Items tagged "Crisis Management":
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[Flash 9 is required to listen to audio.]Groups and Leaders Under Stress
Organizations and leaders under stress tend to find fixes for the moment and focus on momentary survival. This 5-minute segment is the last of a four part series. Earl Braxton, Ph.D. shares his thinking on leadership and Kurt Lewin’s influence on our understanding of it. I’m here to tell you, I think this man knows what he’s talking about.
Common characteristics of groups under stress:
- An insistence on maintaining past comfortable positions and defending against new ideas or experiences.
- Becoming overly organized and rigidly defensive of their historical position. The rigidity will prevent new data from entering the system.
Common characteristics of managers (or leaders by other names) under stress:
- Selectively perceiving information and only seeing what confirms their earlier biases.
- Becoming very intolerant of ambiguity and demanding only “right” answers.
- Fixating on a single approach to a problem.
- Overestimating how fast time is passing. Hence they often feel rushed.
- Adopting short-term perspective or crisis mentality and ceasing to consider long-term implications.
- Decreasing ability to consult with and listen to others.
- Having less ability to make fine distinctions in problems so that complexity and nuances are missed.
Earl also shares what leaders or consultants need to provide in order to support those under stress:
- Provide conditions of safety.
- Be available psychologically, emotionally, and physically to the group.
- Be neither intrusive nor abandoning.
- Be able to take criticism and use it productively.
- Have good boundary management skills.
Thank you to Earl Braxton for his thoughtful analysis, to Joseph Lennox for hosting, Brenda Jones for facilitating and to the Lewin Center for Research and Social Justice that convened this forum and is doing important work in the world.
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- posted by:
- patrickod-blog
- # of plays:
- 10
- date:
- Mar 4, 2012 (a Sunday)
- time:
- 12:00:00 (2 months ago)
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Mergers: Lessons From the Grassroots Institute for Fundriasing Training
Last week I posted a piece on mergers for community based organizations. Priscilla Hung, Executive Director of the Grassroots Institute for Fundraising Training (GIFT), replied with a wonderful resource she wrote after GIFT went through their own merger. The article talks about the costs, difficult to measure staff hours, and impact to finances and fundraising.Priscilla dives into seven lessons learned through their experience and of two other organizations they interviewed:
1. It’s your work that’s important, not the organization
2. Be honest and up front about your reasons for merging
3. Merging won’t make a financially unstable organization more stable
4. Fundraising culture matters just as much as fundraising practice
5. Notify donors and funders in a timely way
6. Fundraise for your merger
7. The merger will take longer than you think
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- posted by:
- patrickod-blog
- date:
- Feb 8, 2010 (a Monday)
- time:
- 10:00:00 (2 years ago)
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Mergers for Community Based Orgs
There are very few merger resources that speak directly to the needs of small community-based organizations and nongovernmental groups. Through hands on work
with mission-driven clients Potomac Group has developed a merger model and checklist. Offered below is an article that will help readers understand and prepare for the mechanics of a merger.Some of the common myths or misconceptions talked about in the article include:
- Overestimating cost savings. So many groups already have administrative infrastructures that are below their needs. A merger actually increases costs.
- Merging two struggling or vulnerable organizations with an unexamined belief it will result in one stronger organization.
- Thinking the hard work is all done prior to the merger and “letting it ride” after the legal merger. There is a lot to be done pre-merger to be sure. The post-merger work, if not properly attended to, can drastically reduce the effectiveness of the organization and in some cases topple it.
- Using a merger to avoid answering the question, “should we close?”
Potomac Group is intending on releasing a series of articles over time that touch on the hidden or less covered aspects of mergers. These include: preparing change leaders, group dynamics, managing emotions, and the process of letting go. Rather than being at the margins, these issues are at the heart of a successful merger process. Until then, enjoy this article and please do comment with your own experience and thoughts on the issue…
First, groups considering a merger are often looking to reap savings from combining administrative overhead (office space, bookkeeping, training, copier service, tech support, contract / consulting support, etc.). Although this is a benefit that most groups seek, small community-based groups run a particular risk of putting themselves in harm’s way by overestimating potential savings. That’s because small groups engaged in service, advocacy and organizing efforts typically operate with limited budgets to address unlimited needs, and routinely under resource their infrastructure…Click here for Full Article
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- posted by:
- patrickod-blog
- date:
- Jan 29, 2010 (a Friday)
- time:
- 10:00:00 (2 years ago)
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