I recall a time during my nonprofit leadership experience during which I was wildly irritated every time someone complained about “lack of transparency.” Defensiveness would kick in and I’d immediately have thoughts along these lines: Now, all of these things might be true, AND… I have an evolving hypothesis. I Read more…
Let’s talk about toxic workplaces in the nonprofit sector. So many people I talk to have either experienced a toxic workplace, are experiencing one currently, or know someone who is. I know many people (myself included) who have left toxic jobs. And it is hard. People in these roles often Read more…
Healthy organizations will spend time developing a core set of values that drive the way they work as an organization. It is important to have clarity on values because it provides an anchor for providing feedback when someone has fallen short of the agreed upon expectations. But are work values Read more…
Earlier this year, I wrote something for the blog that struck a nerve with lots of people. What was the post? Five Signs Your Boss Might be Making You Sick. Turns out there are a lot of toxic bosses out there. I didn’t get a lot of public engagement with Read more…
My book coach says there’s no such thing as writer’s block. There are things that get in your way, there are barriers, for sure. But something about the term “writer’s block” doesn’t work for her. Maybe it’s that it feels unfixable as opposed to digging into WHY you’ve hit a Read more…
(For the record, image above is NOT the recommended answer to the post title. 😂) I once gave an informal talk to a group of junior colleagues about my personal career path. They asked if I had any regrets. My answer was no, but there is one thing I did Read more…
Picture this: The leadership team of a small nonprofit organization is at its annual retreat. The makeup of the leadership team is mostly white, mostly women. These are the senior-most leaders from the organization; all of the people in the room have at least 20 years of professional experience. This Read more…
Vulnerability moment: As a Chief of Staff, I floundered. When I was hired by the Interim CEO, things were so unsettled that I had a hard time putting out the dumpster fires long enough to be able to pull the valuables out of the trash. When she left, the next Read more…
In his book The Good Enough Job, Simone Stolzoff shares a powerful lesson about defining your identity as more than what you do for work. There’s so much pressure to “love what you do, and you’ll never work a day in your life.” There’s a danger in giving work all Read more…
Have you ever taken a personality test? I am kinda obsessed with them, especially now that they are freely accessible. I think I probably took my first Myers-Briggs test when I was in college or maybe in my first job. I could never remember the results – mainly because all Read more…