Table of Contents

• Hello, and updates

• Pausing to Reflect

  • Where to start?

  • Let’s Get Real: How do I Prioritize?

• 1% Solutions

• What I’m Reading

• Ways To Work With Me

  • Facilitations and Workshops

  • Strategic Problem Solving Sessions

Hello, and updates

When I decided to shift to monthly versus biweekly newsletters, I had no idea that November would be a year onto itself. I know I am not alone, as many of us are still processing the election and what it means for us as people and as professionals.

After the 2016 election, I didn’t give myself the chance to process. In fairness, I was doing two jobs at work and my mother had been diagnosed with terminal cancer. Working, volunteering and protesting were how I dealt with everything— though I realize now that this was the beginning of what led to some pretty extreme burnout. I’ve taken a bit of time to take care of myself and process, and feel like I am now in a better position to support the leaders and organizations who are really on the front lines. Some things that I’ve been doing/thinking about :

• Writing this LinkedIn article for leaders to begin planning when there is still so much uncertainty

• Organizing a few get-togethers for independent consultants in the social impact, nonprofit and K-12 space to support each other (If you are interested, email me!)

• Offering pro-bono strategy and coaching calls with leaders in the social impact space

• Signing up to volunteer with ACLU and VoPro Pros

I’m also working to stay on top of potential shifts and trends so that this newsletter can be even more supportive in helping us all to navigate what’s ahead. So stay tuned.

Pausing to Reflect

We’ve entered the dead zone, or as some call it “circle back season, e.g. “Let’s circle back in January.” And I get it- if work or an initiative is not already in motion, it’s likely not happening now.

But this IS a good time to reflect on what has happened in order to hit the ground running in January. Think of it as a time to gather potential energy.

“If you want to go fast, go alone. If you want to go far, go together,”- African proverb

As leaders, we are trying to find ways for us and our teams to improve or innovate. Right around now, orgs are either putting the finishing touches on a strategy plan, beginning the process of setting direction or evaluating their progress towards strategic goals. Whether you are looking to improve practices and processes currently happening or launching new initiatives, the key to translating that vision into reality is by making sure that your talent processes attract, support and celebrate teammates that are able to get you from point A to point B. That alignment creates a culture that says “We’re in this together,” and is the difference between having change happen to your people or with them.

Where to start?

The first step for me is to look at your strategy and your desired outcomes. What are the skill sets and competencies that folks will need to make this a reality? Be as clear as you can, without any jargon (Read: do not tell me people will need to give a 110%. That’s not a thing.)

Before deciding anything, it’s helpful to audit what is. My top 5 processes to audit for alignment:

• Outreach- how does your outreach to candidates convey your values, mission and strategy, and does it attract the folks that are both both excited by them and have the skillsets needed to add to your capacity?

• Hiring- how does your hiring process not only assess whether new teammates have the skills and mindsets need for your current phase but also creates an experience that makes people want to sign on? Does this criteria align to your current reality, or were your processes created when you were in a different stage?

• Onboarding- Employees who have positive experiences in their first 90 days are 10 times more likely to stay. but positive doesn’t always mean upbeat and pizza parties. How are you communicating the org’s values and strategy? How are you connecting folks to the mission and community? How are you preparing them for and supporting them through the inevitable challenges?

• Performance Evaluations- How does your performance evaluation describe and celebrate the skillsets and competencies needed? Is it clear how this behavior shifts (or doesn’t shift) as one is promoted?

• Training and Collaboration- How does your training and meeting calendar create space for teammates to internalize the organization or team’s direction, norm together on what excellence looks like, and apply that to their own roles?

Let’s Get Real: How do I Prioritize?

If you are like me, your list of “things to improve” is going to be long (my time blindness does not help here). Unfortunately, time does not expand to fit our to-do lists. As you try to set your talent strategy, I’d ask you to let the data guide you. As you think about where you are and where you want to be, what do you think is or will be the major pain point? Some ways to think about where to start

• “We have great people but not enough with the skills needs to move the org forward” —> Start with hiring processes and performance evaluations

• “When I think of what’s ahead, we haven’t been attracting candidates with those skill sets”—> Start with outreach and hiring

• “We have great people who can get there, we’re just not there yet”—> Start with performance evaluations and training and collaboration

• “I thought we hired the right people but the first few months on the job were so bumpy” —> Look at your hiring processes and onboarding

One of my favorite quotes is “A problem well stated is a problem half-solved.” The more data driven and focused your problem statement is, the clearer your path forward will be. And even if your people data systems are lacking, you have one data set readily available to you- your team! Talk to them to help you triangulate where to start.

1% Solutions

• Succession Planning/Prepping your next leaders- You likely have folks that you will be promoting- individual contributors to managers, managers to directors, etc. As capable as these folks are, they are entering a new role and will need onboarding to help them succeed. How to focus your energy? I’d have them self-evaluate (with your input) using the evaluation of their future role. Then think through with them 1-2 high-leverage adaptive or tactical leadership skills for them to start focusing on and ways to support them in that development.(Also? While I provide leadership coaching, I am also fortunate to know so many coaches and entrepreneurs focused on leadership development. If you need a rec on trainings or coaches, feel free to email me!)

• Free PD! To me, training and development is one part traditional learning, many parts application, reflection and redoing. So I find online learning to be super helpful in kicking off job-embedded learning. This article highlights four sites with free online courses. I am personally a Coursera fan and have learned so much about marketing, business strategy, SEO and AI.

• Recognize your team- 79% of employees who quit their jobs leave from a lack of recognition. As a leader, let your last emails of 2023 be ones of thanks and recognition. These don’t have to be long but should be specific. After all, what you praise will likely be repeated.

What I’m Reading

• Train Your Brain to Work with Generative AI- Gen AI has so much more potential than using it as a glorified google- but that requires us to think differently about how we use it. I’ve been nerding out on this, so this article was well timed. It provides 12 exercises to help you and your team think differently about Gen AI- which can then lead to more creativity.

• What Great Presenters Do Differently- I love leading professional development workshops and am gearing up to do more of that next year, so this article was super helpful (even if it was two years old!). The short answer: presenters craft a narrative. If you lead presentations or workshops, or have teammates who do, I’d recommend sharing this to kick off conversation.

• How Leaders Can Support Remote Work- Also? Most of these ideas are great for in-personas well. Remember just because you see someone does not mean you know how they are doing or how they are experiencing the work place.

Ways To Work With Me

Facilitations and Workshops

I’m currently refining my workshops for next year. Topics include:

• Managing Cross-Functional Change

• Navigating Ambiguity

• Developing Equitable and Inclusive Hiring Practices, from Job Description to Offer

• Equipping and Honoring our Teams with feedback 

• Upskilling Our Teams to Future-Proof Our Orgs

• Creating the Right types of Stretch Opportunities 

• Equitable and Transparent Performance Evaluations 

• Leading a Multi-Generational Workforce 

• Removing unnecessary friction in your workflows/

Sessions range from shorter 2 hours sessions to full-day.

Also, stay tuned for news about a coaching cohort for midlevel leaders in the social impact space in the new year (I am very exciting about this!)

Strategic Problem Solving Sessions

I get it. You have this issue that you want to solve, the one you know you can figure out if you had enough time— and you don’t trust or need a consultant because you are:
❐ scared to let someone else do it
❐ too small or unique of an organization
❐ lack a big budget
❐ someone who has just had bad experiences with consultants

And yet? It never gets done b/c other fires get in the way. There has to be a middle ground to doing everything yourself (and either burning out or putting off the important) and hiring a Capital C consultant that may or may not be effective (but will be expensive)

This is why I’m offering half and full day strategic planning intensives. Think of it as a strategy session and boot camp in one. These are day-long, intensive coaching, consulting, and service sessions with you that gets deliverables the same day. Here are a few things we could accomplish in a full day planning session:

📍 Reimagine your talent funnel to attract different/diverse/more candidates
📍 Map out a leadership curriculum for the year for current and emerging leaders
📍 Build out a talent calendar complete with steps for investing your team
📍 Develop your school leader calendar with key ops, talent, and family engagement
📍Map out a strategic focus for your next year with key benchmarks
📍 Build out a strategic retention plan