I frequently hear from managers in nonprofits that it’s frustrating that so much of the management information available can’t really be implemented in their specialized environment.
I was dumfounded the first time I heard that and asked why not; I’ve ask the same question every time since (a lot of times) and get similar answers.
These usually fall in one of two broad categories
they are focused on “doing good” unlike “business;” and/or
they are staffed by volunteers.
I have an accounting friend who hears similar reactions when he insists on good accounting practices and financial controls.
Many say that they are more comfortable with leadership advice, since communicating a vision is part of their job description, but setting standards, developing and implementing accountability and then holding people to them feels too “corporate.”
When this happens I usually refer them to take a look at the path blazed by the Robin Hood Foundation and, more recently, read the interview with Tachi Yamada, M.D., president of the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation’s Global Health Program
These five random comments from Yamada are no different than what you’ll hear from any manager skilled in driving innovation, productivity and finding solutions through his people.
I think the most difficult transition for anybody from being a worker bee to a manager is this issue of delegation. What do you give up? How can you have the team do what you would do yourself without you doing it?
That probably was the most important lesson I learned — that what’s out there is more important than what you already know, and that you’d better go out and learn what it is out there that you don’t know.
So what I learned from him is that when you actually are with somebody, you’ve got to make that person feel like nobody else in the world matters. (no cell no blackberry)
One of the things I’ve learned is that you can’t go into an organization, fire everybody and bring in everybody you want. You have to work with the people you have. … Everybody has their good points. Everybody has their bad points. If you can bring out the best in everybody, then you can have a great organization.
Read the interview and understand that what he talks about applies equally well to small, local non-profits as it does to the multibillion dollar organization he runs—not to mention for-profit businesses of any size.
I have no idea if George Orwell’s Animal Farm is still required reading, but it should be. In it is one of the most brilliant bits of insight on the human condition ever written; one that is as applicable now as when it was written and will continue to be as long as humans exist. “All animals are equal but some animals are more equal than others.”
Many of the quotes you find from Orwell are political, and I skipped those and looked instead for those that I thought applied to the workplace.
If you’re old enough to have watched a few generations grow to adult status you’ll recognize the truth in these words, “Every generation imagines itself to be more intelligent than the one that went before it, and wiser than the one that comes after it.” And Orwell said that before the Millennials were even gleams in their grandfathers’ eyes.
In business there is much talk about the importance of vision and how it must be communicated effectively, so that everyone understands. Orwell said, “But if thought corrupts language, language can also corrupt thought.” In hindsight, you can see how these feed off each other over and over corrupting the actions that result from the thought and the language.
That kind of corruption can be stopped in its tracks by following another Orwell recommendation, “Sometimes the first duty of intelligent men is the restatement of the obvious.”
Anytime I can include ’sex’ in a post my stats improve for that day. And if the sex is combined with ‘leadership’ they go up even more.
I want to thank Steve Pearlstein and Raju Narisetti, who write On Leadership for the Washington Post, for offering up both sex and leadership in the same post along. See how the 11 panelists and dozens of readers responded to this question and then come back and tell me what you think.
Why do so many leaders fall prey to confusing power with sexual charisma? Do leaders face more personal temptations than the rest of us?
In this Knowledge@Wharton interview, Cathie Black, president of Hearst Magazines, explains why you shouldn’t “hide in a corner.” She also knows the value of sex and leadership and incorporates both in various forms, together and separately, in her media empire.
Hearst’s stable of 15 magazines includes some of the best-known titles in the business, including Cosmopolitan,Esquire, Good Housekeeping,Harper’s Bazaar,O: The Oprah Magazine,Popular Mechanics,Redbook and Town & Country.
Speaking of leaders, here’s one who qualifies no matter how you rate her. Meet Ursula Burns, Xerox’s new CEO and see what she is doing to change its culture. Burns’s background is a long way from the typical Fortune 100 and her parent is even further away.
She grew up in ”the Projects,” a large low-income housing community on Delancey Street in Manhattan. … Ms. Burns was the middle child of three…her mother took in ironing and ran a day care center from home.
Last week I shared the information that Texas pretty much dictates what goes in K-12 textbooks—scary thought.
But change is in the wind—an amazing change that’s been a long time coming.
Math and English instruction in the United States moved a step closer to uniform – and more rigorous – standards Wednesday as draft new national guidelines were released.
The effort is expected to lead to standardization of textbooks and testing and make learning easier for students who move from state to state.
The support includes the National Governors Association and the Council of Chief State School Officers so it may actually happen.
Unlike typical efforts that are diluted by politics and ideology, the new standards are fact savvy.
According to Chris Minnich, director of standards and assessment for the Council of Chief State School Officers, the foundation of the standards is hard research, instead of negotiation.
Unlike most efforts to revise standards at a state level, this document was not built on consensus, “We really used evidence in an unprecedented fashion.”
48 states are participating; three guesses which states opted out and the first two don’t count.
Right, Texas and Alaska. (Why am I not surprised?)
“Texas has chosen to preserve its sovereign authority to determine what is appropriate for Texas children to learn in its public schools,” Scott wrote in a letter to U.S. Sen. John Cornyn, R-Texas. “It is clear that the first step toward nationalization of our schools has been put into place.”
Happily, this should break Texas’ de facto control of textbook content as well as those dreams of taking control of the government via a brainwashed next generation.
These standards were created with an eye to having kids ready for work or college, which is very different than just having them graduate.
The draft report also addresses the debate over how much should be expected from immigrants who are just learning English. An introduction to the standards explains that English language learners should be held to the same standards but should be given more time and instructional support to meet the requirements.
Students with disabilities should also be challenged to master as many of the standards as they can, the document argues.
It’s also different because Federal funding is involved, not just an edict.
Enron is back in the news because Jeff Skilling’s appeal is currently in front of the Supreme Court (his sentence may be reduced or overturned on a technicality).
Arthur I. Cyr, Clausen Distinguished Professor at Carthage College, offers an interesting commentary on Skilling, the Enron debacle and Arthur Andersen.
Leadership personality is telling in any organization. Skilling from early days as a McKinsey consultant was notorious for an exceptionally aggressive, grasping style. Business author and former colleague Tom Peters described him as apparently able to “out-argue God.”
The damage that attitude causes knows no bounds and holds true wherever it is found.
Enron, stock option backdating and finally the derivatives of the financial meltdown are all from the same seeds.
In hindsight, Enron’s death was symptomatic of growing global problems. In an age of great prosperity and exceptionally cheap credit, people fairly easily could put greed before good judgment.
Greed before good judgment says a lot, but not quite all.
Even when greed isn’t the driving force there is ideology—an inflexible force that proponents claim eliminates the need for any judgment at all.
Good management, however, requires flexible, insightful human strengths. Regulation and law enforcement only provide context.
Cyr’s final comment sums up the true solution as well as the why rules and even laws don’t work.
I frequently hear from managers in nonprofits that it’s frustrating that so much of the management information available can’t really be implemented in their specialized environment.
I have no idea if George Orwell’s Animal Farm is still required reading, but it should be. In it is one of the most brilliant bits of insight on the human condition ever written; one that is as applicable now as when it was written and will continue to be as long as humans exist. “All animals are equal but some animals are more equal than others.”
Anytime I can include ’sex’ in a post my stats improve for that day. And if the sex is combined with ‘leadership’ they go up even more.
There is no dearth of information available and that is especially true when you are looking to improve your management skills.
Last week I shared the information that 
Enron is back in the news because Jeff Skilling’s appeal is currently in front of the Supreme Court (his sentence may be reduced or overturned on a technicality).
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