Do you set personal leadership goals for each year? The most effective leaders have personal leadership goals that drive them throughout the year. These aren't the organization's goals for you. Instead, they are your goals that drive the type of leader you are becoming. You probably aren't thinking about your goals quite yet. Instead, gifts, parties, baking and work deadlines likely have your attention these days. I get it! However, December is the perfect time to let the last year percolate in your mind. That way, you'll have some things in mind when it is time to sit down and work on your goals for next year. We know that typical goals failMost of us wait until the end of December or the beginning of January to start thinking about setting goals. The problem with waiting until then is that we often jump into goal setting with whatever is on our minds at the beginning of the new year. And for most of us, overeating and overspending are top of mind. The most popular New Years' Resolutions are about weight loss and reducing debt. AND…most New Year's resolutions are dropped within a couple of weeks, and goals are forgotten by February. Often that is because we set the same goals half the world does every January. However, as a leader who wants to achieve excellence and live a somewhat balanced life, you need goals specifically for you and your situation. To create more impactful goals that will develop you as a strong leader, you need to be more intentional. Lay the Groundwork for Success Next YearIf you want to be more successful with your leadership goals next year, start thinking about laying the foundation for goal setting now. This groundwork will help you identify the goals that will impact you most and how to achieve those goals. Start here:This coming week, start to look back over the past year. Scan events, relationships and experiences for the lessons you've learned.
Have Self-CompassionThis review is not a time to judge or beat yourself up. Instead, it is a nonjudgmental observation. So, be curious as you look back. Examples of lessons you may have learnedLooking back, you might see that the few times you had time to yourself were when you consciously created it. For example, you booked an afternoon off or got up earlier to journal.
Looking back, you may have noticed times of better productivity and focus. When you get curious about what was going on then, you may see you were sleeping better.
Make a note of your discoveriesChoose whatever method works for you as you have some realizations or ah-has. I'm a sticky note kind of gal. I'll jot it down when something comes to me on a sticky note. They'll pile up over several weeks whenever something new comes to mind. Then, when it's time to do my review and set goals, I'll have all of those random but so very important lessons and ah has to go review and use them as information to guide me going into the new year. You could use a notes app on your phone, a Google doc, or a notebook. The idea is to have something easily accessible to capture realizations on the fly. ❎ You aren't committing to anything. ✅ Instead, you are simply noting insights. Keep Curiously Looking BackLet this idea of 'lesson's learned" simmer in the background for the coming weeks. Write down the lessons you notice as you go back over the past year. They will help you when you start to define your goals next year. You may want to complete a deeper review of the past yearStudents in my membership site, The Training Library, often schedule time between Christmas and the New Year to complete their Annual Analysis. Your Annual Analysis is an in-depth review of the inner growth of your leadership. When you complete your Annual Analysis, you'll: ✅ Discover how effective your growth and development plan has been over the last year ✅ Feel pride as you acknowledge your achievements, inner growth, development and progress ✅ Identify the next steps for your continued path toward excellence.
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How to be an effective nonprofit leader? Continue to grow and develop yourself!
Do you love to learn? Perhaps not. I know that not everyone is a lover of learning like me. But what I also know is that learning is part of leadership. It's necessary if you want to be an effective leader to continue to grow and develop yourself. But if you struggle with the learning component, it's hard to make it happen on an ongoing and effective basis. Yet when you do, the results are astounding.
Is your learning too shallow? Learning in a way that helps you apply it and get value from it requires some effort. So often, when we learn, we're just going shallow. We read a book, listen to a podcast or attend a session at a conference and get some good ideas. And that's as far as it goes. Perhaps you apply one of them, but more often than not, it's a fleeting thought. What if you spent 3 weeks diving deep into how to develop your employees? Mark These Leadership Training Suggestions Consider taking a topic like learning how to develop your employees. For example, perhaps you listened to Strengths-Based Leadership on your commute to work. Then you listened to 10 Ways to have better conversations with your team leads and discussed it. Additionally, you completed the course Staff Supervision That Transforms. Do you do this as you learn? As you read the book, listened to the video, and completed the training, you wrote down what you were learning. You also had a couple of discussions with a peer who read the same book. On those calls, you added any new learnings or deeper understandings of how to apply the concepts to your notes. Then over the 3 weeks, you went back to your notes regularly. You added to your notes what you continued to learn as it related to your day-to-day world. You also became intentional in identifying where you could practice or apply the concepts. What would you expect would be different in your leadership abilities? Can you even imagine the change you might experience? I bet you would feel way more confident! Think about it. It's only a 3-week commitment. That's it. And it wouldn't require much time, just intentional scheduling of your time. Will you make a 3-week commitment that allows you to go deep on a subject? To be a stronger leader, you must go deep on one subject rather than bounce from book to podcast blog, but never really dive deep. Are you ready to dive in?
Keep reading as we break it down more as you learn to create your 3-week learning plan. How to deepen your learning into a leadership topic in 3 weeks If you want to dive deep into a topic, here are three strategies. Once you've picked the topic: 1️⃣ Identify 3 places you will learn about that topic There are a ton of places to learn from. Pick 3 that will give you various insights, perspectives and strategies.
2️⃣ Identify 3 ways you will integrate that learning
3️⃣ Identify a time to review your learning Set aside 15 minutes and answer these questions
When you set aside three weeks to deepen your learning about a topic, integrate your knowledge by implementing strategies, and practice it, you'll find that a quick dive into learning something has benefited you exponentially. The Fundamental Components of Nonprofit LeadershipDo you wonder how to be the best leader you can be? One who makes a difference, has a great team and finds some balance in life? Unfortunately, it's not the easiest thing to do. One of the reasons we struggle is that we don't see a lot of other women doing it, so part of us doesn't believe it's even possible. We need more women mentors. I keep looking for them and sharing them with you so we both have more inspiration. Let me introduce you to Yvette Vargas. I was listening to an interview with Yvette, Head of Development at Citizen's Bank in the states. Yvette was part of a Women in Leadership conversation series for LHH, an organization that focuses on recruitment, assessments, coaching, and career transitions. I found Yvette's story, persistence and intentional personal and professional growth as a woman leader inspiring. So many of the suggestions she made for women in leadership had me thinking of the four fundamentals I teach leaders. Let's dive into them together. The four fundamental roadblocks to lead your nonprofit with confidence, composure and integrityThe four fundamentals of leadership:
# 1 - Lead with Authenticity - Be yourselfOn Citizen's Bank website, Yvette is quoted as saying, "I used to have separate selves — mother to my children, wife to my husband, caretaker to my parents, employee and friend. I thought that compartmentalizing my 'different selves' would help me manage each relationship better," she said. However, it's only by working to integrate her selves — and finding a job that allows her to bring every aspect of herself to work — that she's found true meaning in her career. This quote speaks to the authentic nature that we need to lead with. We are not separate people in different aspects of our lives. We are one person doing various things. The more authentic you are, the more confident and comfortable you will feel, and you'll make a more considerable contribution. To help you lead your best, I encourage you to identify your strengths, gifts, and personality traits. Then, do the work to figure out who you are and authentically be who you are daily. START HERE:
2) Develop Yourself - Continue to grow yourself personally and professionallyIntentionally developing yourself is critical to becoming the leader you want to be. Yvette spoke in the interview about being very intentional about this. She indicated you need to develop your growth plant and intentionally spend time working on yourself. "The amount of time you spend on something is a manifestation of what you value." If you value your growth and development, you'll put time into growing and developing yourself. START HERE:
# 3 - Take care of yourself - Be a balanced leaderAs I listened to Yvette, I could tell she has drive. That's different than being driven. When the work drives you, it becomes a problem. When you drive the work, you do that with intentionality. You also need the energy to do that! That means you need to take care of yourself. But Yvette wasn't always that way. She tells the story of needing to shift from being driven by her career to intentionally creating her life and career simultaneously—that required intentionality and self-care. Taking care of yourself it's not something you do just outside of work. It is something you do all day long. Start by adding teach micro-moments of wellness into your workday. START HERE:
# 4 - Teach others to do the same - Be a leader, teacher, mentor and coachI love Yvette's story of supporting other women to grow and pulling them up as you advance. She learned this early on from her mother and sisters. She's been clear about continuing to do it throughout her career. She sees a large part of her role is developing others. When we teach others to be themselves, develop themselves and take care of themselves, we do this through mentoring, guidance, coaching and leadership. Our job as a leader is not always correct and fix employees. Our job as leaders is to help our employees reach their full potential. START HERE:
Let's review the four fundamentals of nonprofit leadership:Here they are again! Which one do you need to work on?
What strategy, suggestion, or idea will you begin with today? Hit reply and tell me where you are starting and what you are inspired to awaken in yourself after listening to Yvettes' story. Even for nonprofit leaders, summer feels different for most of us. The sun is shining, the weather is warmer, and kids are out of school. That, however, for most of us, doesn't mean we don't have to work.
We still need to get things done. It's just a different pace for most of us, and that slower pace gives opportunities to do other things. Last week we talked about 4 easy steps to keep your nonprofit productive on projects over summer. This week we are going to cover three things to do this summer that will make you a better leader. Three things to do this summer that will make you a better leader 1 - Clean your desk Often the clutter gathers, the piles grow taller, and the sticky notes begin to blend together. The physical clutter creates mental clutter. 👉 DO THIS: Set aside a half hour to sort through what's on your desk. This time doesn't have to be a deep dive into everything that's there, but we orient yourselves to what is there. You may create piles for these 3 areas:
Creating physical space will create mental space. If you need more mental space, read this: 3 tips for helping you create thinking moments. 2 - Read a book Whether you're a regular reader or not, make sure that you set aside some time in summer to read at least one leadership book and one nonwork-related book. Both will help you come up with new ideas, grow yourself and relax. In addition, this list will help you find some books if you're interested. 👉 DO THIS: Schedule a few minutes to order a book, borrow a book or ask for a book recommendation from someone. Here are some suggestions: Read these 6 impactful books this summer | Feel your leadership confidence grow 3 - Ask for feedback Sadly, leaders rarely get specific, helpful feedback. Summer, when it is potentially a bit quieter, is a perfect time to set up some one-to-one time with some of your employees to solicit that kind of feedback. 👉 DO THIS: Schedule some time with a few of your employees. Perhaps it's a walk in the park, sitting at the picnic table or an online call where you're both on your decks. When you create the space for a relaxed chat, it's the opportunity to ask for some feedback in a more friendly way. Here are three questions you can ask your employee to get valuable feedback:
If you are looking for more tips for feedback, this webinar may help: Gather input to reach your potential When you take time this summer to do something different to focus on your leadership development, you'll find yourself growing both personally and professionally. What else do you try to get done over the summer to help you be a better nonprofit leader? Add your ideas below so we can all inspire each other! Are you anxious about losing momentum over the summer on some key projects and initiatives that your team is working on? As employees move into summer mode, the ability to keep things rolling can be challenging and trying for leaders.
Fear not! Here are 5 ways to use summer to gain momentum rather than lose it. I'm distracted before holiday time When I am getting ready to go on vacation, the final working days are focused on tying up loose ends so that nothing unravels while I'm gone. My mind is on red flags and potential hotspots. I am not focused enough to be able to sit down and do the deep thinking that is often required on larger projects. I'm trying to get caught up when I get back Upon returning from vacation, the following days are dedicated to putting out any fires that arose, catching up on the office happenings and trying to clean out my inbox. Unfortunately, once again, I am not usually in the right frame of mind to be able to dig deep on a project. The day or two before we leave on holiday and certainly the days after we come back are often considered write-offs for most people. Combine everyone's time off, and it seems like a lost few months. Therefore when someone is away for a week, it feels like you've lost two weeks to focus on a project. Add to that the sunshine, ice cream cones and the kids being out of school as distractions, and it's even harder over summer to get anything done at the office. So it's easy to see how we can lose momentum in team projects as people alternate being away for summer vacation. A leader can choose to see summer differently As the leader in charge, it can be disheartening for you to see a project come to a standstill. However, projects do not have to get derailed over the summer. When you step back and see the gift in this shift of office rhythm over summer, you can put it to good use! Summer schedules can allow more focused project time The truth is you can accomplish a lot over summer because there are fewer distractions in many ways. In summer, there are fewer people in the office, fewer meetings and generally a slower pace. Use this to your advantage to get ahead on some of the components of the project. 5 ways to use summer to gain momentum rather than lose it 1️⃣ First, break the project down between group and individual tasks A meeting between two people can be more effective than a large group meeting. 👥 A duo can:
🙋♀️ Individually, you can:
2️⃣ Block off time to work on the project Our role as leaders is often mentoring. Therefore, summer is an excellent time to show how to get things done despite the season. Typically our calendars are less scheduled in the summer. As a result, it's easy almost to get almost lazy as we go through days. 📆 Schedule time into your calendar When you block off a set time to work on a project in your agenda, it gives you the ability to focus during those 2 hours. 🗣 Communicate your intentions Tell those around you that you are unavailable and not to disrupt you. Treat the time you have identified as if it were a meeting with another person. This not only keeps others from chatting with you but adds in the layer of accountability. By clearly identifying to others that we are working on a project, you tend to feel more motivated to stay on task. After all, if you say you are working on it, you should have something to show for it after. 🙋♀️ Get others to participate Ask participants on the team also to identify a block of time or times when they are working alone on the project. Have them identify what precisely they will be doing during that time. Ensure they commit to their part by a specific date. ✅ Keep everyone accountable Hold each other accountable for what you say you will be working on. Set conversation times with others for the afternoon when it is easier to get derailed. Perhaps meet out at the picnic table or do a walking meeting. Getting outside will infuse creativity and innovation into your conversation and give you some time to enjoy all that summer has to offer. 3️⃣ Set realistic goals for summer Start by looking at a calendar and people's schedules to determine how much time you have to work on the project over the summer period.
🖥 Put the summer plan and targets in a place everyone has access to. Having identified targets to work on keeps people motivate and on board. 4️⃣ Build in frequent review systems Review is a critical component of goal achievement. It keeps people aware, engaged and interested. Listed below are some ways to develop a review system for your team.
Get excited and lead your team to a productive summer Please don't throw up your hands now and say it's useless to get anything done this summer. Instead, give yourself a knowing smile as you:
What will you do to keep the momentum going in your summer project? Hit reply and let me know! Is it time for you to work on you? Is summer a time when you want to recommit to your learning journey, set your personal and professional goals, and get started on the next steps? You may be interested in this series of training in my membership site The Training Library |
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