Fundraising Leadership--What does it take?

John Wayne--True Grit (1969)

I recently completed Ron Schiller's excellent book, The Chief Development Officer: Beyond Fundraising. It's well worth reading, and I can recommend Ron's work to you without reservation, especially if you are considering the Chief Development Officer Role (CDO) now, or in the future. 

While Ron focuses primarily on the CDO, my own work as a leadership coach tends to focus on mid-career fundraising leaders at the Director level (including Senior and Executive), as well as the AVP level (Assistant and Associate Vice President).  You are our future CDOs!

I love working with individuals in these roles because they are still very much interested in learning and growth.  And they are NOT learning about fundraising.  With at least ten years of frontline fundraising under their belts, these extraordinary folks are focused on strengthening their management skills, while also growing their leadership edge.  It's important to remember that while management is about what you do in an organization, leadership is about who you are.

What I notice about the most successful among these mid-career leaders is that they are gritty.  It's a quality that I admire greatly, and which can be loosely defined as possessing unyielding courage and resolve in the face of adversity.  Some close synonyms include: 

• Pluck
• Fortitude
• Hardiness
• Tenacity
• Perseverance

Can you imagine a successful fundraising leader in today's large and complex non-profit organizations without a strong dose of it?

Today's post is brief.  The main purpose is to start a conversation and encourage comments in response to a simple question:

What qualities (other than grit) do you see in the mid-career fundraising leaders you admire most?

Twerps, Jerks, and Other Petty Tyrants

Growing up my father used the expression "twerp" as a pejorative slur for any leader not meeting his high standards for character.  As a man with a strong moral compass and a rock-solid ethical foundation who is held in high regard by his family, friends, students, and colleagues, I can assure you that any leader decried as a twerp by my father was summarily dismissed as not worthy of further consideration.

Yes, that's a bit harsh.  Yes, that's judgmental.  Yes, that's dismissive.  And, yes, there is wisdom in making such assessments of leaders (sooner, rather than later).  After all, the world is not yet replete with saints who step into leadership roles.  While I was blessed to have worked with some wonderful leaders in the corporate and non-profit sectors over 30 years, I can also report that I had my fair share of encounters with twerps, jerks, and other petty tyrants.  And, need I comment on similar "characters" we observe on the modern politic stage at the local, regional, national, and global level?

This is nothing new.  Recorded history gives us innumerable examples of leaders to emulate (or not) from Hammurabi to Hitler.  My own inclination is to follow the path of the "Bodhisattva", or one who is motivated by great compassion to achieve enlightenment not only for my own benefit, but for the benefit of all sentient beings.

I recognize that the Bodhisattva path is tall order, and it's not for everyone.   So, if you are drawn to leadership (or, already a leader) and at a point where you are unsure how to proceed, I recommend consideration of the following inquiry:

Who am I?

And....

What impact do I want to have in the world?

Simple, but not easy.  I believe that if you ask yourself these two questions over and over again until the answers become more clear, you'll be well on your way.

The One Skill Every Fundraiser Must Cultivate

Learning to say NO!

That's right.  For a profession consisting of tens of thousands of individuals trained in the art of inspiring folks to say YES, the most important skill fundraisers (especially fundraising leaders) can cultivate is saying NO.

You may ask: "How can that be?", and you may be thinking: "I've been conditioned much of my professional life to say yes."  And therein lies the rub.  Many of the fundraising leaders with whom I work as a professional coach have a very strong "Pleaser Saboteur".  A saboteur as defined by Shizard Chamine in his NY Times bestselling book Positive Intelligence is an automatic and habitual mind pattern with its own voice, beliefs, and assumptions that works against our best interests.  And, by definition a saboteur is insidious.  It works in the shadows in a gradual, subtle way with harmful effects.

In particular, the Pleaser Saboteur indirectly tries to gain acceptance by helping, pleasing, or flattering others.  The negative impact of the Pleaser is often one of burnout, as I observe fundraising leaders saying yes to far too many unimportant (although perhaps urgent) tasks that come their way.

So what is a leader to do?  Just say no?  As simple as it seems, that would be a very good start.  I've previously written about my own less is more philosophy.  In that post, I offered an inquiry: "Can we simplify our lives, and thereby make them more meaningful?"  I believe we can, and Greg McKeown is his excellent book Essentialism: The Disciplined Pursuit of Less  eloquently expands on the inquiry.

McKeown, a writer, speaker and Harvard Business Review blogger, offers concrete advice on how to deliberately focus on the vital few priorities that really count and dispense with the rest.  McKeown observes (as I have) that many professionals are over-busy and over-committed.  They continue to say yes to ever more commitments and deadlines without asking the following questions:

Is this truly essential?
How important is this to me?
What do I really want here?
Is this really how I want to choose to spend my time?
How is this aligned with my values and purpose?

I believe if you are truly honest with yourself (and ignore the voice of your Pleaser) when answering these questions, you will say NO to upwards of 90% of the requests and opportunities that come your way.  And by doing so you will have a much more powerful impact as a leader on your world, and with the people around you

I highly recommend McKeown's book, and I encourage you to incorporate more NO into your life.

Retaining Fundraisers (Hint: It's NOT All About The Money)

In the marketplace for fundraiser talent it is well known that demand currently outstrips supply. As a consequence, advancement and development leaders with whom I interact often describe one of the most (if not the most) significant challenges they face as the recruiting and retaining of frontliners and managers.  While the economic forces of supply and demand are certainly putting upward pressure on salaries, a common misconception about fundraiser retention is that it's "all about the money". 

That's a management and leadership cop-out because we know from multiple published annual employee satisfaction surveys that while compensation is a factor, the other four primary aspects that affect employee engagement retention include opportunities to use skills/abilities, job security, communication with management, and relationship with immediate supervisory (see, for example, the Job Satisfaction and Engagement Survey by the Society for Human Resource Management).

So in addition to economic forces which do play a part, what are some of the other real reasons people leave.  According to employee retention expert Leigh Branham, author of The 7 Hidden Reasons Employees Leave: How to Recognize the Subtle Signs and Act Before It’s Too Late , while most people indicate that they are leaving for more money or a better opportunity, 88% change jobs because of negative factors in their current workplace, ranging from subpar people management to cultural misfit. Branham explains: “Citing increased pay and more opportunity is a convenient thing to say, and managers are all too willing to accept these reasons.”   Branham goes on to identify the top seven reasons people leave as follows:

1) The job or workplace was not as expected.

2) The mismatch between job and person.

3) Too little coaching and feedback.

4) Too few growth and advancement opportunities.

5) Feeling devalued and unrecognized.

6) Stress from overwork and work-life imbalance.

7) Loss of trust and confidence in supervisor or senior leaders.

 

So what is an advancement/development manager or leader to do?  I've written previously about the process of Hiring Great Fundrasiers which addresses reasons 1 and 2.  Providing continuous coaching and feedback is an obligation that managers must take on with gusto.  And let's be clear: feedback is about performance or the "how am I doing?", and coaching is about "where am I going?".  The latter question is related to growth and learning.  Fundraisers are an ambitious group (bordering on hyper-achieving). Nothing is more frustrating for an employee than discovering he or she is out of runway.  In today's environment it is incumbent upon the senior leadership team in larger advancement/development organizations to have a process that reviews all employees in the organization and their opportunities for growth. Branham advises organizations to provide easily accessible information on career paths and competency requirements that spell out how employees can progress.

Reasons 5 and 6 point toward environment and culture.  Fundraising in larger, complex institutions can be stressful and thankless work.  The demands to raise more money are never-ending, and while the donors are thanked for their generosity, fundraisers are frequently overlooked.  Creating an environment of appreciation, recognition, and gratitude not only for donors but also for the fundraisers who work with them goes a very long way on the path of retention.  And while having a culture of appreciation helps folks feel good about the work they are doing, it does address stress and the work/life imbalance that often accompanies the fundraising profession.  Dealing with this factor is among the top reasons mid-career advancement/development leaders hire me as a coach.  One of the ways we work together to reduce stress and overwhelm for them and their teams is to encourage a culture where everyone commits to a culture of play, improvisation, and laughter.  In honoring this commitment, individual look to maximize energy (not manage time), while getting sufficient rest and renewal.

Finally, at the most basic level, fundraisers want to know that they can be successful in their roles and they want to work with leadership that has integrity, and whom they can trust.   All too often (especially with development professionals assigned to an academic unit led by a Dean) I see confusion, competing priorities, lack of vision, and poor alignment/communication.  That, my friends, is a ready-made formula for turnover.  In this regard, Branham (and I) recommends that leaders inspire confidence with a clear vision, a workable plan, and a belief in employees’ competence to achieve it.

Dreamin' Big

This morning I awoke in the pre-dawn hours of my 52nd birthday with a piercing pain reverberating through my chest.  No need call 911, it was not a heart attack.  It was (and is) the pain that one can only experience by taking an inadvertent knee to the chest while rolling with a friend at my local gym (Paulo Riberio Brazilian Jiu Jitsu) yesterday.  It is a pain known only to those who choose (as Teddy Roosevelt said) to "dare greatly".

Many might call this foolhardy.  My own inner critic ("Sledgehammer") is certainly having a field day.  Between the ongoing physiological pain from my bruised rib cage and the psychological beating from Sledgehammer, perhaps a widow making heart attack would have been preferable.  But then again, I am living one of my dreams.  That dream was initially catalyzed by one of my father's returning Vietnam War veteran students who showed me a few moves many years ago so I could defend myself in the inevitable street scraps I experienced as very young boy growing up in Brooklyn.  That dream, which has been with me ever since, was to become proficient in a martial art.  That dream is one small expression of my life purpose.  That dream will take some time, effort, and perseverance to fully manifest (should my body last).  And, there's no guarantee that I'll achieve proficiency.  All I can say is that I am enjoying the path (despite the pain).

I share this story at the urging of my good friend Henna Inam who is manifesting one of her own dreams, which is to bring authenticity into the workplace.  I also share this story to encourage those leaders (fundraising and otherwise) who follow my posts to dream big, and as the authors of The 15 Commitments of Conscious Leadership counsel--live in your zone of genius (Commitment #8).  Yes, sometimes it's scary pursue a dream.  Yes, sometimes you get hurt (emotionally or physically).  Yes, it is uncomfortable to stretch beyond our zone of excellence where we already know our strengths and abilities and can excel with ease.

As fundraising leaders there is a temptation to become complacent, play it safe, and strive to hit our numbers each year.  Understandable.  We have families to support, bills to pay, and lifestyles to maintain.  I will assert that no institution (or individual) was ever transformed from that perspective.  Some donors want to fulfill their dreams of helping organizations they care about through their philanthropy, including the deployment of their time, talent, and treasure.  One of the great privileges of the fundraising profession is that we are in the rare position of helping donors dream big, while sharing their joy when those dreams come true.

Leading (and helping others lead) a fulfilled life where one pursues his or her dreams is a radical act.  So I'm curious: what unfulfilled dream do you intend to pursue, and will you wait until you're 52?

Dropping the "F-Bomb" At Work

That's right.  The word thou shalt not utter at work (or in polite company):  FAILURE!

Perhaps you missed a deadline, did not hit the mandated number of donor visits this month, or a donor you've been cultivating for some time said "no, not now" to the proposal you were counting on to achieve achieve your fundraising goal for the year. 

In dysfunctional teams, such "failure" is often met with criticism, shame, blame, and semi-public humiliation.  The implication is: "you're (I'm) a failure".  In high functioning teams, errors like these are met with compassion, growth, and learning.  The reaction is: "what are you (am I) learning" from this?

Not long ago, I wrote a post on the topic of Excellence vs. Perfectionism.  Individuals in perfectionist cultures are driven by the need to always be right.  There is an implicit or explicit the goal of not making any mistakes.  Cultures of excellence on the other hand are driven by curiosity.  Individuals here focus on always doing their best (and they forget the rest).  They know that their best can vary from day-to-day, month-to-month, and even year-to-year.  After all, a junior fundraiser's best is likely not to be as good as that of the veteran fundraiser who has more experience.

As fundraisers it is also important to keep in mind that many of the leaders in our profession became excellent in their craft/trade on the job (they learned by doing).  They went out on donor visits and had conversations  They saw what worked, and even more importantly, they saw what did not work. While it's tempting to believe that somehow we can codify all this knowledge into some compendium that can be read and applied, I believe that's a fool's errand.  A better course of action is to provide a little structure, and allow those in our charge to, as Teddy Roosevelt said: "fail while daring greatly".

Arguably, the following section of Roosevelt's Man in the Arena speech delivered 23-April-1910 at the Sorbonne in Paris, France is the fundraiser's anthem:

"It is not the critic who counts; not the man who points out how the strong man stumbles, or where the doer of deeds could have done them better. The credit belongs to the man who is actually in the arena, whose face is marred by dust and sweat and blood; who strives valiantly; who errs, who comes short again and again, because there is no effort without error and shortcoming; but who does actually strive to do the deeds; who knows great enthusiasms, the great devotions; who spends himself in a worthy cause; who at the best knows in the end the triumph of high achievement, and who at the worst, if he fails, at least fails while daring greatly, so that his place shall never be with those cold and timid souls who neither know victory nor defeat."

So, what kind of culture are you encouraging?  One where F-Bombs are met with celebration or a bar of soap?

Accountability...Without Judgement

In his 2002 business classic, The Five Dysfunction of a Team, Patrick Lencioni describes "Avoidance of Accountability" as one of the core behaviors that teams exhibit when they are dysfunctional.  In Pat's words: "In the context of teamwork...it refers specifically to the [un]willingness of team members to call their peers on performance or behaviors that might hurt the team."

Easier said then done.  Many teams (even ones where the members have excellent interpersonal relationships) avoid accountability because of the possible discomfort involved with having difficult conversations that may be emotionally charged.

Recently, I discussed this topic with a friend who leads a mid-sized manufacturing company that has multiple teams producing products 24/7.  He was wondering if there were any "leading indicators" (or, data) that could predict team accountability.  So far, our research has concluded that there are none we could identify.

Accountability is one of the main reasons executives hire a professional coach, and shareholders/boards hire professional management to run teams. So, as a coach (and when I was running the team at Princeton) here's what accountability looks like (simple example):

Coach/Manager--Will you do X? 
Client/Employee--(Yes, No, Counter-offer).  Yes.  I'll do X.
Coach/Manager--When will you do it by?
Client/Employee--By close of business next Tuesday.
Coach/Manager--How will I know?
Client/Employee--I'll review it with you in our 1:1 next Wed. (I'll email you, I'll text you, I'll call you, etc.)

Next Tuesday 1:1 (or coaching session).  Accountability at the top of the agenda:

Coach/Manager--So, how did it go with X?
Client/Employee--It's done (or, it's not done)
Coach/Manager--(If done)  What was the result?  (If not done) Why not?  What do you intend to do now?
Client/Employee--This was the result.  Or, X is no longer necessary because.....  Or, I tried X and it failed, etc.
Coach/Manager--What did you learn?  (always harvest the learning) What's next?

As a manager, I did this weekly in the staff meeting (so as to create an environment of trust and transparency).  We always started the staff meeting with accountability of action items from the previous week.  Also, it is possible for other members of the team (not just the leader) to hold their teammates accountable in the same manner.  Especially when the action to be taken affects someone else, or someone else's team. As a professional coach working with fundraising leaders, I do this at the top of each coaching session with clients.

To establish an environment of accountability, it's important to do so without judgment or harsh criticism.  That is to say, the coach or the manager (or team mate) does not "judge" the client, employee, or team mate as "bad", "stupid", "lazy", etc., if he or she misses a deadline, chooses to change course (for good reason), or fails in a task.  Of course, should a pattern of missed deadlines/commitments become apparent, then it is incumbent for a manager to have a conversation around performance, and possible dismissal.  In the case of coaching clients, I may even dismiss the client if he or she is not being serious about honoring his or her commitments.  I have done this on a rare occasion.

How To Run a Weekly Staff Meeting That Doesn't Suck

Recently, I've been coaching with a couple of fundraising leaders around the topic of the dreaded weekly staff meeting.  You know the one: boring, sleepy, and life sucking!  The one where the team leader does all the preparation, runs the meeting, and walks out with all the monkeys on his/her back.  Sound familiar?  

Not anymore!  Want your weekly staff meeting to go from sucky to snappy?  Here's how:

1) Review Action Items and Commitments From Previous Week

-No judgement.  Did you do what you said you would do.  If so, what result?  If not, why not?

-Builds trust, commitment, accountability, and transparency for everyone.

2) Lightening Round (create an agenda on the fly)

-Go around the table.  Everyone declares his/her top three/four priorities for the upcoming week.  (These are the BIG ROCKS, not every little meeting or calendar item)

-Each individual can add agenda items on the white board for group discussion.  Best if an admin serves as scribe on the whiteboard.

-Group prioritizes by first urgent/important, then important, then urgent.  Make sure you get to the meat first and not be at the mercy of the urgent.

3) Potential Ad-Hoc Topics

-Every now and then an agenda item comes up in the weekly staff meeting that is so big it requires a separate ad-hoc meetings.  That ad-hoc meeting could be a 1:1, involve several (but not all) members of the team, may require other folks to be present, etc.

-You do not want to bog down the weekly staff meeting with a topic so large that it requires and entirely separate meeting.

-Admin usually takes the action item to schedule the meeting with the necessary individuals after the staff meeting.  It could take place that very same day, or be scheduled for later in the week.

4) Decisions/Actions

-Admin/Scribe reads out all significant action items/commitments (who does what by when) and any important decisions taken.

-Admin/Scribe circulates Decisions/Actions/Commitments to all staff immediately after the meeting.  This becomes the first order of business for next week's meeting (see #1 above).

5) Cascading Messages

-If there is anyone in the staff meeting that has people reporting to him/her, and there were decisions taken that affect those folks, it is very important that information is passed along to those folks by their manager. 

-Getting clarity around this is important.  "Manager X you're doing to let your team know that....."

-Can be added to Actions above.

Added Bonus: Each week rotate who runs this meeting to each member of the team.  By doing so, you offer opportunity for professional development and strengthen the leadership capacity of your team.

I'm indebted to Russ Sabia at the Table Group (http://www.tablegroup.com/consulting/consultants/russ-sabia) for initially suggesting the basic outline of this structure, as well as Laurie Bellero, Rajiv Hota, Kate Norton, and Spencer Reynolds at Princeton who enthusiastically embraced it.

What Is A Mastermind Alliance Anyway?

Recently, I’ve been discussing the topic of #Mastermind Alliances with several fundraisers who are forming or want to form one.  What exactly is such an Alliance? 

The term “Mastermind Alliance” was introduced into the popular lexicon in 1937 by Napoleon Hill who published the self-development classic, Think and Grow Rich which was the progenitor of the category.  In that book, Hill described a Mastermind Alliance as “the coordination of knowledge and effort, in the spirit of harmony, between two or more people, for the attainment of a definite purpose”.  This post offers an outline for the formation and operation of a productive Mastermind Alliance.

The first step in establishing such a group is for the leader (or co-leaders) to adopt a purpose, intention, or “stake” for the alliance, choosing individual members whose education, experience and influence are such as to make them invaluable in supporting the purpose.  For example, development leaders in non-profits often establish and facilitate councils to help guide fundraising efforts.  In my own past, I established a group of business executives that met as a roundtable to advance the mission of a business school from which they had graduated.  Whenever doing so, it is essential to consider each candidate for membership in the light of his or her ability, personality, and willingness to help and cooperate with other members of the group in the spirit of harmony.

Once members have been identified and recruited, the next step is to establish a definite date and time for the members of the alliance to meet.  The meeting can be conducted in-person, or via telephone/video call.  Depending on the purpose and context, the group can meet as frequently as necessary.  What I have found works best is a pace of weekly (or every other week) meetings for about an hour.    The environment should be one where everyone has an opportunity to connect, and where each member may speak freely with confidentiality, and without fear of judgment or reprisal from the others.

Once the group is established, it is incumbent upon the leader (or co-leaders) of the alliance to ensure that action is forwarded and learning deepened in support of fulfillment of the group’s purpose.   The leader or co-leaders should come to each meeting with a topic or topics that support the group’s purpose while keeping everyone aligned to the stake or intention.   The major strength of such an alliance consists in the blending and contribution all its members. From that blending comes creativity, inspiration, encouragement, support, and action.

One final note.  There are no hard and fast rules as to the number of individuals recommended for an alliance. The number should be guided by the nature and magnitude of the intended purpose.   In general, it is best to have as few members as possible in order to accomplish the purpose while maintaining an atmosphere harmony and collaboration.  Groups of 4, 6, 8, 12, and up to 24 all work well.  For example, right now, I am in the process of forming a Mastermind Alliance of about a dozen to two dozen leaders from the non-profit and corporate sectors to cross pollinate best practices from those sectors while growing our leadership competency by reading and discussing The 15 Commitments of Conscious Leadership.  Feel free to contact me if you’d like to learn more.

The Four Essential Elements of Leadership

In Season 2, Episode 9 of the Nickelodeon animated series Avatar: The Last Airbender, Uncle Iroh describes to his nephew (Zuko) the culture of the Four Nations as follows:

Fire--The element of power.  The people of the Fire Nation have desire and will.  They also possess the energy and drive to achieve what they want.

Earth--The element of substance.  The people of the Earth Kingdom are divers and strong.  They are persistent and enduring.

Air--Air is the element of freedom.  The Air Nomads detached themselves from worldly concerns and found peace and freedom. Also, they have pretty good senses of humor.

Water--Water is the element of change.  The people of the Water Tribe are capable of adapting to many things.  They have a deep sense of community and love that holds them together.

As I watched the episode this week with my younger daughter, it occurred to me that Iroh's lesson to Zuko is a wonderful metaphor for leadership.  And, as he rightly observes: "It is the combination of the Four Elements in one person that makes the Avatar so powerful." 


So, I ask: as a leader, which of the elements have you mastered, and which require further development?

Commencement: A Beginning or Start

Now that we have mostly concluded the "Commencement Season" in education circles, it is time to pause, celebrate, and consider what is on the horizon.  

It is so easy to get stuck in the perspective that Commencement (a.k.a. "Graduation") is somehow an ending rather than a beginning.  Paradoxically it is both.  My older daughter who is moving up from middle school to high school declared that she wanted to burn all her notes from 8th grade in the fire pit so that she could ceremonially declare her passage.  I'm actually inspired by this suggestion, and looking forward to dancing with her around the campfire.

Whether you are a fundraiser in higher ed, a corporate executive, or a professional working in a non-profit, the month of June is a great time to take stock on what you've accomplished during the first six months of the calendar year.  Pause, and revisit your vision board (or annual action plan).  Where are you on track?  What is complete?  What is no longer necessary?  Where do you want to redouble your efforts?  What are you most proud of?

For me, one of the great accomplishments over the past six months was to launch www.freedomretreat.org.  It's a week-long leadership retreat this coming September for executives, managers, non-profit professionals, and business owners who want more liberation in their personal and professional lives.  While the date of the retreat is clearly on the horizon, it has been several months of satisfying work pulling it all together.  

I encourage you to block out some time this month to reflect on the first half of the year, congratulate yourself, and commence projects that will fulfill you for the remainder of 2015.

Freedom. Live it, Love it, Lead it.

Yesterday, as I honored veterans (living and dead) who have served the United States of America in the military, my thoughts turned to freedom.   What is it?  How do we live it every day?  What would it mean if we could encourage others to embody it, and what is possible if we radiate it outwards to all corners of the world?

As part of this inquiry, my memory drifted back to 1969 and Richie Havens (a kid from Brooklyn, NY) during his opening act of Woodstock, where after three hours of performing he completely improvised the song Freedom, which was loosely based on an old spiritual "Motherless Child".  The song became an anthem for that generation and launched Havens' long career. 

Nearly 200 years earlier, a small group of men representing the thirteen American Colonies then at war with Great Britain declared their independence from the King and asserted that: "We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness."  

With the stroke of a pen, that pithy, treasonous assertion called into question nearly the entire history of the human social order.  It is an assertion that is tested to this very day.  And, as the Founding Fathers of the United States of America rightly reasoned, liberty starts with the individual.  

I am blessed to live in a country (the USA) where individuals are still relatively unencumbered to live, love, and lead their lives with a modicum of freedom.  Yet, in the nearly 250 years since the signing of the Declaration of Independence more than ever we live in an interdependent world where economic forces (as much as political power) shape the events of our existence.  How then, do we actualize our unalienable right to liberty when economic and institutional forces seem to shape nearly all of our decisions?

The exploration of answers to these questions requires more attention than is typically reserved for a blogpost.  If you are interested in achieving more freedom and liberation in your personal and professional lives, then I encourage you to join a small group of exquisite executives, managers, non-profit professionals, and business owners who will be gathering on retreat in Colorado this September to develop some answers.  We'll be smashing limiting beliefs while learning how to lead on purpose in concert with our personal (and organizational) values.  We will activate creativity and innovation in order to dissolve scarcity consciousness.  Our aim is no less than to unleash joy and abundance at work and at home.

This retreat is not for the faint of heart. Freedom is a conscious choice. Choose to join a group of leaders in Colorado this September and start on the path of liberation. Go to Freedom Retreat to learn more.

Leading From The Field

No, not the athletic field, nor the field of battle.  The field to which I refer is the one described by investigative journalist and author Lynn McTaggart in her book by the same name.  It is, in short, what physicists describe as web of energy that connects all matter in the universe.

Uhhhh, Ok!  So, how does one lead from there?  That was the question that I was exploring with 28 exquisite leaders on retreat last week in the Blue Ridge Mountains of North Carolina.  Prior to the retreat, these leaders read and discussed the book Presence, which pointed us in the right direction.  In that book, Peter Senge, et. al. developed a model for change leadership called the "U" curve, or "Theory U".  That model is depicted in the illustration that accompanies this post.

This is a very different kind of leadership.  It requires stillness and non-doing.  That's right--no action.  I can share that I really struggle with this.  For many, many years one of my mantras was: "when in doubt, do something" (and see what happens).  The new way of leading that I am exploring is more like: "when in doubt, do nothing".  This "non-doing" represents nearly two-thirds of the Theory-U model.  It requires significant periods of quiet time when we just observe, open our heart-minds, and sit with not knowing.  In Lynn McTaggart's terms, we might call this sensing what is needed from the energy of the field.

I want to be clear that there is action in this mode of leadership.  However, it is not the Energizer Bunny kind action that is so commonplace today.  It is action that comes in the form of powerful "experiments" or "rapid prototyping" from a place of clarity.  It is action that is informed by inspiration and enthusiasm.  It is action that is life affirming and "feels right".

As part of our leadership retreat, we spent 24 hours in complete silence--partly in nature.  In addition to that, I turned off all electronic devices for nearly a week and did almost no reading.  It felt like a cleanse.  I come back to the world with a renewed vigor and a commitment to lead in a different way.

How about you?  What is possible when you quiet your mind, sense the field, and then take rapid, powerful action from there?

Leading From "I Am"

"Be still and know that I am God"--Psalm 46:10.


In several recorded retreats, Eckhart Tolle explores the depth of this passage from the Old Testament.  He points out that each part of the phrase is a synonym for the other.  Be: Being.  Still: Stillness.  Know: Knowing.  I am: I am'ness.  God: The One/Source/Universe/Intelligence.

As a leader, knowing who you are and leading from that perspective can be very powerful.  The trick is to first become aware of your authentic self ("I Am") and understand your impact on others.  The next trick is to always remember to tap into this strength when leading.

On the awareness front there are several good instruments for gaining insight into behavior (Myers-Briggs) and motivation (Enneagram).  I (and many leaders I know) have done significant self exploration through these tools.  While helpful, these personality indicators may not go quite far enough.  Over the years, Henry Kimsey-House (co-founder of the Coaches Training Institute) refined an I Am typing system for leaders that he developed in his youth by working with actors.  These leadership styles are more fully explored by Henry in his book The Stake which I recommend without reservation.

Being aware of one's most authentic and compelling leadership style is a start.  Leading "on-type" is another matter.  Over the years we become conditioned to put on certain personas (or masks) in certain circumstances.  By doing so, our authenticity becomes diminished, and while we may be able to achieve certain nominal results in the short run, transformational results are rarely achieved in the long run.

So, how do we stay on-type? One way is to tap into our inner authority.  In the coaching context, we call this our "Captain", or inner leader who has access to unlimited wisdom, compassion, courage, clarity and certainty.  Our Captain can help us stay on-type, even when external circumstances or people attempt to steer us off course.  If you do not know who your Captain is, then I strongly suggest you work with a Co-Active coach to get acquainted with that side of yourself.  If you do know your Captain, then let (him, her, it) guide your leadership.

What Kind of Leader Are You?

Throughout history, one signature of great leaders is that they possessed a moral compass.  Sadly, today we find many leaders in the public, private, and nonprofit sectors lacking the virtuous lodestone necessary for the compass to point toward true magnetic moral north.  Instead, we see so called “leaders” whose compass needles appear to point only toward themselves in what we might refer to as a culture of narcissism. 

In contrast, from the Buddhist tradition we have a fine example of leadership to emulate in the path of the  Bodhisattva, or anyone who is motivated by great compassion to achieve enlightenment, not for his own benefit, but for the benefit of others.  In the Mahayana teachings, there are three metaphors that describe Bodhisattva leadership, and they are: 1) The Monarch, 2) The Ferryman, and 3) The Shepherd.

The Monarch as Leader

The Monarch is a leader who gathers and uses power solely for the benefit of his or her subjects.

The Ferryman as Leader

The Ferryman is a leader who has the primary orientation of “we’re in the same boat” and brings great empathy and understanding.

The Shepherd as Leader

The Shepherd is a leader who will put the welfare other people before himself.

So, which kind of leader are you, or do you strive to be?