Open Questions: The Ross Collective Blog
Sharing insights and stories on nonprofit strategy, racial equity and leadership
How one organization made the shift to a more equitable board
“As soon as we had new perspectives on the board, we started coming up with new ideas about how to approach our work and our impact in completely different ways. The shift was really palpable across our whole organization. I can’t recommend putting in the time and investment enough. It was really so powerful.”
We are so excited to launch our very first course!
Given the hunger of nonprofit boards to embrace equity (I hear it again and again from my clients) and diversity with the Black Lives Matter movement following the murder of George Floyd and other incidents, The Ross Collective has created the Equitable Board Lab course as a way to work with a small cohort of nonprofit leaders from different organizations to learn about and practice tools to deepen racial equity.
Meeting this volatile moment with energy and compassion
It is hard to fault any one of us for being overwhelmed, for not wanting to know, for turning to fear and misinformation as a way to tune out the truth.
And yet – I want to share three sources that speak to meeting the moment:
Ask now: What would John Lewis do?
In these times, we each need to get in touch with courage. We need to move through the fear to stay connected with one another and express caring towards each member of our society.
Good News…or Courage?
If your organization has not made a statement condemning the recent unwarranted murders of unarmed black people, turn away from your computer, pick up your phone, call your leadership and write one together. If you’re not sure what to say, look around at what other organizations are saying. If you are not following any organizations that have spoken up, expand your circle to people and organizations who express leadership in this area.
How to Steer with Compassion and Inclusion at a Scary Time
Our best chance at figuring out the route down the river is to inclusively use the wisdom of the group. We need to be asking each other: What do you see now? What do you envision in our best future? What can we each do to make that happen?
The Best Questions for Powerful Virtual Meetings
A while back, I led a strategic planning meeting for the board of social service nonprofit organization.
We first honed in on the organizational vision for work for the next year. We then discussed blockages to accomplishing the work. Then, we moved from vision to plan by agreeing on board projects in the upcoming year.
What is Leadership at this Moment?
At possibly the most challenging moment in our lifetimes, what do we need to keep in mind to lead our organizations and teams toward a healthy and prosperous future?
Based on conversations with nonprofit leaders over the past few weeks and our experience working with teams to embrace change, this post shares steps to maintain effective leadership at this moment. In order to build awareness of what’s happening on the ground, we have included examples of how our clients and colleagues are implementing each of these steps.
In support of our community
In these posts, I usually tell stories about my clients and how we work together to find a path forward.
We are in trying times. In this post, I’m going to step back and tell my story and then connect it to our current moment.
Over the past year, I’ve reflected on my work and why I do what I do. What do I bring that is different from others doing this work? This is part of my reflection.
An Unexpected Shift From First Steps to Breakthrough
Joanna*, the Executive Director of a multimillion-dollar organization focusing on food insecurity, reached out because she needed help with her board. In most areas, the organization was doing well: Since Joanna had taken over as Executive Director a year-and-a-half earlier, the work of the organization had expanded to serve many more clients. While the previous Executive Director had been content to serve a limited number of clients, Joanna saw the need in the community and found government funding and other funding sources to almost double the number of clients served.
A proven path for nonprofit boards from conflict to progress
The worry in Howard’s* voice came through the phone line. Howard, the board president of a medium-sized arts and culture organization, reached out to us to work with the organization’s board of directors.
From the outside, County Theatre Co. was having a banner year, bringing record crowds to its signature events. But the organization had hit some bumps. While doing some planning work, the board got stuck. Now the board was divided into two factions, with nasty, contentious emails flying among board members. The board’s work had completely halted. No matter what “side” board members were on, all board members were so frustrated that they had turned their attention elsewhere.
Create Gratitude and Energy by Focusing on the Most Painful Truths
As the holidays approach, I was inspired by this segment on NPR on Teaching Thanksgiving, which is a perfect model for my work with clients.
According to the segment, educators are finding ways to teach about Thanksgiving while sticking closer to historical facts.
Watch What Happens When You Align Energy and Vision
A while ago, I was working with the board and staff of a nonprofit social service organization on some strategic planning. In order to build shared vision, I did an exercise that I’ve done with a number of groups, “What’s My Why?”
“What’s My Why?” is fairly simple: Each person finds a partner. One person is the listener, the other one is the talker. The listener asks, “What is your why?” and the talker shares whatever comes to mind. In this case, participants were instructed to talk about their reasons for supporting the organization.
The Surprising Truth about Staff Fundraising
As part of philanthropic advising for a West Coast-based funder, I’ve gotten a front row seat into the strengths and challenges of over 20 small- to medium-sized nonprofits. This post and How to Win the Strategic Planning Battle share learning from this work.
How to Win the Strategic Planning Battle
How well do you handle frustration?
The other day my daughter and I were playing Connect Four. She won the first game and smiled triumphantly. Then I won the second one. And the third. And the fourth. And at this point, she stamped her foot, pounded her arms and picked up all of the checkers and threw them around the room.
I guess the game was over.
3 Big ideas for productive and inspiring nonprofit board orientations
Daniel, a client with whom we had worked on governance projects and the executive director of a nonprofit organization, reached out to us with a request: several board members, Deanna and Kyle, complained that they felt “confused” about their participation on the organization’s board of directors. Each had been recruited by a member of the nominating committee, who gave an overview of his or her commitment as a board member.
An Unexpected Hack to Make New Year’s Resolutions Stick
The key to accomplishing our goals might not be what we expect:
New Year’s resolutions are a big topic right now. Changing the calendar makes most of us step back and reflect on the past year. What went well? What would we like to change?
Yet the truth is, we’re reading the same advice we read last year. Studies show that less than 20% of people succeed in keeping their resolutions past the first 30 days of the year. Something isn’t working!
A powerful process to unlock your board’s energy
Exploring where and how we are blocked is a critical step to forward motion.
How Saying Goodbye Helps Us to Say Hello
Change is scary. But when we look it right in the eye, we are more open to new people and experiences:
This past Spring, our neighbor Nicole let us know that she and her family would be moving away from our community. I asked Nicole if she planned to have a goodbye gathering before she left. “Nah,” she replied, “We don’t like to make a big deal of leaving. We’ll probably pack our stuff and ‘sneak out the back door’ without too much fanfare.”