Posts Tagged "Leadership"

In this thought piece, strategy and sustainability consultant and trainer Shannon Ellis writes about the power of a well-crafted problem statement in helping an organization strategically respond to the question “How are we currently thinking about the problem we are working to address?” It’s a useful filter and often a first step in CompassPoint’s work with organizations to develop a decision-making framework to strategically guide their actions going forward. 
 

At CompassPoint, we know that understanding how to work in a team is an indispensable part of leading with others. Working collaboratively helps organizations learn together, unearths new ideas, and can bring unheard voices to the table. Project Director Lupe Poblano explores teams in this new blog series. In Part 1, he explores common definitions for teams and outlines the circumstances that help them function at their highest level.
 

In this excerpt from our forthcoming book, The Sustainability Mindset by Jeanne Bell and Steve Zimmerman (coming fall 2014 from Jossey-Bass), we explore the concept of “right” revenue as a way of analyzing and deepening your understanding of the connection between financial resources and mission impact. 
 

These days, we’ve been spending a lot of time with exhausted leaders. Our experience usually goes something like this:

A highly talented and productive CEO (or Program Director or Associate Director) of a nonprofit shows up to our meeting feeling defeated, exhausted, and burned out. She has too much to do and not enough time to do it. She feels guilty taking time off of work because things are just “too crazy” right now. She is still running on fumes from preparing for and pulling off a presentation at the very last minute. Her voicemail is full, her email is full, and she complains about spending her days putting out fires. She isn’t sure there is an end in sight, yet after venting for a bit, she pauses and says, “But, at least I’m getting stuff done!”