executive director
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...
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...
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....
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...
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...