A member of my team noticed that we had received multiple orders for Applied Wisdom for the Nonprofit Sector from a university address and took the initiative to learn more and to see if we could assist in their use of my booklet.
As it turns out, the order was from Brad McMillan, coordinator of the Master’s in Nonprofit Leadership (NPL) program at Bradley University in Peoria, Illinois. He also serves as Executive Director of the Institute for Principled Leadership in Public Service (IPL), located at Bradley University.
Brad started using Applied Wisdom for the Nonprofit Sector three years ago. He liked the practical wisdom and leadership highlights; he is appreciative that the materials are free and that the book works better than a large textbook. He wrote to our team:
- In my online course Effective Leadership for Nonprofit Organizations, I have the students read and discuss Applied Wisdom for the Nonprofit Sector since it is packed with insightful leadership principles and common sense. My students love the book and the relevant wisdom they glean for their future nonprofit leadership careers. Recently he had 29 of his students write a paper highlighting the benefits of the book and how it resonated with them. He said that we could share a few of their observations.
Elizabeth wrote about my “Bad News is Good News” maxim.
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Very few people think of bad news as something they are comfortable with. I like to focus on the idea of becoming comfortable with the uncomfortable. I believe that embracing bad news as good news falls within this concept. As I force myself to become comfortable with being uncomfortable, I hope to instill this idea in those whom I lead. Instead of running from bad news, I want to encourage the discovery of bad news, so that as a team we can turn bad news into opportunities for improvement. Maria offered a lively anecdote about “who’s got the monkey.”
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For many years my father-in-law owned his own company in Colorado. He worked long hard hours and rarely took any time off, even when he was ill. Once, when he was too sick to go to work, he called his secretary to let her know he would not be coming into the shop for several days.That afternoon she called him asking if, in his absence, she was allowed to fire an employee. My father-in-law said yes. She fired the employee and thought that was the end of the situation. The following morning she called my father-in-law asking who should take over the job of the man who had been fired. He was quick to point out that this was her challenge since she had done the firing. As the story goes, the secretary went to the house of the ex-employee that morning and re-hired him on the spot! Jes wrote about respect and trust.
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As a future nonprofit leader, I recognize the importance of building a trusting relationship right from when an employee is hired. I plan to continue this by having more conversational one-on-ones and getting to know my team outside of their work with the organization. In my group we have 30-minute “Creative Conversations” hosted by our vice president, during which we talk about anything except work. It has helped us grow closer as a team, and we learn fun facts about each other’s skill sets. This exercise is something I want to implement with my next team to help build these connections. I’m always delighted when I learn that my ideas about nonprofit management are inspiring and educating others.
If you would like to learn more about using Applied Wisdom for the Nonprofit Sector in education, email jim@appliedwisdomfornonprofits.org.