I work with nonprofit Executive Directors on two things nobody hands you a playbook for: making the strategy actually move, and leaving without breaking what you built. Twenty years in the sector, including time as an ED. One piece a month, from the work.
I got teary over a tomato
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Hey Reader, One hour before event seasonFall walks, galas, and the year-end sprint are the most crowded stretch your calendar sees all year. So before your next event committee meeting, block one hour with your leadership team and run it against this agenda: The Fall Planning Hour . Three priorities, each with an owner and a first step, before the sand pours in. Before I GoIt's my birthday month. Year 40 is in the books, and it was a good one. Earlier this year, my husband and I made a commitment: our kids will see more of the world than our little corner of it. Experiences over things, whenever we can manage it. So we closed out the summer in Italy and Spain. Our first European soccer match (Vamos a Valencia!), gelato every single day of an Italian heat wave, and checking Capri and the Blue Grottos from my bucket list, which did not disappoint. I hope your adventures, whether local or far, brought you a sense of wonder this summer! Talk soon, P.S. The Legacy Leadership Transfer waitlist is open if the timing's right for you. |
Heather Hooper Consulting, LLC
I work with nonprofit Executive Directors on two things nobody hands you a playbook for: making the strategy actually move, and leaving without breaking what you built. Twenty years in the sector, including time as an ED. One piece a month, from the work.
Hello Reader, The other day I was catching up with a colleague from my old organization. We got talking about some system changes and why things had been built a certain way. Then the words I hate most came right out of my mouth: "We've always done it that way..." I paused, and finished with, "and I'm glad you're reexamining it and taking a fresh look." That's one of the most expensive sentences in the nonprofit sector. Most organizations have one. It's a practice nobody questions because...
Hello Reader, My daughter pitches in rec league softball, and I am absolutely the mom white-knuckling her phone in the stands. I’ve even had a “lucky spot” to stand for a season. IYKYK. A few weeks ago, she walked several batters in a row. It was a hard game, and she had to keep going with everyone watching. Later, a mom from the another team texted me to say how much my daughter’s pitching had improved this year. She didn’t have to say anything. I’m glad she did.Every Executive Director I...
Hello Reader, When I was ready to leave my last ED position, I looked for a roadmap. Not the organization's succession plan. That existed. It named how we would find the next leader, explained how the search would run, told the board what to do. Useful, as far as it went. What I was looking for was a roadmap on how to transfer my work. The documentation nobody had asked me to write. The years of institutional context that would walk out the door the day I did if I didn't build a structure for...