Some years ago, one of the non-profits I was on the board of directors for had a mission that was near and dear to my heart. It was to support the growth of member businesses and facilitate engagement with the local community.
The problem was the Executive Director, David, really didn’t understand his role and what leadership in the organization meant.
Under constant pressure of needing funding, he directed almost all the efforts for himself, the board of directors and the committees to bringing funds into the organization in a “scrape for pennies” kind of way.
There was very little regard for big-picture, long-term strategy, making smart investments of time and money and gauging return on possible investments.
To his credit, he was extremely dedicated and a very hard worker. He cared about the success of the organization and its members.
A handful of board members were dedicated, too, and clearly wanted success for the organization, but David’s actions would undermine their enthusiasm, ideas and productivity.
As a leader, he was really missing the important pieces of the puzzle.
He wouldn’t say “no” to small details that he could have assigned to someone or have skipped altogether in favor of more productive uses of his time. He was entrenched as the workhorse of the organization, even though he had staff to carry out many of the tasks he took on.
Unfortunately, he was not a good leader, delegator or strategist.
Not surprisingly, the majority of the board was often absent, uninvolved or barely effective.
For me, attending the board meetings became literally painful – feeling like an exercise in futility, boredom and dispiritedness.
The organization as a whole remained stagnant with no growth and was financially in the red for years.
Until, finally, David was fired.
I tell you this story not to call out David, but as a means to help you think about the growth of your business, team or organization – especially if you’re less than 100% thrilled with where things stand.
How does your business, team or staff perform?
What could you be doing better?
What advice would you give yourself?
I encourage you to write down the answers to these questions if you want to see your business grow from where you are now.
And if you’re up for it, you can even click here to email me with the answers (Jason@DistinctiveCoaching.com). By sharing your insights with someone, you will see deeper into them as well as strengthen your ability to improve those aspects and create more growth for yourself and your business.
Your friend and coach,
Jason
