executive director
When to Answer a Question with a Question
Most decisions at a non-profit will cross the executive director’s desk at some point. While we might have an amazing team, we will still field questions about budget limitations for programs and advice for challenges. We are often the first stop for questions about the operations of...
How to Draw Out Challenges Weighing On Your Team
A typical staff meeting can feel very productive, have a great conversation, but still not reveal the stressors a team is facing. The reluctance to speak up can vary with reasons from being unsure if a topic is appropriate, to feeling it won’t matter. But is does matter because a healthy staff...
First 30 Days for a New Non-Profit Executive Director
Whether it’s a first job as an executive director or a first day at a new non-profit, knowing where to start can be overwhelming. That’s because the 4 key areas of a non-profit executive director’s job are massive. Those 4 areas are: governance/board support and policy management; making sure...
Offices are Closed for TWO Weeks
Non-profits are not typically wealthy organizations. No matter how many grant applications are approved, or donations are received, those funds are used primarily for fulfilling the vision and mission of the organization. That sometimes translates into paying salaries that are not quite as high...
Why an Executive Director Shouldn't be a Jack of All Trades
There is an expectation, real or perceived, that the executive director of a non-profit needs to be a jack of all trades – someone who picks up all the left-over little tasks and handles them as part of regular work duties. The executive director is often expected to handle all the accounting,...
How to Write a Job Description
A clear job description is an important part of every position. Potential employees want a clear picture of the position before applying, to be sure the job is the right fit for them. Current employees want a clear picture of the work they’ve been hired to complete. Employers need a place...
Is a Time Sheet Needed for a Salaried Employee?
Its easy to think time sheets are only for hourly employees that work a shift, no more, no less. Salaried employees often have an unwritten expectation to ‘just get the job done’ no matter how long it takes. But that’s a system that favours the employer and can quickly burn out an employee. If...
The Strange Work of a Non-Profit Executive Director
As we wrap up the fourth quarter of 2021, I’m getting ready to start the fourth quarter of my operating year, and planning for the first quarter of the next year. It’s a weird overlap that happens each year. January through March is the fourth quarter of my current operating year, and we want...
Don’t Hate Everyone at the Same Time
Let’s get real for a minute. Sometimes the work of an executive director means you hate everyone – your team, your board, your clients. The trick is to not to hate everyone all at the same time. Last week was a rough one for me. People were NOT happy, and they clearly blamed me. It doesn’t...
Busy Week
I’m having such a busy week and it isn’t even half finished. Sometimes balancing the job and home life can begin to feel frenetic. So, I did something this week I don’t normally do. I hired help. Weird thing is that in my work as an executive director we hire help all the time. We have a...
Care
Not my usual post this week. I wanted to take a moment to check-in with you. To see how you are doing. With everything going on these days, it can be pretty hard to get out of bed in the morning. Sometimes I forget with all the rush of the day-to-day operations of a non-profit that needs to...
Time-Saving Templates
Does this sound familiar? Its late on Friday afternoon. You're trying to wrap up the work week before you leave for the weekend, then ‘that email’ pops up in your inbox. A request for a letter of support. [insert eye roll] The request comes from a group that does important work and an...
Paid Time Off
This August we’re talking about taking time off, holidays, vacation, and everything in between. Last week we talked about 3 easy exercises you can try to feel less ‘guilty’ about taking time off. This week let’s look at paid time off from another angle. WHEN CAN YOU START USING...
Summer Holidays
Summer is here and we know its going to be short. Every non-profit executive director needs to take time off, actual holidays, while the weather is nice. But, wow, its hard, right? Right from our early days working at a non-profit, we’re trained to feel guilty if we don’t work every day....
On Good Terms
When a volunteer considers joining a board of directors, one of their first consideration is the length of the term. What does that mean, TERM? A board term is a set length of time the volunteer holds a position as a board member before having to run for re-election or leave the board....
The Executive Director's Private Notes
Executive directors take a lot of notes. It might be notes at a staff meeting. It might be notes at a training session. It might be the handwritten notes at a board meeting. It might be notes when meeting with a funder. What do you do with all those notes? Well, I’ll share what I do with mine....
Who Is the Boss
Non-profits have different structures and different groups of people who handle different tasks. So how do you tell who's the boss? Well, it doesn't really work like that in a non-profit. There is no one person who is the single head boss. There is however a structure that non-profits follow....
Succession Plan
When an executive director leaves their position, it doesn't really matter how much notice is given if there isn't a written plan in place for the hiring committee or board of directors to find someone new. Hiring can be a hot mess. You can avoid that chaos by writing out a succession plan for...
Annual Evaluations
I made some changes over the last couple of years on how I handle evaluations for my staff team. I work pretty hard to handle the good and the bad using a day-to-day approach. That is more empowering for the team throughout the year and leaves a lot less to be ‘evaluated’ at the end of the...
Leadager
I've invented a new word: Leadager. Warning, a bit of a rant follows. The week has only just started, and already I’ve received three different items in my inbox talking about the difference between a Leader and a Manager. The debate is never-ending, and it sucks you in. You read, and you...
Do the Work
I’m a fan of colour field painting; paintings with large fields of colour that are less about gesture and meaning and more about process. [No, you aren’t reading the wrong blog.] As an aspiring colour field painter, I want to learn everything about this style of art. So, a few years ago, a...
Planning for Next Year
Last month I wrapped up strategic planning. Last week I wrapped up operations planning. Normally I prep the budget later, on my own, but we got talking and I quickly pulled together a budget plan. We’re going to meet in a few weeks to fine tune everything, but basically, it’s all done. The...
Things are Going to Get Ugly
When you work as an executive director, it can be so rewarding when you hit a stride that lets you truly enjoy the job. It’s a wonderful gift and a time that should be savoured, if only because there are going to be times when everything gets downright ugly. When you hit a point where you want...
The Executive Director's Advisory Council
An executive director’s job is kind of lonely. As the key person in charge of the organization, where do you turn when you need a little advice? You can’t lean on those folks you supervise. No matter how well you get along, that would put them in an awkward position and might set a...