What is the best way to drive innovative work inside organizations? Important clues hide in the stories of world-renowned creators. It turns out that ordinary scientists, marketers, programmers, and other unsung knowledge workers, whose jobs require creative productivity every day, have more in common with famous innovators than most managers realize. The workday events that […]
Read More The Power of Small WinsAccording to research from Connected Commons, most managers now spend 85% or more of their work time on e-mail, in meetings, and on the phone, and the demand for such activities has jumped by 50% over the past decade. Companies benefit, of course: Faster innovation and more-seamless client service are two by-products of greater collaboration. […]
Read More How to Collaborate Without Burning OutOne of the most troubling facts about our industry is that the average time Development Directors stay in their roles is only 18 months! On average, a major gift takes two years to move from identification and qualification to solicitation and closure. Major Gift Officers generally require three years of activity before an optimal return […]
Read More A pinch of fairy dust and a touch of realism!Volatility. Uncertainty. Complexity. Ambiguity. These four words (shorthanded to “VUCA”) describe the type of high-stress, high-demand scenarios that can rapidly degrade one of our most powerful and influential brain systems: our attention. Right now, during the COVID pandemic, we are all living in VUCA conditions. Compounding the constant health and economic concerns, we are facing […]
Read More 10 Ways Your Brain Reacts to Uncertain TimesImagine the colleague with whom you have a very challenging relationship, the person who makes the most innocuous conversation tense and uncomfortable. Now imagine the following scenario: You’re sitting at your desk working away when a message from that person pops up on your screen. You open the message and it reads: “I got the […]
Read More A Mental Trick to Help with Challenging ConversationsJudy Park, Kavya Shankar and a group of Stanford MBA students interviewed millennial donors from the Silicon Valley startup world and these conservations showed a pattern of overreliance on certain for-profit principles in the nonprofit realm, despite potential flaws. One young tech executive in San Francisco said she wanted to maximize return on investment. The […]
Read More Five For-Profit Practices That Philanthropy Should AvoidLarge, traditional business networking events are a time-honored institution. They have been a staple of aspiring and successful professionals for so long that most networking advice focuses not on whether you should attend, but on how to make the most of these events when you do attend. In theory, they’re one of the best ways […]
Read More Don’t Waste Your Time on Networking EventsStrangers often get a bad deal when it comes to being accurately assessed during interviews. While people who are known to the hiring manager are assessed on their past performance, strangers are judged on their motivation to get the job, a bunch of generic competencies, the depth of their technical knowledge and the quality of […]
Read More 10 Ways to Reduce Interviewer BiasThis list was initially created by Dr Andrea Dinardo for students embarking on a new career during covid-19 but it is equally useful for fundraisers trying to make online connections with new supporters. It also includes EQ techniques helpful for everyone. Find out more here: https://drandreadinardo.com/2021/02/09/meaningful-online-connections/
Read More 5 Ways to Create Meaningful Connections in a Virtual WorldHow do you get the attention of powerful people you want in your network, but are the least likely to respond? Senior executives are busy, see less value spending time with someone lower on the hierarchy, and are likely to miss or ignore requests through email or social media. Michael C. Wenderoth is an Associate […]
Read More How to Network with Powerful People
