Our content is reader-supported. Things you buy through links on our site may earn us a commission

Coaching Tip – A Simple Tool to Ask for Feedback

A common theme that emerges with many of my coaching clients is that they would like more feedback. They would like to know if they are doing a good job and are on track with what is expected of them. Further, if they are not meeting the expectations, they would like to know what they …

Is PR Spin? You Must Be Hyping Me!

Caterpillars spin cocoons. Spiders spin webs. Young kids sometimes spin to make themselves dizzy. Whirling dervishes definitely spin toward a higher power, and fitness clubs are fond of offering spin classes. But is PR spin? Most of the public relations professionals that I know consider “spin” to be a pejorative term in their profession. It …

Sample Business Plans

People are always asking us for examples of business plans, which is a bit ironic, in that every credible plan I’ve ever seen has “Confidential” stamped all over it. That said, there are samples out there, which is fine as long as you don’t assume you should do it the way they did it. Here …

What is a Major Gift ??

Many Non-Profit Organizations (NPOs) use the term “Major Gifts” to refer to those that are larger than the usual range of gifts that arrive in the mail. Typically, $1,000 is the magic number. But, unless an organization’s budget and/or the amount to be raised via the fundraising process is unusually small, gifts of $1,000 won’t …

Does Transformational Leadership Make a Difference?

This entry states that the bottom line objective of transformational leadership could be referred to as a leader’s efforts to align his or her goals, and the goals of team members, with the strategic goals of the organization. The questions that are addressed are whether this approach to leadership shows evidence of any positive outcomes, let alone the aforementioned grand objective.

Different Domains of Leadership and Skills Needed in Each

We often generalize leadership and skills to be the same traits needed all the time and everywhere by all leaders. Is leadership really that simple? Let’s look at different domains of leadership and the different skills that are needed in each. Leading Yourself To effectively lead yourself, useful skills are, for example: physical fitness decision …

7 Options for “Success” in Consulting Projects

As a consultant, your perception of project “success” is the basis from which your client and you conclude, for example, whether the project is of high quality, that money paid to you was well spent, that you did a good job as a consultant, and whether you might be hired again (if you are an …

How to Improve a Board By Understanding the System of a Board

Recent Breakthrough in Development: Systems Thinking One of the recent breakthroughs in organizational and management development is the ability to understand organizations and each of the various functions in them as a system. Each of the functions, such as Boards, planning, leadership, management, marketing, sales and finances is a system. Each of these functions is …

The Organic Model of Strategic Planning

What Is an Organic Approach? Organization and management sciences today are placing a great deal of attention to naturalistic approaches to development. One of the most prominent approaches is called “self-organizing” systems. These are systems that develop primarily according to certain values, rather than according to specific procedures. Biological systems (people, plants, animals, etc.) are …