attitudes toward time and Aging