News & Views

By Michael Hickey, Independent Community Development Consultant - Just recently I attended a very compelling conference put on by The Association for Neighborhood and Housing Development, Neighborhood Housing Services of New York City, and my alma mater the Center for NYC Neighborhoods, entitled The Power of Collaboration. The title of the event comes from the very engaging article “Collective Impact,” published by the Stanford Social Innovation Review. Its authors make the argument that only through collaborative efforts can funders and nonprofit providers rise above the fragmentation of their service niche. The lay out a helpful framework include the following four components of effective collective action:  Read more >>

Thursday, November 17, 2011 | Comments (2) | Trackbacks (0) | Permalink

 

 By Mohan Sikka - The recent Daring to Lead survey of non-profit leadership reveals some interesting facts about the use and efficacy of coaching as a professional development strategy. While Executive Coaching has the highest effectiveness rating amongst a range of strategies, it also appears to be underutilized -- only 10% percent of national leaders were currently working with an executive coach. In the New York region the utilization was even lower, compared to, say, workshops and conferences, which were attended by almost 90% of leaders.  Read more >>

Wednesday, August 24, 2011 | Comments (0) | Trackbacks (0) | Permalink

 

 By Jean Lobell - In an earlier post, I outlined Three Key Issues in Succession Planning. Today’s post is a continuation of the insights I shared on the key elements of a successful succession planning process.  Read more >>

Wednesday, August 17, 2011 | Comments (0) | Trackbacks (0) | Permalink

 

 By Valyrie Laedlein, CRE Co-Director - I’d been looking at data from the Daring to Lead 2011 study about how Executive Directors spend their time – and how they THINK they should be spending their time – and was preparing to write a blog about what prevents us from focusing on “what matters.” Simultaneously, of course, I was reading articles and analyses about the debt ceiling agreement that has been reached in Washington and finding myself increasingly incensed by how the decisions being made by every level of government are impacting our communities, the nonprofits that serve them, and the impossible quandary about just what should get our attention as nonprofit executives.   Read more >>

Monday, August 08, 2011 | Comments (0) | Trackbacks (0) | Permalink

 

 By Mohan Sikka - An intriguing finding of the latest Daring to Lead study is that non-profit executives rate "non-didactic" professional development strategies very highly. The highest rated activities are "Executive Coaching" and "Peer Networks", which are predominantly non-didactic. The next highest rated activity was "Leadership Development Programs". When well-designed like our Leadership Caucus, this also includes multiple non-didactic elements.  Read more >>

Wednesday, July 27, 2011 | Comments (0) | Trackbacks (0) | Permalink

 

 By Jean Lobell - The talk about succession planning tends to be fraught with some anxiety, some confusion, and some misconceptions. My experience is that this can be avoided or at least minimized, if we got clear about three things:   Read more >>

Wednesday, July 20, 2011 | Comments (0) | Trackbacks (0) | Permalink

 

By Valyrie Laedlein, CRE Co-Director - The recent publication of Daring to Lead 2011, the national survey of over 3,000 nonprofit executive directors about their organizations and experiences in leadership, makes plain the nature of the challenge in getting a Board of Directors to make a solid contribution to the nonprofit it governs. The small to medium nonprofits participating in the survey (roughly 2/3 of respondents had organizational budgets of under $3 million) face a particular set of constraints.  Read more >>

Wednesday, July 13, 2011 | Comments (0) | Trackbacks (0) | Permalink

 

By Pavitra Menon - Supervisors are often uncomfortable when the time comes to have that “difficult” conversation with a staff person who has been performing poorly by the supervisor’s reckoning, but who self assesses their performance as quite stellar. How do you tell someone that they are totally missing the mark when they are really expecting a raise and not a reprimand? I think it’s much easier to adopt certain practices at the beginning of an employment relationship that can nip these issues in the bud.  Read more >>

Tuesday, February 15, 2011 | Comments (0) | Trackbacks (0) | Permalink

 

By Holly Delany Cole & Valyrie Laedlein, CRE Co-Directors - In July 2010, the two of us wrote a blog post speaking to the decision that our Board of Directors had made to appoint the two of us to the roles of Co-Directors of Community Resource Exchange.  Read more >>

Tuesday, January 18, 2011 | Comments (0) | Trackbacks (0) | Permalink

 

by Valyrie Laedlein-A search on the internet on the topic of succession planning yields considerable guidance and commentary for and from the corporate sector.  Just this week, Forbes.com ran a story on the Chief Information Officer for Equinix, who has been with the company since 2008 and is already preparing his successor, even though the CIO has no intention of leaving anytime soon.  Raising questions related to who will follow the CEO, the COO, the CIO or any other company’s leader is not considered impolitic in that sector.  Indeed, it is expected and seen as exercising good business judgment.  Grooming rising talent for executive positions is not disrespectful of those currently holding those positions.  Failing to do so is considered irresponsible and short-sighted.  Read more >>

Tuesday, June 15, 2010 | Comments (0) | Trackbacks (0) | Permalink