There is only one reason not to engage in strategic planning and that is when the conditions for successful planning are not in place. So what does that mean? What are those conditions? Strategic planning is always a resource-intensive process. Here’s a list of five conditions every organization will want to make sure it has in place before it engages in its planning:

1. Organizational capacity and motivation to monitor and implement the plan, and to hold itself accountable for the outcomes. There’s no sense in spending the time and effort to create a plan only to have it sit on a shelf. If that’s what has happened in past, ask yourselves how this year is going to be different. Why this year must be different? The executive director is surely accountable to the board for the plan’s outcomes; however, the board must never forget that it is, in the final analysis, accountable to its organization’s donors and constitutents.
2. Willingness to take on the organization’s “sacred cows.” The best strategic planning process challenges everyone to think about how the organization can use its resources (time, talent, money) most effectively to impact and advance the mission; for this process to soar, its participants must be invited to respectfully challenge every aspect of the organization.
3. Demonstrable commitment by the board of directors and management to the planning process. By “demonstrable commitment,” I mean to suggest a willingness to be intellectually and emotionally involved in and to otherwise support the process from beginning to end.  
4. Absence of significant organizational conflict or transition at either the board or board/staff level. In order for the board to engage in stategic planning, it will need to be able talk and work together for hours at a time. It will also need to be able to reach consensus about the organization’s priorities. If, for whatever reason, sufficient tension exists at either the board or the board/staff level to make this task impossible or extremely difficult, I recommend the planning be postponed until after the underlying issues can be addressed and resolved.
5. Willingness and ability to commit sufficient resources (and in this case I’m referring to the money) to the planning process. Facilitating your own strategic planning process to save a few dollars is generally inadvisable. When a member of the staff or board is the facilitator, s/he steps out of the role of participant in order to play the role of facilitator and her/his voice is lost from the process.  A professional facilitator is both neutral to the outcome and has no allegiances to particular individuals; her job is to professionally guide the group to the outcome of a well-conceived plan aligned with the mission and grounded in the organization’s resources. A strategic planning process that is effectively done will pay for itself over and over again for years to come.

Nonprofit organizations do amazing work. They are continually asked to do more with less and are rarely given the credit they deserve for making miracles happen. They move at the speed of light — and then strategic planning happens.

Once a year or perhaps every few years, nonprofit organizations slow down just long enough to take a look at themselves. And that’s when the opportunity presents itself; that’s when the organization has the opportunity to do what it’s not permitted to do during the rest of the year by virtue of its day-to-day pace. It is at this moment, that the board and staff members have this delicious opportunity not only to listen to each other, but also to the organization’s external stakeholders. 

As a consultant who interviews stakeholders about the hopes, fears, views, and visions they have for organizations they care so passionately about, I can tell you this is one of the most powerful tools that exists for moving an organization forward.

There are many powerful outcomes from interviewing stakeholders; here are three. 

Quality Data:

Interviews of stakeholders are recommended in order to scan an organization’s environment to find out what key individuals think about the organization’s performance, priorities, and future. The data these interviews generate is as powerful as the questions posed, the process used in selecting stakeholders, and the consultant conducting the interviews and analyzing the data. When the entire process is done well, the data informs the board planning session and the development of long-term goals and objectives. 

Deeper Thinking:

By virtue of being interviewed by an outside consultant, people raise their level of thinking; some will even prepare for their interview. They want to be thoughtful and thorough; they want to share smart ideas which are representative of their best thinking.  As a result, the quality of the feedback they provide in the interviews is generally high. In addition, they often report that they learned a lot from giving the interview, resulting in the internal stakeholders being better prepared going into the board planning session.

Positive Message:

Thirdly, there’s the message your organization communicates when it elects to have its stakeholders (especially its external stakeholders and staff members) interviewed for their opinions. Having interviewed stakeholders, I can tell you that, nearly universally, people appreciate being asked for their views and many even find the process fun; this is so even though the process takes their time (30-60 minutes). In my experience, most are only too happy to give the time.

It is alarmingly rare how often external stakeholders get their voices heard outside of a process like this. In my experience, they want their voices to be heard and, regardless of their level of modesty, believe they have something to offer. So ask! When you do, you will deepen the organizational bond with those stakeholders, raise the quality of the planning conversations, and develop a strategic plan based on the views of your organization’s most valuable players.

It is through the strategic planning process that the board, in collaboration with the staff, sets the organization’s vision. Without this setting and resetting of the organization’s vision, the organization often finds that it has drifted from its mission, wasted the valuable resources entrusted to it, and failed to meet the real needs of its constituents.  

So where to begin? With strategic planning, the end is a great place to start. How does your organization define success? What does success look like? Knowing the definition of success for your organization is essential to writing an effective strategic plan.

 I am a big fan of a 2004 article by Stanford researchers Colby, Stone, and Carttar called “Zeroing in On Impact.” In this article, Colby, Stone, and Carttar discuss two concepts: intended impact and theory of change.

Intended impact and theory of change provide a bridge between a nonprofit’s mission and its programmatic activities. Intended impact is a statement or series of statements about what the organization is trying to achieve and will hold itself accountable for within some manageable period of time.  “Zeroing In On Impact” Colby, Stone & Carttar, Stanford Social Innovation Review (2004).

Using this framework, I recommend your board create an intended impact statement that specifies quantifiable outcomes it can realistically achieve within a set time frame (i.e. five years). This process is best accomplished with the assistance of a competent consultant who will facilitate the process. Properly engaging in this process will require your board to prioritize some desired outcomes over others. To be sure, prioritizing and reaching consensus about desired outcomes are not easy tasks. However, if you’re doing this, your board is engaging in the most important board-level work of the planning process.

While trying to create your organization’s intended impact statement, you’ll explore questions such as:

1. Who are our intended beneficiaries?
2. What are their primary needs?
3. What benefits do our programs/services create?
4. Do the benefits match the needs?
5. What work won’t we do in the coming year(s)?
6. If we could create just three measurable changes in our outcomes over the next five years, what would those be?
7. What work will we take off our plates in order to be more effective?

Once the desired outcomes are prioritized, the staff can more easily prioritize activities and programs based on the degree to which each can contribute to the organization’s desired ends. However, without a set of prioritized outcomes to guide it, an organization can spend a great deal of time, energy, and money on good ideas and well-designed programs and not significantly impact its targeted constituency.

With a well-conceived intended impact statement in place, a strong staff can often engage in critical thinking and planning about theory of change in order to make recommendations back to the board. This involves the staff considering the strategies it has been utilizing to achieve the desired outcomes and whether there might not be more effective ones. The staff is often in the best position to analyze how the organization’s programs might be changed or adjusted in order to more effectively get from resources to impact.

If an organization begins its strategic planning at the end–by defining the most important outcomes it seeks to achieve–it will then truly be able to be strategic with its precious resources, using them to serve its intended beneficiaries in ways that will yield the greatest impact for them and the organization.

January 4, 2010

You don’t need to turn on Saturday cartoons to find a superhero. Today’s nonprofit organizations are filled with them.  Women and men who, time and time again, accomplish what the rest of us think isn’t possible with the resources at hand.

Webster’s describes a “superhero” as having “extraordinary or superhuman powers.” Nonprofit organizations everywhere are led by extraordinary women and men who work long hours and make great sacrifices for their organizations, staff members, and constituents. Their passion is amazing, their commitment to their causes is without end, and their results are truly superhuman.

But here are some questions I raise for our collective consideration: Is the existing model–one that encourages executive directors (and other staff members) to work at superhuman levels day in and day out–one that is in the best interests of any organization? Can this model be sustained for as long as the organization needs to exist in order to achieve its mission? Are we experiencing a greater number of executive transitions as a result of our use of this model? If so, at what cost?

I’m here to suggest we encourage and support today’s executive directors in cutting back on the “superhuman” part. Human, not superhuman, must be the standard that we as boards of directors and as a society accept–and appreciate–from our executive directors and the nonprofits they lead. This is especially true in times where resources are more scarce. Today, executive directors are commonly asked to do more–not less–on less. Say what? Isn’t this the very definition of superhuman?

In order to achieve the organizational change I suggest, the executive director needs the help of the board of directors. If an organization’s key priorities are to be changed–which priorities ultimately drive the allocation of resources, including staff time–the board must make this happen.  When the board of directors takes a proactive step towards realistically adjusting the organization’s priorities, it will move towards a healthier and more sustainable operating model with a leader, not a superhero, at the helm.

-July 18, 2009

Enjoy New Chapter Coaching’s spring newsletter!

A pessimist sees the difficulty in every opportunity -
An optimist sees the opportunity in every difficulty

~ Winston Churchill

So many of us are being tested these days. Hiring freezes. Layoffs. Careers interrupted. Salary reductions. Big belt tightening. Double income families down to single income. Plans changed. Stress. 

With all that’s going on today, it’s easy to have a negative, pessimistic, or fatalistic attitude. It’s easy to think that you just can’t get ahead until the economy turns around. Or until the hiring freeze lifts. Or until your husband gets a new job. Or…. The fact of the matter is that you can start moving forward with your life as soon as you determine to do so. And that’s regardless of the state of the economy. I don’t care what the stock market says or how high the unemployment rate is: if you set your intention on a particular goal, you will achieve it.

That’s because everything you do starts with your state of mind. Your greatest asset is your attitude, if it’s positive, that is. Positive thinking can even make you healthier, according to the Mayo Clinic. The health benefits that positive thinking may provide include:

• Decreased negative stress
• Greater resistance to catching the common cold
• A sense of well-being and improved health
• Reduced risk of coronary artery disease
• Easier breathing if you have certain lung diseases, such as emphysema
• Improved coping ability for women with high-risk pregnancies
• Better coping skills during hardships

No one understood the power of positive thinking better than Christopher Reeve. He lived it. But we aren’t all models for the example of how Mr. Reeve lived his life. The majority of us wrestle with negative self-talk that sabotages our advancement and growth.

Below is a chart from the Mayo Clinic with (on the left) common negative self-talk and how you might apply a positive thinking twist.

If Mr. Reeve were still alive and were here, I’m rather confident he’d remind us that you don’t have to be Superman to rid yourself of the gremlins in your head! It does, however, take daily practice and lots of regular reinforcement. And, of course, a good coach can always help. Whether you’ve decided to stay the course or create change during these challenging times, doing so with your most positive attitude is a key to success!

Suggested Action Items

1. When a negative thought comes into your head, make a note of it, and send it on its way. The more aware of what you’re saying you are the more control you’ll have over stopping the talk. Tell yourself that you no longer have any use for such thoughts in your life. Remember that they are only thoughts. They are not facts. Repeat: They are only thoughts.
2. Make a record of your negative self-talk. Once written down, I have options for you. (Of course, you can identify others that feel right for you.) Having reduced the thought to writing, one option is to immediately discard it. In other words, file the negative thought where it belongs. See # 3 for a second option.
3. Analze the negative self-talk for patterns. After writing a week’s worth of negative self-talk in a special diary or notebook, review it for patterns that might be helpful to you. For example, are you more negative about yourself or others? Would your friends agree with what you’ve said about yourself? Is there objectively, any factual basis for what you’ve said? This process will help you further let go of the negative thoughts and hasten the process of ending the negative self-talk.

Our current economy is creating challenges for the nonprofit sector, a sector historically strained to generate the revenues it must have to meet the ever-expanding needs of the millions of individuals it serves each year. During average years, nonprofit executives are called upon to demonstrate inspired leadership and creative vision. During these unprecedented times, however, the demands on nonprofit executives are greater than ever.

With increased costs and reduced revenue, many nonprofit organizations are facing deficits. For some executives, this is new and uncharted territory. They are faced with decisions about cost containment and whether to reduce services and/or personnel. These decisions are often among the most difficult decisions an executive faces. These are times when confidence and competence are paramount in an executive.

In challenges I see opportunities and this challenge is no different. This economic shift provides a board of directors (and other stakeholders) with a critical opportunity to see more clearly an organization’s capacity to weather storms and its leader’s strength and effectiveness to lead the organization in difficult times as well as good.  As Warren Buffet famously said “[i]t’s only when the tide goes out that you learn who’s been swimming naked.”  The tide has indeed gone out for many nonprofit (and for-profit) organizations. Without strong leadership, both at the executive and board levels, there is little doubt but that many nonprofit organizations will fail in our current economic climate. Alternatively, though, if organizations act early and proactively to strengthen their leadership and identify and address any weaknesses, they are likely to come through this turbulent period a stronger organization.

Suggested Action Items:

1. Board Members: Have you conducted a review of your executive director in the past year? A performance review (ideally a 360 review) should be conducted annually (more frequently in first year). It is recommended that the review include a self-evaluation to be completed by the executive director. The evaluation process provides a good opportunity to discuss the following with the executive: roles and responsibilities; priorities; expectations; professional development in the coming year, etc. Executive Directors: If your board has not reviewed you, ask for it from your Board Chair, first verbally and then in writing. 
2. Make time to review the current year’s strategic plan and financials. This data is critical to realistically projecting performance in the coming year. Compare what you set out to do this past year with what you actually accomplished in all priority areas. In those areas where you fell short, identify what happened and whether the factors will be in play again in the coming year.
3. Consider retaining an independent third party to conduct an organizational assessment. This objective evaluation will provide you with information about the organization’s effectiveness and capacity in various areas and will be the foundation for a plan:

• to address an organizational shortfall/deficit;
• to identify economies of scale;
• to approach funders (individual or foundation) for money for capacity-building or other support; and/or
• to conduct annual or long-term strategic planning.

Years ago when I was a trial attorney in a fast-paced Boston law firm, I was constantly moving at the speed of light. I scurried around the hallways of the firm. I worked late. I ate poorly. I was sure Minute Rice was somewhere on the food chart.  I was also sure I was, as they say, going somewhere.  

And then a dear friend suggested to me that my behavior reminded her of a “gerbil on a wheel”. “It seems like you’re running as fast as you can from something instead of towards something.” Though I adamantly denied it at the time, she was right. And despite the fact that it took me years and years to see and change my behavior, it remains one of the single most impactful comments anyone has ever made to me.

I’ve met lots of fellow wheel travelers over the years. Are you one of them? Do you feel like you have to move as fast as you can? Do you know why? Is it towards your goal? Or away from something you’d rather not confront? 

Suggested Action Items:

1. In the near future, give yourself permission to get off the wheel. Take time to reflect on where you’re really going. 
2. Once you know where you’re going, you’ll need a plan to help you reach your goal. Begin to identify the specific strategies you’ll need to implement in order to achieve your goal.

When I first came up with the idea of starting my own business, I knew I couldn’t launch it without the help of others with areas of expertise different than my own. What did I know about branding, developing a website, or creating a logo? I knew how to operate a phone, but web cameras, Skype and other technologies to enhance remote communications were a mystery to me.  I also knew that I would need a sounding board from time to time in order to create and build a first-rate business.    

This is where my friends and family came in. I call them my advisory team. They are my brain trust. Several of them are successful small business owners themselves and each of them is someone I respect and can trust to have my best interests at heart and to offer opinions without judgment.  

So here are my questions for you: Do you have an advisory team, be it of several folks or of one? If so, are the folks in it providing you the nonjudgmental support you need to learn and grow? If not, has something been holding you back from forming one? 

In today’s especially challenging economy, it is more appropriate than ever that each of us be in charge of our own professional futures. Even if we are an employee of someone else’s business, we are still the CEO of ourselves. With even one trusted advisor in your address book, when those times come along–and they always do–when you need a second, trusted opinion about a course of action to take, your friend, family member, co-worker, pastor, or professional coach will be there to provide you the support you need.  

Suggested Action Item:  In December, as President-Elect Obama names the individuals on his team, I hope you’ll think about who you’d like on yours.    

John Quincy Adams said that “If your actions inspire others to dream more, learn more, do more and become more, you are a leader.” Is that what’s happening around you? Do you hear those around you speak of their dreams? Have you created or promoted a culture at your workplace in which there is constant learning and intellectual stimulation and stretching? Do you support others, and pursue for yourself, professional development opportunities? And mentoring? And participation in the kinds of activities that promote professional growth? 

If you’re taking these steps to lead, congratulate yourself! You are not only building the leader within you, but the leaders of tomorrow. If you’re not, however, taking all or any of these steps, I encourage you to reflect on why not and, after you’ve given that some thought, to begin to move in the direction of Adams’ concept of leadership. If you do that, I have no doubt but that you –and others–will see and feel your increased effectiveness as a leader.

If you have a question or a suggestion for a topic to be addressed in Coach’s Corner, please contact me.