Plan for a Great Year-end Now

There are many different ways to raise money for the great causes in our communities. Getting your hardware store to have customers round-up, special events, mailings, selling cookies, and many, many more! In my career as an Executive Director and in the work I do now as a Consultant, I’ve always been much more passionate about the relationship side of fundraising than the transactional side. 

When we get nameless, faceless individuals to give us money on impulse or out of feelings of obligation or guilt, we are essentially making a transaction. It’s usually a one-time deal, and we never see the person again. There is nothing at all wrong with this. Many organizations are able to raise significant funds in this way. It’s just that I don’t get excited about it. 

The aspect of fundraising that motivates me is connecting people to causes that they care deeply about. To me, helping people to consider ways that they can make our communities stronger and healthier is what the nonprofit sector is all about. It involves drawing out empathy and compassion, then facilitating opportunities to direct those emotions into action and impact. This starts with developing relationships and your Board of Directors is a great place to begin laying the foundation of relationship-based development. 

At the end of the year, many organizations focus a great deal of energy on tasks that drive transactional giving. This is totally understandable – there are budgets to meet and year-end generosity and tax advantages to capitalize on. However, I want to spend this article giving you five strategies that you can put in place now (or over the next few months) that will help you sail into Q4 with confidence. 

Strategy #1 – Evaluate your Board of Directors

Is your board engaged? Do they care about the critical social issue you are addressing? Do they joyfully give their time, talent and treasure to advance the work you are doing to make your community a better place? Your board should be made up of your most enthusiastic and dedicated donors and volunteers. If they are not, it’s likely time for a shakedown. Imagine the year-end potential if you have a dozen raving fans out in the community sharing the importance of the work you do! 

Strategy #2 – Educate your Board of Directors 

Many people join boards because they care about the issue and advancing the solution, but they don’t know how to help. If they are not given direction, they often become disengaged, or they focus their energy in ways that are not helpful to the organization. Staff are already more than busy, and do not have time to download the massive amount of knowledge they have accumulated while working in the industry. 

So how do you bring volunteers up to speed so they can be actively involved in advancing the work? Give homework. Here are a few ideas that can help your volunteers understand your cause better. 

    • Assign research on the history or root cause of the issue your agency addresses. What are the underlying issues that many people don’t understand? 
    • Assign interviews with other agencies tackling different aspects of the issue. How do the different agencies work together? What other opportunities exist for tackling the problem? Why should we or should we not expand to address the issue in different ways? 
    • Assign interviews with constituents to help understand the impact of the issue. What do we think we know, but we really don’t? 
    • If possible, send them through an experience that helps them understand the work better. Poverty simulations, accessing services as a potential constituent, participating in programs, serving as a front-line volunteer, and more can give volunteers a deeper understanding of the cause. 

Have volunteers do their homework, then present it to the full board during a regular meeting. Them doing the research is going to make the learning more impactful, and they will likely come away with significantly different learnings than if staff had just told them what they know. 

Board members with a strong understanding of the problem and the unique way their organization is addressing the problem, are excited about sharing your amazing work and engaging other people in the solution. 

Strategy #3 – Engage your Board of Directors

Boards that come together every month or so just to hear about operations, are totally missing the point. Board and committee meetings should be centered on the work that the volunteers are doing to advance the cause. A planning or strategic retreat early in the fiscal year can help clarify the work that they need to be doing. If your agency is new to engaging your governance volunteers in appropriate work, here are a few ideas that can come out of intentionally planning their focus:

    • Expand upon the education homework to deepen understanding
    • Debate the merits of expanding or staying narrowly focused
    • Identify marketing opportunities for participants or donors
    • Discuss ways to deepen relationships with potential participants or donors 
    • Consider the strategies of other industries and how they may inform your work
    • Compare funding streams with those of other agencies and discuss
    • Identify XX prospects who should be friends of your organization and strategize how to establish and strengthen those relationships
    • Create policies to ensure long-term success
    • Plan for change, challenges and growth

These are just a few ideas, and of course – they will totally depend on the work and stage of your organization. The idea is to strengthen your board, their understanding and commitment to your work. As a result, you multiply the number of voices you have in your community sharing your stories. 

Strategy #4 – Tell different kinds of stories

Different brains work differently. There are a myriad of personality tests out there to prove it. So if you are only telling one kind of story, you are likely only connecting with one type of brain. Very generally speaking, these four different types of stories will appeal to four different types of potential friends of your organization:

    • Empathetic – these folks want to hear the stories about the people impacted by the problem and how you are helping them
    • Analytic – tell them about the numbers of people affected, financial burdens created by the problem, money saved by your solution, etc
    • Big Picture – give them the vision of how the world will be a better place because of your work
    • Process – this group wants to understand the problem and the way that you are fixing it

Oftentimes we just tell stories that pull at the heartstrings. Those are important stories, but for some people that’s just white noise. By telling different types of stories, you will pique the interest of more people and more potential year-end givers. When you educated your board on the different kinds of stories that can be told, you help them grow, and they become better story tellers for you. 

Strategy #5 – Capture and Communicate

I’ve talked before about the idea of friend-raising. This involves connecting people to your organization so that they care and hopefully want to volunteer, donate, spread the word, or engage in some other way. To friend-raise, you need to get out and talk to people about the work you are doing. Go to Rotary Clubs and networking groups and farmers markets. Seize every opportunity to tell your stories. This is how you spread awareness and find more potential “friends” of your organization.

If you are not already doing this, establish a system for capturing anyone who has potential to be a friend. In addition to name and contact information, collect how they connected to the organization, who would be a good person to follow-up, and rank whether they are a casual friend, a connected friend, or a committed friend. This can be a sophisticated CRM or an excel spreadsheet. 

When you (staff or volunteers) are out in the community speaking about your agency, note the people who ask the extra questions. Or the ones who have a personal story to tell you. Or the ones who stick around afterwards to talk more about the issue. These are perfect people to add to your list. 

Once you have a list, follow-up with them multiple times throughout the year. Send pictures from events, updates on impact, information about upcoming engagement opportunities, success stories, and more. Set a goal of connecting with organizational friends X times throughout the year. The purpose of the communications should be to deepen the relationship (they can include a “soft ask” if it feels appropriate). The bigger goal is to give them reasons why they want to donate during your year-end efforts. 

There you go! Five things that you (staff and volunteer leadership) can do now or throughout the year, to help make Q4 successful, fun and prosperous for your organization. 

I help organizations to create the volunteer leadership they need to advance their work and help make our world a better place. Email me at Kim@Athena-CoCo.com, or schedule a Discovery Call if you would like to discuss ways to strengthen your Board of Directors and the work of your agency.

Kim is a mom, lover of being active and the outdoors, and helper of nonprofit leaders.
kim@athena-coco.com

Top 10 Reasons a Nonprofit Organization Does NOT Need a Board Consultant

With inspiration from the Late Show with David Letterman, this week’s article is all about the reasons why an organization might NOT need a Consultant to help with their Board of Directors. Counting backwards from 10, here we go:

The #10 reason a nonprofit would NOT need a Board Consultant:

All board and leadership staff have been trained on the philosophy behind nonprofits and their governance. Understanding the different roles of the agency leadership is key to being effective. Furthermore, it helps each volunteer and staff know and understands their role in leading the organization. 

The #9 reason a nonprofit would NOT need a Board Consultant:

The agency has established strategies and regularly monitors progress towards them. There are strategies tied specifically to the work of the volunteers in advancing the organization. 

The #8 reason a nonprofit would NOT need a Board Consultant:

One or more volunteers is actively paying attention to and driving the health and culture of the board. Not giving attention to the culture does not mean that one doesn’t exist. It simply means that it has evolved on its own. Without intentionality, a culture generally does not move in a positive direction. Additionally, this individual or group can establish systems to drive board accountability and productivity. 

The #7 reason a nonprofit would NOT need a Board Consultant:

Board meetings are super productive and well attended. Fifty percent of the meeting content is made up of generative discussions where all volunteers contribute. 

The #6 reason a nonprofit would NOT need a Board Consultant:

Governance volunteers understand and own their responsibility for the success of the organization. The board owns the success of the agency in the same way that the owner of a for-profit business owns its success. 

The #5 reason a nonprofit would NOT need a Board Consultant:

The board and staff leaders partner to drive the success of the agency. While, technically, the board supervises the Executive Director or CEO, the dynamics need to be more of a partnership. Neither governance nor operations can be effective without partnering with the other. 

The #4 reason a nonprofit would NOT need a Board Consultant:

Board members and staff can see the connection between the work they do and the mission impact they provide. Connecting the dots between tasks, projects, discussions, and programming with the mission and strategies of the organization motivates and maintains focus. 

The #3 reason a nonprofit would NOT need a Board Consultant:

Serving on the Board of Directors is a two-way street, where volunteers contribute, and also benefit. Any agency that just has their hand out looking for what their volunteers can give, will likely struggle to keep volunteers. Benefits to the board members include personal growth and development, networking, mentoring, recognition, and more. Sometimes they even get some really great agency swag!

The #2 reason a nonprofit would NOT need a Board Consultant:

The agency doesn’t really need to think about their future or impact. This may be the case if an agency has a crystal ball and can see the future. Or if they are really close to achieving the mission and vision of the organization and their work is almost complete. 

And, the #1 reason a nonprofit would NOT need a Board Consultant:

The organization already has more money, partners, supporters, volunteers and staff than they need. In this situation, an organization might not need a strong and healthy board to tell their story, raise money, forge relationships, and advance the cause. Good for them!

All of this being said, the clients that are doing a good job with their Board of Directors, and want to continue to get better, are some of my favorites. Every board has the potential to grow and improve. Making our world a better place is hard work. The better the health of a board is, the more equipped it will be to make a difference!

When we are working to grow and improve, an outside perspective can be beneficial. Email me at Kim@Athena-CoCo.com, or schedule a Discovery Call if you would like to discuss ways to advance your Board of Directors and the work of your agency.

Kim is a mom, lover of being active and the outdoors, and helper of nonprofit leaders.
kim@athena-coco.com

Think of your Board of Directors as an Adult Leadership Program

When I was an Executive Director with the YMCAs, I had Program Directors who ran our programs – things like day camp, youth sports, teen leaders, etc. Other organizations probably have similar roles, people who run programs, services, do case management, etc. A couple of months ago I shared an article on effective board meetings. In it, I talked about how I think of the Board of Directors as an Adult Leadership program that the Executive Director leads. 

Our youth programs would teach kids things like teamwork, sportsmanship, and how to develop healthy relationships. Similarly, our Board of Directors helps adults to develop their presentation and collaboration skills, it teaches them how to problem solve and advocate for things that are important to them, and it gives them a connection to their community that they might not otherwise have. 

When we think about our boards in that light, it shifts how we think about the structure, functions and activities of the board. It also helps us shift from a one-way street to a two-way street. If we just think about the board as being there to serve our organization, it’s a one-way street – what can the organization get out of these people? When we consider our work with the board as a two-way street we start to think about how the work engages and develops the members of the board. 

In planning a youth development program, the director needs to consider these components: 

  • Objectives and Purpose
  • Target Audience
  • Program Structure and Activities 
  • Curriculum and Content
  • Resources and Materials
  • Staff and Volunteers
  • Budget and Funding
  • Outreach and Recruitment
  • Evaluation and Assessment
  • Safety and Risk Management 

Let’s look at each and see how these planning components can apply to running an Adult Leadership program, AKA the Board of Directors. 

  • Objectives and Purpose

    • Clarify what you want the organization to get out of the program AND what you want the participants to come away with. Will they experience skills development, personal growth, community engagement, network building, leadership skills, personal fulfillment, etc? 

  • Target Audience

    • Who and what does your organization need in order to advance the work on the cause? Think about the skills, passion, connections, characteristics, and demographics of the people you want on your board. If the people on your board do not possess the qualities that you need, how can you help them to level-up?

  • Program Structure and Activities 

    • What are you going to have your board members do? It’s not enough to just have them come to board meetings for a sit & get. Incorporate opportunities for every board member to speak and contribute. Think about engagement opportunities outside of board meetings; such as committees, task forces, program observations, community outreach, public appearances, and more. Ideas for engaging your volunteers at a higher level:
      • Provide experiential learning to help grow their knowledge of the cause
      • Give them research projects or reading to do and report back to the larger group
      • Have them interview experts in your industry and share their learnings 
      • Give them the opportunity to conduct mission moment interviews and share the impact the organization is having
      • Delegate the facilitation of a discussion topics to someone other than the board chair
      • Additionally: opening thoughts, timekeepers, and committee reports are all roles that volunteers can step into 

  • Curriculum and Content

    • The content of board work should tie back to the mission and strategies of the organization. By including volunteers in strategic planning and tying those plans back to the month-to-month work of the board, you actively engage your board in advancing the mission. In addition, consider the opportunities you are including for your volunteers to grow. You might include:
      • Formal or informal training on things like: board governance, community initiatives, leadership skills, industry trends, etc. 
      • Board mentoring
      • Presentation opportunities
      • Networking 
      • Mission education and connection

  • Resources and Materials

    • This involves ensuring that your volunteers have the information available to do their job as a board member effectively. That can include an onboarding process, access to historical information, agendas and reading materials distributed in advance, and staff or volunteer support.

  • Staff and Volunteers

    • In order to ensure that the adult leadership program is effective, it requires staff or volunteer monitoring. Often the Executive Director is the leader who ensures that the program runs according to design. A Board Development committee or a Board Governance committee can (and should) help with planning, executing, and evaluating the work of the board. 

  • Budget and Funding

    • Just like with any other program, potential expenses need to be considered. Do you need to rent space for meetings, provide meals or snacks, purchase name tags or shirts, host socials, etc? Meals or other refreshments can serve as a great strategy for bringing people together and providing informal networking. 

  • Outreach and Recruitment

    • I hardly ever talk to a nonprofit leader that doesn’t ask me how they can find and recruit good board members. It’s important to acknowledge the fact that a professional and highly productive board can be one of your best attraction and retention tools. When people are excited about serving on your board and they believe their time is being used valuably, they will want to get others involved. And, the opposite is true. If meetings are unproductive and poorly organized, they can repel prospective board members.

  • Evaluation and Assessment

    • Again, this is often led by the Executive Director, and it is great to enlist the Board Development committee with this process. Good questions for the group to discuss include:
      • How effective was our last meeting?
      • Did we engage all members?
      • Are volunteers actively contributing?
      • What can we do to make the next one better? 
      • Are there any “off-line” conversations that need to happen? 
      • Are we meeting our objectives in regards to adult leadership development? 
      • Are we moving the needle on the work of the board towards our strategic objectives? 

  • Safety and Risk Management 

    • Serving on a board is usually a fairly low risk program in terms of physical safety. Unlike providing swimming or camping programming! To make sure that your volunteers are protected, all agencies should carry Directors & Officers (D&O) insurance. Additionally, ensuring that you create a culture where it is safe for people to step outside their comfort zone is key to helping them grow. No one grows when they do not feel safe. 

There’s no question that our best volunteers are the ones who give their time and energy to our organization out of a passion and desire to give back. And that is still super important. But if we are only thinking about what we can get out of our board members, rather than what we can give them, we are missing an opportunity to further develop the adult leaders we interact with and who care about making our world a better place. 

Every nonprofit is different and has unique needs and challenges. Email me at Kim@Athena-CoCo.com, or schedule a Discovery Call if you would like to discuss your organization’s Adult Leadership Program. 

Kim is a mom, lover of being active and the outdoors, and helper of nonprofit leaders.
kim@athena-coco.com 

 

Ten Indicators You Could Benefit from a Business Coach

Here we are in 2022! Welcome. 

The pinning up of a new calendar leads many to envision a bright new future for themselves. And anyone who has ever set a New Year’s resolution knows that change takes more than just dreaming of what could be. It takes planning, action steps, accountability, and hard work. 

Today’s article is about the value of engaging a Coach to help you get where you want to go. We’re going to explore many of the reasons why a Business Coach might be a good investment for you in 2022, and what they can help you with. If you have considered getting a Coach, reading this article is a great step in your contemplation. Let’s dig into ten reasons a Business Coach might be a great option for you! 

1. You set great goals, but regularly fail to meet them

Is it you or is it the goal? Are you creating goals based on the expectations of others? Are you lacking motivation towards the goals all together?

Sometimes goals are impressed upon us, and we have no choice but to put forth our best efforts to achieve those goals. Other times we set goals for things that we really truly want to accomplish, but then nothing happens. Either way, there are likely underlying reasons why goals are not being met. A Coach can help you peel back the layers to understand where the barriers are coming from and how to address them. 

2. You feel like you have stagnated/imposter syndrome

As we grow and advance in our careers, it’s common to get to a point where we question our legitimacy. Do we really deserve the position we hold? Are our skills suited to the role we’re in? Coaching can help you process how you’re feeling, separate feelings from facts, acknowledge your skills and expertise, and grow professionally. 

3. Your work-life balance is not balanced at all

If everything feels like it’s out of whack, it might be time for a change. When a professional or career change needs to be made, it’s not uncommon to completely throw ourselves into work, to avoid thinking about the change. It might also be time for a change if you have no choice but to spend an excessive amount of your time working or stressing out about work. 

A Coach can help you take the emotion out of your situation. When we’re overworked and over-extended, it can be difficult to separate reality from our overwhelmed mental state. Having someone process your situation with you will not only help you feel more sane, it will allow you to make rational, planful decisions. 

4. You want a career change

Many people come to a point in their life where they want more. More money, more flexibility, more impact, etc. What you decided to do for a career when you were 18 or 22 or whatever, might not be the right fit for you at this stage in your life. A Coach can help you suss-out what is important to you and get you moving in a direction that will be fulfilling and rewarding. 

5. You know you need to grow professionally

Growth can be difficult, and something we unintentionally avoid. Without knowing it, we can actively circumvent opportunities to grow, because in the back of our minds we know it will be easier to maintain the status quo. Additionally, we all have blind-spots. No matter how great we are, there are always opportunities to improve. However, without help, we don’t necessarily see them. 

A trusted Coach can help you move past your self-imposed barriers to development. They can uncover your growth opportunities and work with you to create a plan that will allow you to evolve and thrive. 

6. You need better accountability

No one likes to be held accountable. If you’re the one in charge of your own accountability, it might just not happen. Think about most diets. No matter how committed a person is to losing weight and creating a healthy lifestyle, it’s difficult to stick to the plan. 

Many people find it very helpful to engage an accountability partner to hold their feet to the fire. By sharing your goals and plans with a Coach, they can keep you on track. They will remind you of why you set your goals, and the necessary actions you have committed to in order to reach those goals. 

7. You struggle to work “on” your business

The everyday grind can easily become the thing that keeps you from growing. When all of your attention is focused on the day-to-day operations, you will never think bigger, explore options, and dream about the future. Dedicated time with a Coach gives Business Leaders the time to work ON their business. This might be in the form of strategic planning, exploring new opportunities, evaluating operations, assessing how resources are deployed, and much more! 

8. You need someone to talk to about your business and career

It’s lonely at the top! If you are the leader of your business, there isn’t a coworker you can go to who understands the challenges and pressures you face. Some people find this support in other CEOs or leaders. Others like to maintain a high level of privacy about the things keeping them up at night. A Coach can be that confidant that you need at the top. 

9. You want to save time and money

Without a sounding board, leaders still come to great conclusions on their own. However, it usually takes much longer than if you were to bring someone in to help you process your thoughts and ideas. And, as they say, time is money. 

A Business Coach helps you process through difficult decisions, crucial conversations, problem solving, and more. Otherwise, these are often topics that are put off until it’s absolutely necessary to deal with them. By dealing with them in a timely manner, you will save yourself frustration; as well as time and money. 

10. You need ideas!

An outside perspective can help you generate ideas that you wouldn’t have come up with on your own. Business Coaches tend to have rich experience in the business world and can provide creative solutions to try. When you feel like you’ve tried everything, it might be time to try visiting with a Coach.

These are just a few of the reasons it might be a great idea to engage with a Coach. Most Coaches (myself included) provide a free Discovery Call, where you can discuss your unique situation and see if Coaching is right for you. This is also a good time to interview the Coach to see if they are a good fit for you, your style, and your business.

If you would like to explore how a Business Coach could help you, schedule a 30-minute Discovery Call. You can also email questions to me at Kim@Athena-CoCo.com.

Kim Stewart

Kim is a mom, wife, lover of being active and the outdoors,
and helper of small businesses and nonprofits.
Kim@Athena-CoCo.com

Are you Too Close to the Problem?

Remember that boyfriend (or girlfriend) who was really awful for you? All your friends knew it, but you couldn’t see it. Remember tuck rolling your acid washed jeans? It was cool at the time, but looking back it seems pretty ridiculous. And do we even need to talk about perms?

My point is, when you’re close to something it’s difficult to see the full picture. You get caught up in emotions or trends or the very small piece of the picture that is right in front of you. It’s not until you have the luxury of time or distance that you are able to see the full story.

The same goes for leading your business. When you are completely consumed with working IN the business every day, you are likely facing problems. These present themselves as feeling overwhelmed, having difficulty making decisions, and frustrations from things not going as planned. Sometimes you don’t even see the problems. If you’re knee deep in the hoopla, you might not even recognize that you have opportunities to make better decisions, simplify, or realign.

Working ON the Business

You may have heard this phrase before: working IN the business vs working ON the business. When you are working IN your business, you are doing any of the many tasks or management activities that make it possible for your business to run today. In our fast-paced world where there never seems to be enough time in the day, you may feel overwhelmed by the sheer number of tasks and management activities on your plate. This fact may make it seem impossible to ever step away, for even two hours, to spend time working ON your business.

Because breaking away from the day-to-day can be so challenging, I’m going to share four tactics for ways to pull yourself away and give yourself, and your business, the much needed time spent working ON the business. Before I get into these ideas, let’s address the frame of mind you need in order to successfully work ON your business.

When you work ON your business, you are focusing on strategy for tomorrow’s success. The first step is to understand and believe in the importance of taking time to think strategically about where you want your company to go. If you see spending time thinking strategically as a waste of your precious time, then don’t do it. You need to be committed for this to be valuable. Otherwise, it is a waste of time. It’s also crucial to be open to new ideas. If you have no plans of changing how things are done, then there’s not much benefit to stepping away to focus on strategy.

Tactic #1 = Communicate

Okay, so you’re excited about thinking strategically and you’re open to exploring new ways of doing things. The next question is: How? I’m sure that running your business could easily consume 24 hours of your day, 7 days a week if you let it. Obviously, you don’t let it do that. You sleep, you eat, and hopefully you make time for your family and friends; as well as recreation, wellness, and hobbies. These activities fit into your life for a couple of reasons:

  1. Because they are important to you, and

  2. Because you have created a culture where the people in your business understand that you sleep, eat, spend time with family/friends and have some sort of  personal life.

Similarly, you can make working ON your business fit in if it’s important to you and you create a culture where the business understands it’s a priority. We already talked about your mindset around working on strategy, so clearly it’s important to you. The next step is to communicate with your team about why it’s important and how it’s going to look. Share your vision for your company and your belief that to achieve your vision you will need to think differently. Then tell them what it will look like.

Tactic #2 = Get Out

Set aside a specific time on your calendar. The best plan would include about 2-hours a week at the same time each week. If this seems impossible, shoot for 2-hours every other week. Still too much of a challenge? At the very least I would recommend 4-hours, once a month. Pick a time of the day or the week that would be considered your “slow time,” if there is such a thing. Whatever you land on that works well for you, stick to it like glue. Put it in your calendar. Schedule other things around it. Make it a priority.

Then leave. Get out of your office, your store, or your facility. Don’t tell your team where you are going. Take nothing but a pad of paper and a pen. That’s right, leave your cell phone behind if at all possible. Go to a coffee shop or a park or the library. Find a place that allows you to relax and your mind to explore new ideas.

As stated in Tactic #1 – communicate this plan and the purpose of it to your team on a regular basis. By communicating and following through with your plan, it will become part of the culture.

Tactic #3 = Create Accountability 

Does this all sound great, but you know yourself well enough to know that this might last for two weeks before you will find excuses for why it’s more important for you to stay IN the business? If so, consider finding an Accountability Partner to support you. This could be a partner, a spouse, a team member, a friend, a mentor, or another business leader. Explain to the person what you want to do and ask them to help hold you accountable. You may even find someone who wants to do this with you, kind of like a workout buddy.

Tactic #4 = Outside Help

There are times when engaging outside help is the best option. A coach, a mastermind group, or any other peer group are all things to consider if you feel like an outside set of eyes would be helpful. These resources can help give you a new perspective, consider new ideas, or hold you accountable for the things you want to do to reach your business vision. An outside set of eyes will challenge you in ways that you may have never considered, and will push you to do things you might not commit to on your own. Most coaches and peer groups provide a free discovery call or visit so you can explore the different options available to you.

Next Steps

Once you have your time-away plan, either on your own, with a partner, or with a professional, use your time effectively. These steps can help:

  1. Stay laser-focused on where you want to take your business. If you don’t have a vision yet, this is a great first step.

  2. List out all the challenges you face that are preventing you from reaching your goals. Prioritize. Peel back the layers. Often the first thing that comes to mind is a side effect of the real problem.

  3. Once you get to the heart of an issue, explore strategies for working through it. Come up with as many strategies as you possibly can. Determine which best match your brand, your culture, your values, and which will best solve your problem.

  4. Decide.

  5. Plan your communications. If you have regular staff meetings (which I hope you do), add the decisions made to your meeting agenda. Communicate your thoughts and develop any action steps required to roll out the strategy.

  6. Tackle as many issues as you can in your allotted time. Save others for your next Strategy Session.

Put Your Mask on First

There is a strong pull to convince ourselves that business cannot possibly continue to operate if we are not there. Are you really needed all the time? Or does it make you feel good to be needed all of the time? If your business cannot run without you in it for every hour that you are open, I might suggest this as one of the first issues you tackle.

“In case of a drop in cabin pressure, put your own mask on first so you can assist others.” Same goes for your business. Thinking short-term: I have to help my child or my seat mate, is similar to focusing only on the daily tasks. You’re only going to be able to help for a finite period of time. Thinking long term: If I put my mask on first, I’ll be able to help many others, is the equivalent of taking the time to think strategically about your business. You have to think long term in order to take care of your business.

Some lessons can only be learned through experience (like that awful perm), others (like the health of your business) you want to proactive work to solve.

If you would like to explore how coaching or consulting can help you work ON your business, email me at kim@athena-coco.com to schedule a free 30-minute consultation. Calm the Chaos by working ON your business so you can find time to focus on what’s important to YOU.

All Strategies are Not Created Equal

Last week I wrote about Rethinking Strategy and the concept of Real-Time Strategic Planning, based on a book called The Nonprofit Strategy Revolution by David La Piana. While this book is focused on the nonprofit sector, I believe the concepts have wonderful application for both for-profit and not-for-profit businesses. Another concept in the book that I found really compelling is around the Strategy Pyramid. This article will dig into this concept and how it may be a useful way for you to think about strategy in your business.

Traditionally thinking around strategic planning conjures up memories of massive information gathering, multi-day farming sessions, and binders filled with fancy reports. Real-Time Strategic Planning is much more nimble and relevant to today’s fast paced business environment. It is built on the foundation of a strong vision or mission and gives a business the ability to quickly adapt as new challenges or opportunities arise.

Another common trait of traditional strategic planning is that oftentimes the strategies are not strategies at all. Through the traditional planning process many things come up that would be good for the business to focus on. These could be goals, programs, operational processes, technology, or something else all together. While important, these things are not necessary “strategy level” items. At least not Organizational Strategies.

This brings us to La Piana’s Strategy Pyramid. The Strategy Pyramid is made of three levels of strategies:

  • Operational Strategy (bottom)

  • Programmatic Strategy (middle)

  • Organizational Strategy (top)

In this pyramid, the base is made up of Operational Strategies, Programmatic Strategies are in the middle and Organizational Strategies are the top.

Operational Strategies

All strong organizations are built upon a strong base of administrative processes and management systems. In order to run effective programming and have a positive impact on the community a nonprofit must rest upon the solid base of strong operations. To deliver quality products and grow sales a for profit business must have the same solid foundation. Strong operations ensure the “trains run on time” (quote from my friend Cameron Nicholson).

Operational Strategies are the initiatives designed to improve efficiencies, execution, or responsiveness. These could include any number of things. Some examples include:

  • New software will help you manage your campaign more efficiently

  • A Diversity and Inclusion training to grow your staff team

  • Preventative maintenance plans to protect your assets

  • Initiatives to improve communications with staff or customers

Generally speaking, operational strategies are those things impacting the infrastructure of the business, such as human resources, finance, technology or communications.

Programmatic Strategies 

In the nonprofit world, programs are where the “rubber hits the road.” They are how an organization delivers their mission to the world and provides the impact they intend for their community. In the for profit universe, this layer of strategies is likely the products or services the business sells. In both instances, when a customer or community member thinks of the business, it’s the programs or products that they usually think of first.

Programmatic Strategies are the decisions around what activities/products will be delivered and how they will be delivered. Here are a few of the decisions that could lead to Programmatic Strategies:

  • Delivering programs in-person on on-line

  • Providing carry-out or delivery

  • Narrowly focusing your products or offering a broad range

  • One product/program, a few, or many

Programs (or products/services) sits on top of the operations; they are supported by that solid base.

Organizational Strategies

On the top of the pyramid are the Organizational Strategies. These strategies honor and are developed in order to fulfill the organization’s mission or the company’s vision. They take into account trends happening in the market, challenges coming from competitors, opportunities from partnerships, and their unique deliverables. Organizational Strategies are the big picture actions or activities the business will take to move towards achieving its mission or vision. Organizational Strategies include things like:

  • Expanding to new service areas

  • Establishing an intentional brand or culture

  • Shifting funding sources

  • Expanding to online retail

Even though the Organizational Strategies are on the top of the pyramid, this is actually where we start when formulating strategy for a business.

Start Building at the Top

With almost any construction project you start at the base and build up. This process of strategy formation does just the opposite, It starts with clarifying mission and/or vision and builds down through the layers. The mission/vision is the heart of the business, its purpose for being, and the very core of all decision making. It’s a solid practice to regularly visit the mission/vision to keep everyone focused on why the business exists. Your organizational strategies are the ways in which you will work towards your mission/vision. To quote La Piana: “Organizational Strategy is about who and what the nonprofit is in the larger world. It’s about organizational identity, direction, brand, and market position.” Same goes with for profit companies.

Once Organizational Strategies have been established, it gives clarity to the kinds of programs, products or services that should be delivered and how they will reach the participants and customers. Programmatic Strategies can be developed which support and align with the Organizational Strategies. After these top two layers are in place, Operational Strategies can be created in order to best serve the strategies that rest upon this base layer. By building each layer based on the strategies above it, each segment is connected and creates a coordinated set of actions. Programmatic and Operational Strategies can also be thought of as large or involved goals which will help you work towards your Organizational Strategies.

Examples

To help give some clarity, here are a couple of examples of how strategies may look in a for profit company and a nonprofit agency.

  • For profit clothing retailer:

    • Organizational Strategy: In addition to our thriving catalog and website sales we will add pop-up stores in order to see if physical locations will appeal to our customers.

    • Programmatic (Product) Strategy: This summer we will have pop-up stores at festivals in the three states where our sales are highest. We will provide our top selling summer items in a variety of sizes and limited colors.

    • Operational Strategies: In order to support our summer pop-up stores we will need to research and invest in a mobile pay system and mobile store hardware (racks, displays, tent, and changing booth). A dedicated staff will research and secure venues as well as create a schedule and communication system.

  • Nonprofit environmental agency:

    • Organizational Strategy: Our mission is to create a sustainable planet with future generations in mind. To this end we will focus on improving air quality in the metropolitan community we serve.

    • Programmatic Strategy: Our signature program will be a tree planting initiative which will engage volunteers and school or camp youth groups in planting trees. The program will involve education and follow-up care to ensure long-term impact.

    • Operational Strategies: Funding will be central to supporting the tree planting project. Development will focus on grant writing and corporate sponsorships. Additionally, a dedicated staff will be responsible for identifying locations, recruiting volunteers, securing youth groups and coordinating events.

These examples are greatly simplified, but they clearly illustrate the importance of each strategy building upon the one before it. Thinking of strategies as a coordinated set of actions not only reduces waste, it helps propel you towards your vision/mission.

If you would like to explore Real-Time Strategic Planning for your business or organization, email me at kim@athena-coco.com to schedule a free 30-minute consultation. Calm the Chaos by streamlining your strategy development, and find time to focus on what’s important to YOU.

Rethinking Strategic Planning

Any business or nonprofit with a strategic plan developed prior to February 2020 now likely realizes the limitations that come with a traditional 3 to 5 year plan. I doubt there were many strategies in place to help your business deal with a global pandemic. And yet, that is exactly what hit us and continues to challenge many businesses and organizations.

Thinking strategically about where you want to take your business is a key component in making sure you get there. After all, having a great vision for the future of your business is only half the battle. You also need plans and steps to get you there; as well as, communication with and buy-in from your team. If you are still in the process of crafting your vision you might want to go back and read this and maybe this to work on that piece of your business leadership. Once you are crystal clear on your vision, you need to mobilize every member of your team towards reaching that vision. That’s where strategy comes in.

Strategy is defined as:

A plan of action or policy designed to achieve a major or overall aim.

This is a pretty simple definition for something that is so important to the success of your business. This article is going to share some of my ideas on how best to create strategy for your business, along with some of my key take-aways from a book called “The Nonprofit Strategy Revolution” by David La Piana. While the book is focused on strategic planning for the nonprofit sector, the points I will share are applicable for both for profit and nonprofit businesses.

Traditional Strategic Planning

The first point I want to share is around the timing of strategic planning. Traditionally, every 3 to 5 years organizations spend exorbitant amounts of time and energy on creating a beautiful strategic plan. It would involve input from stakeholders and volunteers, customers and staff. Every word would be crafted to be just right. In larger organizations they would often hire a graphic designer add in images and charts and graphs to make it really beautiful for sharing and showing off. There are several problems with this traditional method of strategic planning.

  1. First and foremost is that society and business move too quickly these days for a plan to be relevant for more than a year or so. Businesses need to be much more responsive to the ever changing world.

  2. Building on the first point, your business is likely also changing quickly. As you continue to work towards your vision you will need to continuously recalibrate to ensure you’re still on target.

  3. When a business commits significant time and resources to a strategic planning process, they are often burnt out on the whole thing and they don’t want to even think about strategy for a while. Big mistake since your strategies should be driving your goals, actions and decision making.

  4. Those shiny impressive documents often end up in a drawer or on a shelf, never to be looked at again, until the calendar says it’s time for another planning process. A plan that is not actively referenced and measured is of little value.

Real-Time Strategic Planning

The concept that is laid out in David La Piana’s book provides a method of creating strategy that is much more responsive and relevant than the traditional process. With the need to adapt quickly to new information and dynamics, any business can benefit from implementing the Real-Time Strategic Planning Cycle. Three key components that really differentiate this process from the traditional include:

  • Strategy Screens

  • Big Questions

  • Ongoing Implementation

Strategy Screens

In a traditional planning process the business usually takes time to clarify their mission and/or vision, who they are as a company, and their organizational identity. That part is similar in the Real-Time process. The next step is what really looks different as the business uses that information to create “Strategy Screens”. These are criteria the organization will use to analyze potential strategies they might implement when faced with challenges and opportunities. The Strategy Screens helps the company determine if the potential strategy is consistent with their organizational identity.

Every company’s Strategy Screens will be unique to their organization and will likely evolve over time and as needs change. Screens are written in the form of a statement that each potential strategy is compared against. For example, La Piana’s suggests that most companies will have something similar to these two screens:

  • The strategy is consistent with our mission/purpose.

  • The strategy builds on our current competitive advantage(s).

Each business will have between 5 and 8 screens. Other topics that are important to compare the potential strategies to are things like breaking-even or surplusing, sustainability, human capacity, consistency with brand, and honoring key relationships. By developing Strategy Screens thoughtfully and intentionally AND before a crisis or opportunity presents itself, will simplify your decision making. This process helps you focus on what is important as an organization and avoid being reactionary or losing sight of who you are when the pressure is on.

Big Questions

When a challenge or opportunity presents itself, rather than jump to the potential strategies, the Real-Time process involves determining the “Big Question”. The Big Question frames the challenge/opportunity and can drive the potential strategies. For example, when the pandemic hit, restaurants struggled significantly. Options for the Big Questions for businesses that particular industry may have been things like:

  • How will we stay in business?

  • How can we change our business to meet new needs?

  • How will the restaurant industry survive?

  • What can we do to support our community in new ways?

This is a short-list, I’m sure there are many more that came up. Notice that the questions will drive different strategies. It’s good to ask the question in several different ways to determine what will be best for your business. In the end you may decide that you need to combine several of the questions in order to develop the right potential strategies.

After determining your Big Question for a given issue and coming up with all the potential strategies, you go back and measure them against your Strategy Screens. Make a simple graph with the different strategies along the top and the screens along the left side. Test each strategy against each screen to see how they measure up. This tool should make it easy to see which strategies measure up best with the screens you have committed to.

Ongoing Implementation

In order to make strategic planning valuable, it needs to produce results, right? Strategies in and of themselves do not lead to action. Once you use the Strategy Screens and Big Questions to determine the strategy or strategies you will implement moving forward, you need to develop goals, action steps and accountability. In the restaurant example, if you decide your strategy is going to involve shifting your servers to meal deliverers, that alone will not get you there. You need to break it down.

I think this is where the Real-Time process really shines and produces results you just don’t see from the traditional process. By looking so far down the road, even when the traditional system sets clear goals, actions and accountability, they are usually so far reaching that the company loses sight of them and they become irrelevant before they are completed. Real-Time strategies are addressing immediate challenges or opportunities; therefore, the goals and actions that are developed in this process are crucial to moving the organization forward. Simple tracking tools that are reviewed weekly will keep everyone on track and accountable.

This is a very simplified explanation of what I believe to be key differentiators between these two strategic planning processes. It’s not meant to cover everything, rather to help you understand the value of looking at strategy creation in a new and innovative way. I utilize many of these concepts when working with businesses to help them become thoughtfully responsive, while forging ahead.

If you would like to explore Real-Time Strategic Planning for your business or organization, email me at kim@athena-coco.com to schedule a free 30-minute consultation. Calm the Chaos by streamlining your strategy development, and find time to focus on what’s important to YOU.