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 blimps, frustrating everyone but the historians, legalists and nostaglists. Blimps In A World of Stealth Fighter Jets Some associations have outdated … [Read more...]
Devastatingly Deranged Unhealthy Structures To Your Mission
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 SOPs that spell out all the procedure that must be followed and enforced. Structures do … [Read more...]
Effective, High Impact Leaders Attack Established Conditions
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. It yields a world of confusion and conflict, unruly minds and unraveling customer experiences. How Do You Lead? Leaders face these conditions head on. … [Read more...]
Faulty Governance Models Can Obliterate Your Conference
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 can crush a conference. Tollbooth … [Read more...]