Lens on Leadership
Two-minute tips for leaders on how to create the types of vision, plan, and culture that will move the needle for your mission.
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3 Tips for Making Asks that Get a “Yes”
Don’t beat around the bush. If you need someone’s help to make your mission a success, ask - in a way that is clear, explicit, and shows that you value your relationship with them.
5 Powerful Questions to Unlock New Ideas
When you wrestle with a big challenge, asking the right question to reframe the issue can remove mental obstacles to your creativity and help you unlock new ideas.
Get Unstuck: From Roadblocked to Resolved
It’s no fun feeling stuck. Thorny issues can totally consume your energy. Working with an independent guide can help you get unstuck - quickly - so you can get back to focusing on your mission.
Get Unstuck: Find the First Move
Having a realistic first move to get from where you are to where you’d like to be is the final step in getting unstuck. Finding your way is much easier with these three techniques.
Get Unstuck: Envisioning a Better Future
After getting clear on what's at the heart of your challenges, get unstuck by envisioning a future in which those circumstances have changed for the better.
Get Unstuck: Getting to the Heart of the Issue
Getting a handle on the heart of the problem makes it easier to decide where to focus your limited time, attention, and resources.
5 Ways to Be an Awesome Mentor
Mentoring others is one of the great joys of being a leader. It’s also an important part of building your organization’s capacity.
3 Myths about Rest (Debunked by Athletics)
We all know rest is important. And we often go about it all wrong - undermining our performance, our mood, and our overall wellbeing. Here's how to rest effectively.
Progress vs. Togetherness
Making progress takes a lot of pushing. Making change last requires everyone to advance together. Effective leadership requires that you strike the balance.
3 Myths About Assertiveness that Undermine Leadership
In a highly collaborative environment, you might worry that you’ll come across as repetitive, overconfident, or even rude if you are assertive. But the exact opposite is true.
What the Declaration of Independence Demonstrates about Strategy
If it’s time to take your organization in a new direction, start with a compelling vision – perhaps modeled on the Declaration of Independence.
3 Keys to Balanced Boards
Commitment to your mission is not the only factor in your board’s effectiveness. Boards must also balance their governance capacity and their understanding of your organization's character.
We Need to Talk
Worried about the consequences of bringing up an uncomfortable topic? The consequences of staying silent are often more concerning.
4 Steps to Uncompromising Inclusion
It is tempting to exclude voices that conflict with our mission. Practice inclusivity without compromising your values by listening to legitimate stakeholders, even if you don't adopt their input.
Embrace Your Uniqueness
Embrace what makes you *you* (as an individual or as an organization), instead of conforming to limiting beliefs about how you “should” be.
When Your Purpose Feels Uncertain
Uncertainty about your purpose can feel daunting, but it’s perfectly normal. Finding your “next closest” purpose can help you break through the logjam as you continue to seek clarity.
Ready… Set? Stop.
Growth sometimes requires that we stop doing what no longer serves our mission. Get clear on what's not working, and how to guide your team through the transition to something better.
Conserve Energy, Not Time
Busy leaders may try to maximize their efficiency by doing as much as they can in as little time as possible. But the toll on your energy may cause this approach to backfire.
When Your Success Depends on Someone Else
Partnerships help you have impact beyond your in-house capacity. They also introduce risks. Use careful planning to ensure partnerships improve, rather than threaten, your chances of success.
Avoiding vs. Leaning Into Discomfort
Emotional discomfort is our body's way of telling us we need to change something to protect ourselves, or we need to change something inside ourselves.