Alan Weiss postedhis advice for non-profit board members based on his experience as a consultant and board member for numerous NPOs.
Many good lessons in that post on the role of a board member, relationship to staff, and how to stay out of the weeds. Alan’s nutshell: “Non-profits have been failing at an alarming rate. That’s not the economy’s fault, it’s the board’s fault.”
Tom Searcy shares in this post an experience where he advised a client to decline a request for proposal.
When looking for a new vendor or partner of some sort, everyone says they want the best possible partner for their goals given what they have to invest. Yet, too many requests for proposal appear designed to actually push those companies away. They are overly prescriptive, include pages of legalese, and ask irrelevant questions. Send it to too many firms and the best will drop out simply because the percentages aren’t in it.
The best, healthiest, companies have criteria for which prospects they want to pursue. Especially for a growing company, bad business is often worse than no business. Check out Tom’s post and some of the links he shares to get a sense of how the other side of the table approaches this.
A poorly designed or overly distributed RFP is unlikely to draw the best candidates. You may be left sorting the chaff while the wheat goes looking for a better baker!
I really liked this mini-interview with Steve Denning about how to create dramatic change without budget or authority. The interview is part of Seth Kahan’s up-coming book, Getting Change Right.
One of key comments by Steve is that he felt his knowledge initiative at the World Bank was better off starting out starved for resources. They had to prove the value of it and as they did so they found the resources they needed.
Being hungry can be a boon rather than an obstacle.
My friend Roberta Matuson has a great post on her blog this week about not letting the economy stop you from pursuing your career goals. Are You Allowing Yourself to be a Victim of the Economy?
Yes, I know…it’s a lousy economy and jobs are scarce. But they do exist. I’m frequently hearing people complain about the way they are being treated at work, yet these same people don’t even have an updated resume nor have they done much to expand their network. No one else will be able to help you if you aren’t willing to help yourself. Here are some tips on how to get out of victim mode so that you can move your life forward.
Her five tips are applicable to any endeavor and not just for finding your next job. Worth a read.
I’ll also add that I believe the organizational job market is about to heat up significantly. Now is a great time to make sure you have the right talent on board. If you wait until the recovery is fully in place it will be too late.
C. David Gammel, CAE 