Cartesian Merger

This week I helped one of my clients hire their first employee. The women they hired is a perfect match for the organization and I look forward to working with her. During her interview the new hire asked several questions about the work culture within the organization, her questions came out as more of a cautious inquiry - What days and times she need to work? If there were weeks when she worked less then her contract 20 hours was that ok, could she work more hours if needed other weeks?

Much to her surprise and pleasure when she had asked her questions my face lit up, I might even have giggled. I immediately told her to relax. What is important to the culture of this organization and to me is the work gets done with excellence, in a timely manner and that the people doing it love what they do.

I have file folders full of templates for work plans, paper and digital systems for project and time management which provide the architecture for working in a more organic and individualized fashion.

This management style plays to individual strengths - some of us work better in the early morning, some of us (ME!) crash hard at 3pm and need to get out and get some exercise before returning to work, others like to work in the evening, standing up at their desk, working with music or without. Thinking about the merger of work and life rather then the separation of work and life provides flexibility, creates a more productive work environment, encourages creativity and in the end the product, whatever that may be, is better for it.

Dennis Crowley the CEO of Four-Square was interviewed on Marketplace a few days ago and I love what he had to say about going to work, it is a feeling a share and the type of work environment I help my clients create.

Crowley said, "I never think of it as going to work everyday. It's just, hey this is where I go to do the stuff I like to do."

Will You Join Our Board of Directors?

I recently finished a three year term on the board of a local nonprofit. During my tenure the organization hired its first full-time executive director, expanded its program service area and grew the board to include members new members. When it came time to consider another term I made the decision to encourage new leadership and continue my support as a volunteer.

A month after my last board meeting I received a phone call inquiring about my interest in joining another board. The inquiry reminded me of being college, of meeting the trustees of my alma mater, thinking about a board seat more like an Oscar rather than obligation, hopeful that one day the honor would be bestowed on me.

Years later, the inquiry fills my brain with probing questions, allure and prestige are the furthest things from my mind. Being a board member requires a significant commitment of time, often the commitment to make a gift, personally, or find others who will, fiduciary responsibility and the duty of care to the organization's constituents. As a board member you are a critical ambassador of the organization's mission, which means you should make sure it is something you are passionate about. Think about it - if board members of an organization aren't excited, engaged and willing to go the extra mile why would anyone else feel compelled.

Before you hear the words board member and jump to how it will look on your resume or the relationships you might build in that role, spend some time getting acquainted with some standard commitments board members are asked to make and then start asking some hard questions.

Expectations

Ask about them. It is in your best interest and the organization's to be clear about what is expected of board members. This clarity helps you understand your role and promotes a culture of accountability. Most established organizations have this documented in a clear list or narrative about what they expect from all board members. If the organization you are considering doesn't have this information, be concerned.

Board Meetings

Frequency and length of meetings vary tremendously. It is common for organizations to meet quarterly or monthly for a few hours at time but other organizations may operate with a different model. One thing is always true - you are expected to be there. Skipping out on meetings not only makes you look bad but can build resentment among other members and make it difficult to get work done. Most boards schedule meetings well in advance to ensure members can be there. Unclear about the meeting schedule, duration or frequency? - ask before you say yes.

Committees

Most organizations have board subcommittees (Ex: Finance, Development, Board Resource) and they expect each board member to serve on one or more. These committees often meet between board meetings and are responsible for tasks related to their area of expertise. How does the effect you? In short this means planning for occasional meetings in addition to board meetings and time to get committee work done. Committee commitments vary depending on the organization and within organizations depending on circumstance (Ex: The finance committee may meet more often that start and end of the fiscal year.) Before joining a board be sure to ask about committee structure, requirements and goals.

The Big "F"

You don't have to love fundraising to be a board member. You do need to understand that you will be asked to support the organization's fundraising efforts in one way or another. Many boards require that every board member make a personal contribution to the organization annually (amounts vary). Fundraising is a broad term, yes it includes asking people for money but it also includes preparing mailings, sending thank you notes, proof reading grants, researching prospects and attending events. Figure out where your comforts lie, consider stretching a bit (remember the organization can't survive without money in the coffers).

Passion for the mission

I am ending the list with this, you might argue that interest in board membership should start with passion. You are right, so I am, here's why. You can appreciate services offered by an organization, believe in their value to your community but you need to be willing to tackle everything I just wrote about and the unexpected things I didn't mention to serve on their board, that requires a commitment that exceeds appreciation, allure and the promise of a nice addition to your resume.

If you would like more specific direction on what questions to ask before agreeing to join a nonprofit board check out this great Board Source article. Serving on a nonprofit board is incredibly rewarding, it can also make you want to pull your hair out. Before you say yes, do your homework, find an organization that needs your skills and one you are passionate about supporting. Your work ahead of time will benefit you and the organization interest in your support.

Cheap Inspiration.

I turn thirty this July. The milestone doesn't phase me much but I am using it as a mid-year marker to get some things done that made there way to the bottom of the list in 2011 in favor of other urgent, necessary items and some spontaneous whims.

A few of the items on my list are investments in professional development. I never have trouble dropping money on these items or carving out time for them. There is always room in my budget for a new workshop and time in my schedule to learn from my peers.

There is a gross inequity in the way I treat the other items on my list, the personal ones and specifically the utterly self-serving and absolutely critical to my well-being ones, they always draw the short straw. But not in 2012. And here's why.

It is January and the ground is brown here in northern New Hampshire so I decided to borrow a bike trainer and get a jump on training to knock one item off the list, the Rev3 Olympic Distance Tri in the summer of 2012. When I picked up the trainer from my friend Sarah we got to talking about the event. I mentioned that I hadn't officially registered yet. No, I wasn't intimidated by the training or the .9 mile swim in the Atlantic. My hold up, spending $115 to compete in something just for the fun of it.

Sarah's smiled and said, "$115 is cheap inspiration, just do it".

She is absolutely right. When I register for a professional development workshop I sign up, carve out the time and go because I paid for it, because I'll learn something, meet a new contact and come back inspired to push myself in the office.

Being outside, pushing my physical and mental limits makes me a better person, feeds my creativity and productivity. And, I don't think I am alone. So as you look forward this year what items on your personal list will prioritize to challenge yourself, to connect a sense of adventure and accomplishment, to spark your creativity? Whatever you choose, make it count, make it epic.

“There is a certain part of all of us that lives outside of time. Perhaps we become aware of our age only at exceptional moments and most of the time we are ageless.”

And there you have it. Game On

You have registered for the 2012 Rev3 Maine

A copy of your receipt has been emailed to you.

Event Confirmation #

60592777-010512171833

Date

Sunday, August 26, 2012 @ 7:00 AM

Address

Old Orchard Beach, ME

Purchase

Alexandra (Sasha) Eisele - Olympic Rev - USAT Member

The Vicarious Line

For the last two years I have run an ice climbing festival in the Mount Washington Valley. It is a bit on an anomaly in my work as a nonprofit consultant. The pay is minimal and pulling off an event of this scale so it feels seamless to participants takes a ton of work.

This year is the 19^th Mount Washington Valley Ice Fest, the first weekend in February hundreds of men and women will make the pilgrimage to The Mount Washington Valley to experience the magic of the place I call home. Some of these pilgrims come to learn to climb ice, some to summit Mount Washington, others, to spend a day mixed climbing with local legends like Mark Synnott and Kevin Mahoney or to test their skill on classic lines like Dracula, Drop Line and Great Madness.

In the background, the Sirens of Ice Fest (the crew of lovely ladies who work on this event) will watch six months of work come together, sleeping a few hours here and there, living on Frontside Grind coffee and the generous Flatbread pizzas our friends drop off at IME.

We won’t climb a single pitch of ice the entire weekend and we will be happy for it. Instead we will make sure waivers are signed, clients get to demo the gear they are excited about, guides are well fed and caffeinated, slideshows run smoothly and the keg is tapped and food is on the table when the gang returns from a day our playing.

When clients and others just out for the day on their own walk through the door of IME smiling from ear to ear, laughing with friends, and recanting epic moments from their day we know our job is done. In that moment it doesn’t matter if they climbed Willy’s Slide, Standard Route or tested their skill on Unemployment Line and it doesn’t matter that we haven’t swung a tool all weekend - their send is ours too.

We exchange high fives, share tips about gear, and provide encouragement to do it all again tomorrow.

The Art of Thank You.

Gratitude should not have seasonality to it however the time between Thanksgiving an d Christmas is punctuated with reminders more then any other season. As the wave of holiday asking, giving and receiving crests, I find myself thinking of my Marmee (my maternal grandmother), whose zealot like convictions about the value of a hand written thank you are engrained, deeply, in my personal and professional life.

I remember one winter morning sitting at my kitchen table with construction paper, glitter glue and colored pencils, my mother prepared the materials and sat me down to write thank you notes for holiday gifts. I don't remember exactly how old I was but I remember being miffed that I wasn't out playing in the snow. My mother explained the importance of thanking people for their generosity, when I continued to protest she handed me a blunky Sony portable phone and dialed Marmee.
My Marmee was born in 1919 and so spend her childhood living through The Great Depression. Her family was fairly well off but she watched others struggle and people who had little to give go out of there way for others.

If you are wondering, I sat down and wrote my thank you notes that day and many days since. In my professional life I encourage my clients to write a personal note for every gift they receive and I do the same when I am responsible for stewarding the gift.

I worked for a wonderful man early in career who, second to Marmee, had the greatest impact on affirming the value of thanks. In the competitive world of small nonprofits, taking a moment to acknowledge the people who make your organization run matters, it sets you apart. You don't need to shower donors or volunteers with lavish gifts, in fact many prefer you spend the money on your programs and avoid such things, but ALWAYS remember to say thank you.

Three rules I live by when it comes to gestures of appreciation

Be Timely.
If you attended a event or dinner, write a note or call the next day.
For gifts and donations you have a week or two window.

Respond Appropriately.
Different acts require different kinds of thanks. A holiday gift can be acknowledged with a nice card while being a house guest for a weekend might warrant a small gift. In business a $25 donation can be acknowledged graciously with a simple note to the donor while a $5,000 gift may call for a personal call, sending photos from a program or offering a personal visit.

Make it Personal. A generic thank you is not much better then no thank you at all.

*Note what I am about to suggest would not be sanctioned by my Marmee, who at 92, believes the internet is entirely useless and turning all of us into unrefined, ungracious drones.*

Personal doesn't mean time consuming. Talking with colleagues, clients and friends people often sight a lack of time as the reason they don't get around to saying thank you. While my Marmee believes you make time to write (and by write I mean pen out, not type) a thoughtful, personal note each time you wish to thank someone, I believe in using technology to make sure get our thank yous in.

Confession. I have texted several thank yous, in the case of an impromptu dinner with friends or after a rewarding meeting with a colleague. Texting is certainly not my preferred method of saying thanks but in a pitch, it lets people know you are thinking about them.

The semi-antiquated phone call. I actually do this quite often. It's really rare that someone calls me just to say thanks for something, when it happens it feels really special so I try to pass on the good will.

Paperless Post. Check out this site. I am not a big fan of email thank yous, I get hundreds of emails a day but the delivery of this e-greeting is top notch.

The Handwritten Note. It is still unrivaled. As a result of the barrage of email I get to four different email addresses daily, there is something warm and nostalgic about going to my post office box and finding a hand written card inside. Yup, they take a little longer then the options above but it's worth it. Here a few tips to make it easier...

Keep a supply of cards and stationary on hand.

Buy stamps. (Fun stamps, not the boring generic forever stamps)

Find a pen you love. (Sounds silly but writing with a crappy pen is well....)

Brussels Sprouts and Strategic Planning

I love food and I eat a lot. I find as much joy in the first ripe summer tomatoes as I do getting news of a $10,000 grant award or sending a new climbing project.

Our family has a CSA share with Alma Farm in Porter, Maine.

I get giddy when they send us an email, mid-winter, asking for our deposit for the next year and equally melancholy when I return our apple crate to the parking lot on Depot street and hug Geoff and Gina for the last time that season.

This year some wacky fall weather extended the growing season, for some regional farms, I have eeked out local produce for a few extra weeks by driving to Berlin, NH and Portland, Maine hitting up their farmers markets.

Yes I know full well if my intention in buying local was to reduce my carbon footprint, I’ve blown it. Carrying my canvas bag of apples, local bacon, squash and kale – I am ok with the duality.

Settling into this season of borrowed time …borrowed summer sunshine, waning moments for autumn color and fleeting opportunities to enjoy food grown in New England soil I felt a sudden urge to eat brussels sprouts. I LOVE everything about this contentious vegetable - its strength and elegance in the garden, the sound of snapping sprouts from the stalk, the smell of tasty halves roasting in the oven with sea salt and sage butter.

My husband remarked over dinner that he wrote off brussels sprouts years ago, avoided them at all cost as an adult, until he met me and consequently was thrust to face his disdain or risk telling his new love interest that he wouldn’t eat her cooking.

I don’t remember the first time brussels sprouts appeared in a dinner medley in our relationship but I imagine it was early on since I met Erik in September. It’s likely their very presence on his plate brought sweat to his brow but he never let on. Years later as the summer light fades and tomatoes are replaced by squash in our CSA he asks for them regularly.

Reminiscing with Erik about his transition from crafting creative ways to dispose of these pesky vegetables to falling in love with their flavor, seasonal presence and versatility resonated with another dimension of my life – strategic planning.

In the nonprofit sector the pharse Stategic Planning has earned itself a reputation strikingly similar to brussels sprouts. Consultants love it, recommend it and work tireless to convince leery staff and board members of its value. The nay sayers balk, squirm, devise pseudo legitimate reasons to continue their protest.

One of my clients began at the beginning with strategic planning citing in their protest that is was, too expense, too time consuming, the organization wasn’t ready for it. Three years ago their timidly allowed the process to make its way to their annual calendar. With careful framing, conscientious timing and diligent follow up they fell into love.

This year they actually came to me in September, they wanted to move the planning meeting up (typically held in January) so they could reflect on the last year’s success and get a jump on 2012 planning.

Pre work for the meeting was done without hesitation, attendance was top notch and board members left the meeting with a better understanding of their role, staff roles, the direction of the organization and fully charge for the coming year, Two weeks out from the meeting they are working in committee, asking great questions and full engaged to start the New Year.

If I sound like I am gloating, I am. It is easy to come up with reasons why you don’t like something, don’t want to do it. It’s natural to have a poor experience with something and write it off so when I see people state down their own fears and skepticism to try something new, I am deeply impressed.

So give brussels sprouts another go (check out this recipe) and find time for strategic planning.

Annual Appeals, Cake Balls, Rolfing, Opportunistic Climbing and The Greatest Compliment of All Time

The title about sums up the beginning of November in New Hampshire for me.
Here are a few musings from the first 11 days of this 11th month of 2011

Annual Appeals.
Children count down days until Christmas with intrigue and excitement. In my late twenties, as a nonprofit consultant, I count down weeks until the sacred ritual of the annual appeal mailing.

In many ways it's just like the twelve days of Christmas, only instead of drummers drumming and maids a milking you have letters writing, collateral material designing and board member signing to sing about.

When you are done your office looks just like the space below the tree after a morning of rapid present opening.



Cake Balls.
Apparently not to be confused with a doughnut hole, especially in front of the local bakery owner who prides herself on her chic french twist to pastries items such as the aforementioned doughnut hol...I mean cake ball. Give me a break, there is a striking visual similarity.

Yesterday, after my pastry guffaw I indulged in a delicious orb shaped, sprinkled colored pastry, delighting in every ounce of it's sugary, buttery goodness.

For those of you who know me peripherally you might gasp reading this because you are accustomed to my dinner spreads including local meats, whole grains and tasty leafy greens. For those of you who have known me a longer thank you for supporting the duality or hypocrisy of my sporadic, somewhat manic passion for doughnut holes, fried pickles and mini snickers.



Rolfing.
Obviously follows the rant on cake balls. My body needed a tune up. I have deep gratitude for the long hours it puts in running my business, followed by the pounding, spinning, Utkatasana - ing and throwing to tiny holds marathon it endures while I find balance between work and life. Thank you Kate McPhee for the tune up. If you live near the Mt. Washington Valley you need to check this women out.


Opportunistic Climbing
Love to my husband who took a day off mid-week to chase the last days of rock climbing season with me at Shagg Crag. To ice the cake - AT&T has cell coverage there so I was able to take took work calls between burns. Those are the best days of self-employment EVER.


Finally - The Best Compliment Ever
Just a little plug for a dear friend who I don't see often enough. She left be the best message of all time...

"Sasha, hearing from you is like an ice cream sundae with sprinkles and WAIT NO...you are better then that. Hearing from you is like....it's like...I KNOW.
Hearing from you is as good as bacon."

Happy November and Here's to Bacon.