Tactical Or Strategic: Which Best Describes Your Governing Nonprofit Board August 19, 2016 by Jeff Hurt Tactical board members are focused on the predictability of the past for today, the here and now, and getting through the year. Strategic board members think, prepare and act on challenges and opportunities that lie ahead. Why? Because they care about the organization’s future. They know they can play an important role in creating their … [Read more…] Filed Under: Ramblings Tagged With: , ASAE16, association governance, association issues and challenges, integrated reasoning, strategic thinking, strategy, tactics
Future Forward Thinking Cultures Lead To Extraordinary Results May 2, 2016 by Jeff Hurt This is part four of a series on being more future focused in our planning. See part one here, part two here and part three here. So how do we develop, foster and leverage future focused leadership? How do we encourage our committees, volunteers, staff and customers to laser focus on what’s next, what’s coming … [Read more…] Filed Under: Ramblings Tagged With: , association best practices, association future, association governance, association issues and challenges, board of directors, foresight, forward thinking, future focused thinking, leadership, organization development, volunteer leadership
Start Today By Stepping Into Your Future With Your Feet Firmly Planted In Reality April 29, 2016 by Jeff Hurt This is part three in a four part series on being more future focused in our planning. See part one here and part two here. Strategic foresight is a competency that all leaders need today! Yet rarely do we discuss it. Much less practice it for our future planning. And hardly ever do we foster … [Read more…] Filed Under: Ramblings Tagged With: , association best practices, association future, association governance, association issues and challenges, board of directors, leadership, organization development, volunteer leadership
Foster Novelty And The Absurd as You Feed Your Brain’s Craving For Future Foresight April 22, 2016 by Jeff Hurt This is part two in a four part series. See part one here. Go ahead and admit it! If you are even a little like me, you have a curiosity for the future. I have always felt a fascination for what’s next more than a nostalgia for the past. Imagine my surprise to discover my … [Read more…] Filed Under: Ramblings Tagged With: , association best practices, association future, association governance, association issues and challenges, board of directors, leadership, organization development, volunteer leadership
Future Focused Leadership Not Lollygagging Laggards April 21, 2016 by Jeff Hurt This is part one in a four part series on being more future focused in our planning. This illustration is part of the booklet How to Change the World. Many organization leaders take great comfort in rear view leadership. It feels safe. We know what to expect. (At least that’s what we tell ourselves and … [Read more…] Filed Under: Ramblings Tagged With: , association best practices, association future, association governance, association issues and challenges, board of directors, leadership, organization development, volunteer leadership
Three Principles To Awaken Your Association Force Leadership January 28, 2016 by Jeff Hurt Have you seen the newest installment in the Star Wars saga: Episode VII “The Force Awakens?” I admit I’m something of a Star Wars fan. Just take a look at my Facebook page and you’ll see. One of the major themes in the Star Wars films is light versus dark, good versus evil. That same … [Read more…] Filed Under: Ramblings Tagged With: , association best practices, association governance, leadership, volunteer leadership
You Choose: Bloated Painfully Slow Blimp Or Stealth Agile Fighter Jet September 21, 2015 by Jeff Hurt Recently I saw the Goodyear Blimp circling a major Dallas freeway. It bounced up and down with the intensity of a bobble-head-frenzy. Several times it plunged nose-first in a new direction. It was clunky and off target—at least it looked like it was astray. It was also painfully slow.Some association governance structures have bloated into … [Read more…] Filed Under: Ramblings Tagged With: , #assnchat, association future, association governance, decision-making, governance model, leadership, nonprofit governance, organization structure, strategic planning
Devastatingly Deranged Unhealthy Structures To Your Mission August 27, 2015 by Jeff Hurt Is your current structure stifling your mission? Do you have metaphorical tollbooths for your staff and volunteer leaders? Those tollbooths serve as permission-withholding stops and starts where every staff member and leader must get authorization and agreement to move an idea forward. Tollbooths are usually embedded in your organization’s governance structure—the bylaws, constitution, committees and … [Read more…] Filed Under: Ramblings Tagged With: , #assnchat, association governance, governance model, nonprofit governance, organization structure
Effective, High Impact Leaders Attack Established Conditions July 28, 2015 by Jeff Hurt If a problem persists for years, it is no longer a crisis. It’s a condition. Many organizations face situations built upon shoddy foundations of myth, tradition and common-sense practices. The current state of affairs has prevailed so long they are now the accepted conditions. It’s a condition of “everyone else does it that way” shadows. … [Read more…] Filed Under: Experience Design Tagged With: , association best practices, association governance, becoming a conference leader, governance model, leadership, nonprofit governance
Faulty Governance Models Can Obliterate Your Conference June 9, 2015 by Jeff Hurt Does your organization have a permission-withholding culture or a permission-granting culture? One of those cultures is empowering, healthy and life-giving. The other is stifling, frustrating, dysfunctional and can annihilate your conference success. Unfortunately, I’ve found that more organizations have permission-withholding cultures. They foster three characteristics: bureaucracy, control and mistrust. These three dysfunctions disempower leaders and … [Read more…] Filed Under: Event Planning Tagged With: , association best practices, association governance, conference best practices, conference governance model, governance model, meeting planner, meeting professional, nonprofit governance
