I Believe In Fairness, Fun, And Sharing What I’ve Learned

With The People Who Make This Planet A Great Place To Live

Gratitude, Always

I ended September by heading on a short vacation that took me into October (which is why this e-zine is late). Fringe (I, Diana) took up the entire summer and so it is only as the leaves are changing colour that I can take my "summer vacation." The ability to take a vacation is a wonderful reminder of something for which I can be grateful.

The highlights of September included participating in The League of Extraordinary Lagers wherein I hit up craft breweries and tasted new beers -- but with a theme! It was fun to get my passport stamped and to see full tasting rooms of other people flashing their passports.

I also got to help a family do a final send off for their loved one. Families are complex beasts, and you just never know what someone will care about. Celebrations of life are a good way to remember a life and to add closure. My family and I also participated in a memorial stone dedication that included one for my brother, Joe. The presentation on his aviation career was touching, and I'm glad his stone is just a row away from mom's and dad's. 700 Wing RCAF Association and the Alberta Aviation Museum made it a very special day.

The new owner of my football team did a Zoom call with season ticket holders. Larry Thompson did not knock it out of the park from a PR point of view, but he did buy my team and I hope that whatever made him successful in business transfers to the team. In the meantime, fans of my team continue to divide rather than unite. Instead of beaking off at our opponents, we are beaking off at each other. It's not a good scenario. For the record, the name change to the Elks is NOT the reason the team has been losing, and changing it back will NOT cause the team to win. Hopefully as we enjoy the extra time off (no playoffs for us) we can get our heads on straight(er) and move on.

Which brings me back to the vacation. When everyone around me is annoying, it's probably time to look in the mirror. And book a flight. I feel much better now, thanks for asking.

I wish you a happy Thanksgiving with ample reminders to be grateful.

/lmwe

"I'm so glad I live in a world where there are Octobers."

— Lucy Maud Montgomery, Ann of Green Gables

PLANNING ON YOUR BOARD'S MIND?

Last month I shared a laundry list of things I'd been thinking about that boards are also thinking about. The mention of strategic planning resonated with some of you. Here's what I said:

Strategic Planning: During the pandemic, many organizations just kicked the ball further down the field and made their

3-year plan a 5-year (now, 6, 7, or 8-year) plan. The upshot is this: even if the values, vision, and mission didn't change

much (are we sure?), something big definitely changed. This far along, do we still have an actual strategic plan

or just a list of tasks? I know what I'm seeing. What are you seeing?

I thought I'd share one response from a respected and very cool, creative, and fun supplier/friend of mine Heather Lyon at First Start Planning (heather@firststart.ca). It is a great reminder to get back to basics.

"I find that there are often two main problems that stop boards from actually achieving what they set out to do. The first is in goal setting. They like to set goals that sound good but aren’t specific enough. So maybe they decide to set a goal to increase membership in the organization. But they don’t set a specific number or percentage increase, so it is impossible to know when or if they have achieved the goal. The other issue is that they love to set goals without action plans. This leads to a couple of other problems. First, they don’t know what practical steps must be taken to achieve their goal, and they often don’t realize the time and resources required to achieve them. As a result, they end up not even attempting to achieve them, or they set 10 goals and maybe achieve 2 of them because they didn’t have the people/time/resources to get it all done. So, I always encourage them to do these steps when creating their Strategic Plan (assuming they have already come up with the vision, mission, and values).

Set specific goals – what will they do, when will it be completed, how will they know when it has been achieved (is it measurable)?
Set an action plan for each one – including the action to be taken, the person/people taking action and monitoring progress, and the date of completion.

I would also add that they can create a 3- or 5-year plan, but things change so quickly, it MUST be monitored and updated at least annually in order to be effective. I am happy to facilitate planning, but hate to see money wasted when they don’t actually DO what they wanted to in the first place."

Well Heather, yes, yes, and yes! In addition to your excellent observations, I would add that sometimes when a board is working at this level (or ignoring the work at this level), they meander into operational things that are better placed in the CEO's/Executive Director's annual business plan. That is, they stray away from board work and start doing management or administrative work. Apart from establishing/approving values, vision, and mission, boards are just not spending enough time looking ahead and doing the big thinking. Where should we really be in five years? What will be different? Or, we made it 40 years, what do the next 40 look like? Instead, they are more comfortable checking boxes about tasks, and when they do that they risk getting into areas in which they don't belong. Board and Management -- two paths to achieve the same outcomes for the organization. It takes discipline, for sure.

Honestly, boards need to do some (not an equal amount) of both -- big thinking and grunt work. Is your board managing these two extremes? Or are they in the weeds? Are they engaged at all? There is so much work to do here! I and my posse of cool colleagues can help if your board is stuck in the muck.

/lmwe

PS Re monthly appointments to pick my brain...Thank you for your interest! I am working on the platform and deliverables to make sure you get maximum benefit from our time. If you have a pressing issue that can't wait until I roll out the technology, of course, please reach out. Cheers!

"“Group Thinking” or lack of courage to ask the tough and strategic

questions is the chief weakness on Boards today.”

– Pearl Zhu

Some People Who Made My Life Better in September

MaryJane Alanko, Leslie Arnott, Pat Bragg, David Cheoros, Glyn Eales, Pat Gramsch, Heidi Hadubiak, Graham Henderson, Dave Hughes, Lynn MacAskill, Karen MacKenzie, Heather Marshall Lyon, Sherrill McGilvray, Aliya Narine, Paul Rechner, Lori Schmidt, Nancy Saha, Sabrina Sperber, Wanda Stephens, Theresa Tsoukalas, Elena/Jason West, Lil West, Emily Wood, Rob Wood/Ginny Arnott-Wood, Jenny Wood Narine

"True friends are never apart, maybe in distance but never in heart.”

—Helen Keller