Leadership insights for not-for-profit executive directors

Ideas for maximizing the contribution of your board of directors

I had the pleasure of serving as ‘scribe’ for a recent kitchen-table dialogue workshop, entitled ‘The NFP Executive Director: Their Leadership and the Role of the Board,’ that was organized and moderated by Alan Kay of The Glasgow Group. The July 6 session was attended by 10 people, most of whom are seasoned not-for-profit (NFP) executive directors (EDs).

The following are some of the key insights and observations for EDs arising from the workshop:

• Primary board role is strategic – The board’s fundamental role is to help guide the strategic direction of the NFP. This is frequently initiated by a strategic planning session. “A key ED challenge is avoiding ‘pernicious micro-control’ on the part of the board.” “The board should be ‘nose in, fingers out’ regarding the work of the ED and staff.”
• Board member qualifications – Simply possessing an understanding of, or passion for, the cause is no longer sufficient. Board members today should bring solid skills in such areas as finance, marketing, communications, governance to be considered. Willingness to fundraise on behalf of the organization (cash or in-kind) should be expected.
• Ensure role clarity – One ED described his stakeholders as a triangle, involving his association’s staff, its membership, and its board. Having clearly defined roles enables these three groups to work together. Another said, “My organization can flourish if I’ve been able to forge a relationship with my board chair that’s grounded in trust and discipline.” Another ED prepared a formal governance manual documenting relevant roles, responsibilities and processes.
• Handling board meetings – Recognizing that the ED doesn’t lead or control board meetings, you should still try to be the ‘air traffic controller’ in plotting with the board chair each meeting’s agenda to avoid nasty surprises. Maybe even write the chair’s speaking notes.
• Relationship with board chair – Beware of having too strong a relationship with the board chair, as it can undermine the relationship or commitment of other board members.
• Board training – Initial training only is inadequate. Ongoing education about the board’s role and governance process is essential for boards to keep on delivering value to the NFP. If you’re having difficulty selling this idea, find another NFP that’s doing it and get them to sell its value to your board leaders.
• Staff / board interaction – Consider bringing key staff members to early board meetings to introduce them and help foster trust, role ownership and engagement. But be careful to avoid allowing board members to make direct requests of staff without going through you.
• Permanent board committees – They may not always be necessary; consider striking ad hoc committees driven by specific requirements, which can help reduce the size of your board and lead to faster and better decision-making.
• Be seen in the field – As an ED, you have a ceremonial role to visibly demonstrate leadership and support for the cause by attending local events and activities. Remember to thanks volunteers and staff for their commitment. “People will see what you’re doing more than hear what you say.”
• Who’s the best leader – Question whether the NFP’s founder is still the right person to lead the organization today. Is their passion for the cause impeding current effectiveness now that the NFP has grown and matured? If it is, consider succession planning to get the most appropriate leadership in place.
• Consider alliances or beyond – As the need for NFPs to ‘do more with less’ intensifies, seek out other NFPs with complementary missions with whom you can share resources. If your mandates substantially duplicate one another, even contemplate one NFP acquiring the other to create a stronger organization that’s better able to achieve the mission. Try to look beyond the natural imperative of protecting turf in favour of the greater good. 

Suggested reading:
Alan Kay’s blog: 8 ways to enhance your Executive Director leadership skills using Solutions Focus;
The 13 commandments of better leadership in NFP organizations; 8 ways to merge your not-for-profit organization and become stronger
Book: The Truth About What Nonprofit Boards Want: The Nine Little Things That Matter Most, by June J. Bradham

 

Max and Kelly and me: Two customer-service stories

I spent the best part of this afternoon engaged in two rather different customer-service experiences, both involving the internet.

The first involved money – trying to get my hands on a simple electronic copy of a Bell Canada phonebill that had been posted in my epost account.

The second involved happiness – more precisely, ordering tickets to an interesting breakfast session to hear Tony Hsieh, CEO of Zappos.com and author of the book Delivering Happiness.

The Bell bill saga took me into an online chat with a fellow named Max. Based on the seeming lifelessness of the replies, it appeared the chat service was a very sophisticated automated response system, but in fact Max was a real fellow based in India (he wasn't permitted to tell me his age). I found it rather frustrating trying to explain to Max, keystroke by keystroke, about my desire to put my (backup) dial-up internet service and two landlines into the same MyBell.ca account with a single password. Shortly into the process, I asked Max if we could stop 'chatting' and actually speak in person, as that would be a lot easier for me, but alas, he wasn't permitted to do that. In the end though, we got the account updating done. Sadly, my prejudices about the inflexibility and non-customer-centredness of Bell were confirmed.

Contrast that with the experience that I had with a gal named Kelly (I'm pretty sure that was her name) from the customer care team at Globe Recognition.

Although they didn't get back to me until I hounded them, Kelly (a live voice on the phone!!) was very keen to help, and managed to dream up and execute some behind-the-scenes administrative magic that updated the antiquated email address in my account profile so that I could login and order my breakfast session ticket.

It strikes me as more than ironic that the ultimate intent of this second exercise was to hear about business of delivering happiness from the representative of a company whose slogan is 'Powered by Service'!

Building a customer-centred business

Some solutions on how to put the customer at the centre of your organization.

I was pleased to participate as one of nine panelists in a kitchen-table dialogue on June 23, 2010 – led by moderator Alan Kay of The Glasgow Group and hosted by Rick Wolfe of PostStone Corporation – about how companies can get past thinking about brands and become truly customer-centred.



Examples of organizations that are considered customer-centred

• Tim Horton’s – a brand that’s become an icon by tapping into the Canadian experience.
• Life Choice Foods – a virtual company that offers top-quality kid-friendly organic foods.
• Amazon – an online retailer that understands past purchase patterns and presents relevant recommendations.
• Zappos – an online retailer with an explicit set of family core values.
• Zip (Netflix in the U.S.) – an easy-to-use, hassle-free home DVD rental service.
• Best Buy – uses information from employees to better understand customer preferences.
• L.L. Bean – a retailer offering guaranteed customer satisfaction across all touchpoints.

Some barriers to putting customers at the centre

• Leadership bias – CEOs/CFOs do not generally gain exposure to a customer mindset in their education or their career path. 
• Insufficient analytics – despite plenty of data, few businesses seem to have succeeded in integrating all their information to compile a realistic 360-degree view of their customers’ value to the business.  
• Organizational structure – with the Marketing department owning the brand in many ‘siloed’ organizations, it’s hard to get the entire business focused on the customer. The job of a traditional leader is to provide predictable results to shareholders, and organizations have been narrowly structured to ensure profitability.

Some solutions for being customer-centric

* Begin with the business’s existing information resources, use business intelligence to identify and understand the most valuable customers, then ask them how you can best meet their needs. (We’ve never had more capability to identify and understand customers.)

* Don’t start with your widget and then look for customers; instead, start further upstream by ask a group of prospects what they need, then design the widget accordingly.

* Start by being employee-centric:

• Hire the right staff. (North America tends to value ‘talkers’ instead of ‘listening,’ which needs to be built into the company’s value system.) 
• Inform them about the company’s progress.
• Value them by asking for their input.
• Report back to them on what you’re doing with their input (or explain why you’re not doing something.) 
• Reward them for their successes. 

* Leverage a ‘use-case process’ (a user-centric perspective, drawn from the software business) in thinking about the business:

• Who are our various users?
• Why are they coming? 
• Where are they coming from? 
• What are they trying to do? 
• How long do they stay (determined using today’s metrics)?

* Remember the singular, customer-focused vision of some of the great entrepreneurs (e.g., Jeff Bezos of Amazon; Steve Jobs of Apple; Ray Kroc of McDonald’s). But things get tough when the leader passes the torch. After a few years in the value of death after the death of Sam Walton, Lee Scott of Wal-Mart transformed the company’s focus on eliminating waste to cut prices into a focus on environmental sustainability.

* A customer-centric vision must be strongly held and acted upon by the senior leadership team, but then ‘given up’ by the leadership team and handed over to people in the organization for their input. Ask them four questions:

1. Where did our company come from? (where were we yesterday?)
2. What are we today? (how do we appear to you now?)
3. Where should we be in five years? (what would you like us to be?)
4. Do you have any ideas of how we’ll get there?

Senior leaders should be sponsors who clear barriers, but not run the team. With this autonomy, the teams will spend money responsibly to help address the improvement opportunities.

* Thanks to social media today, we can listen to millions of people for their ideas. Make the customer the expert in the changes they want made. However, be conscious of how you’ll use the input you gain!

* Be conscious of what you’re selling: the tangible product (which doesn’t change), versus the brand (which is fluid).

On brands and branding

• “A brand is not what you think you are, but what they (the customer) think you are.”
• “The brand is the value we give our customers; it’s what we stand for with them. If we can consistently present this message throughout the organization at all levels, then everyone will gets it; this is what we’re about.”

Some quotable quotes

• “Being customer-centric is a lot of work, and you can’t lie. You have to make real connections; you can’t hide behind your desk. It takes courage.”
• “Don’t confuse the ‘scoreboard’ with the ‘game.’ Profit is the scoreboard, and it’s more important to some than to others. But the game – for instance, providing nutrition to the mass market in Canada – is what’s important. If we play the game well, the score will take care of itself. The customer-focused game is what we should be take pride in.”
• “Don’t suck up [to your boss], suck down [by telling your boss what your people have done].

 Some further reading

• "But what do we want people to do?" Article by Andy Gould in AdAge: http://bit.ly/9rgP2Y 

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One day, three communities...

Today, I was proud to be part of one very 'tangible' community, happy to be part of an 'old media' virtual community, and ashamed to be indirectly associated with a 'real' community powered by new media. Let me explain...

Proud (noon): The group of neighbourhood youngsters that I coach on the Leaside Braves baseball team pulled together on a very wet and dreary morning to win the Consolation Championship. Media involved: face-to-face connections supported by league website and coach's weekly emails.

Happy (10:15 pm): Joined a virtually connected group of blues music fans as I brushed my teeth. Media involved: radio (CBC's Saturday Night Blues) which included phone-in requests.

Ashamed (bedtime): Watched the devastation wreaked by unruly G20 protestors in my city. Media involved: TV and newspaper websites delivered the images showing a 'community' of protestors -- reportedly linked and empowered through social media.

The reminder for me: communities and media (like other enabling technologies) can be instruments of good or evil.

7 insights on building your personal brand

On Tuesday June 15, I was invited to participate in an informal roundtable discussion on personal branding, led by Alan Kay of The Glasgow Group. Here are seven brief insights I gained from the event, and some additional resources I've since discovered.

What is a personal brand?

A personal brand (like a conventional product brand) is a set of elements that lead to trust and help customers make choices. The essence of your personal brand is what’s unique to you, and how it benefits your customers. Clear identify for yourself what you’re good at (be specific), and where you want to go (and grow).

Why should I worry about my personal brand (especially if I’m an employee)?

Whether you think you have one or not, you do have a personal brand. Be conscious of what you do and who you are associated with, since the digital universe never forgets things (you’d be surprised at what comes up when you Google your name)! A positive personal brand will help you get your next position (as an employee) or your next customer (as a consultant / entrepreneur).

How do customers connect with my brand?

First emotionally, then they rationalize their choices afterward. If you are truthful and passionate about yourself and what you do, customers will be drawn to you. Try to have a consistent brand persona, but remember you can have some fun at the same time. We’re all human after all!

How can I boost my credibility?

Within reason, communicate openly about the well-known brands / experts you’ve been associated with (e.g., as past employers, collaborators) so that their intrinsic credibility rubs off on you.

How can I strengthen my brand?

‘Working your network’ and building relationships is not enough. To battle the inevitable ‘commoditization’ of talent, continually improve the quality and uniqueness of what you do. Add value in every interaction (it’s better to ‘give’ than ‘ask’).

How should I promote my brand?

With all the new media channels available today (Twitter, LinkedIn, Facebook, blogs, YouTube, etc.) there’s never been a better time to leverage your personal brand. As often as you can, post interesting or provocative insights and comments to try and grow your network, and position yourself as the thought-leader in your field.

Strive to demonstrate ‘business maturity’:

Whether you’re starting out or are well established in what you do, it pays to show you:

· can understand and adapt and learn on the fly (be flexible)

· can respectfully share your experience with others (be collaborative)

· can listen effectively (be engaged)

· have the confidence to take initiative (be proactive)

Some additional resources on personal branding:
* Alan Kay's follow-up blog: 7 ways to build your personal brand…now!http://frymonkeys.com/7-ways-to-build-your-personal-brand-storynow/

* Personal Branding Blog – read articles from various thought-leaders, and download the free, 16-page ebook, 10 Personal Branding Secrets You’ve Never Heard Before. 

* Brand-Yourself.com – sign up for the free monthly ‘Personal Branding VIP Newsletter,’ and download the free, 24-page ebook, From Tweet to Hired: The Brand-Yourself guide to Leveraging Twitter to Advance Your Career. 

* 'How to Develop your Personal Brand' – short, helpful article from Susan Young of Get in Front Blogging.
* 'Honest, believable, sustainable: the brand of me' – an insightful blog from 'creative entrepreneur' Rebecca E. Parsons.
* Book: Crush It! by Gary Vaynerchuk (available as an audiobook from emusic.com) – an informative and passionate call to build your brand on the now-egalitarian platform of social media.
* A 'Venn Diagram' on the three attributes required for maximizing your individual talent, from talent coach Lisa Martin.

Cotter-pins and continuous improvement

This afternoon I spend a couple of hours assembling a Yardworks garden cart – a new tool for my wife's business, It's Perfect.

The product was compactly and responsibly packaged (all cardboard, no styrofoam), the instructions seemed pretty clear, and the different nuts and bolts needed at each stage of the assembly stage were even supplied in separate numbered pockets on a vacuum-packed card... wow!

Everything was going along very nicely, and I eventually figured out the best way to use my crescent wrench and box-end wrench to tighten the hard-to-reach bolts.

However, while fastening the side walls of the cart, one of the tiny cotter-pins sprang out of my pliers and into the wilderness of my garage floor. Which got me thinking: Wouldn't it be great if manufacturers supplied a couple of extras of the 'most-likely-to-be-lost-during-assembly' parts?

My only beef with the product was that the instructions were unclear about which way to install the side walls, so I had to remove and reinstall them to get the nifty locking fasteners to fit. Otherwise, it was a great experience, and Sue is delighted with the utility value of the cart!

Lessons for marketers: Anticipate and address potential customer irritants to deliver the best customer experience.

• Ensure every part of the instructions is crystal-clear (with detailed illustrations) to help customers avoid mistakes.
• Consider supplying a few extra nuts and bolts – ideally in a separate, clearly marked little package so customers aren't wondering if they missed something.
  

Personal lessons: As usual, allow enough time for the project, have the right tools on hand, and keep experimenting how to use the tools to get the job done quickly.

Arrival of a renewed blogger

Despite my November 21, 2008 promise that I'd get back to regular blogging, my good intentions were overtaken by work pressures, family commitments and the usual set of excuses.

Now, I am returning to blogging in my efforts to help increase Glue's presence in the marketplace and share some interesting perspectives and insights I've gained along the way. I hope you find it helpful, and I welcome your comments!