The 8 Essential Skills

Collaboration

Knudstrup Paul — Tue, 07 Feb 2012 12:35:23 +0000

Recently I gave a brief talk to InterCom, the regional group for communications professionals. The topic was collaborative organizations, using our Midwest Consulting Group as a model. We believe MCG is the oldest virtual corporation in Michigan, and probably one of the oldest in the U.S. Building business through collaboration is what we have been about since 1990. The bright, diverse, neat-to-hang-out-with people who make up MCG are involved in both individual and collective projects and collaborating has become part and parcel of how we operate. Clients and projects may differ considerably, but working, thinking, planning together has become part of our hardwiring. The common denominator is helping organizations, individual professionals, and teams get great at what they do.

Whether it’s helping a nonprofit agency to create a strategic plan, guiding a university faculty member through the process of publishing in an academic journal, helping create a brand identity for a business or nonprofit, coaching executives and professionals, teaching and training people to be better supervisors, managers, and leaders or creating a comprehensive management development program . . . the commitment to collaborate, cooperate, and help each other grow our businesses is in everything we do.

Who are you collaborating with? And what have you achieved through collaboration? Would be an interesting discussion, I think.

Exciting Times

Knudstrup Paul — Mon, 06 Feb 2012 18:23:23 +0000

Organizations in all parts of the economy, at least those that made it through the Great Recession, are running pretty lean at this point. During the Recession organizations tightened their belts, reduced or eliminated discretionary spending, and concentrated on survival. Positions were eliminated, projects scaled back or postponed, and in many cases headcount reduced. The organizations that survived are now leaner, more thoughtfully focused on core products and services, and have a changed workload distributed across a smaller number of heads, hands, and hearts. Whether you think the result is positive or not, it represents reality. The question now is, “How can we be successful over time in a rapidly changing world? “

We see changing roles, expectations and challenges for supervisors, managers, and professionals all around us. Responsibilities and assignments change frequently, priorites are moving targets, and everyone is required to grow and adapt all the time. The increased pace and changing demands requires an adaptive and flexible approach at all organizational levels, and that means life-long, continuous learning.

Knowing what is needed for the future is only possible through knowing where you are right now. That’s where 360-degree assessments like the Management-Leadership Practices Inventory come in. They provide a baseline of valid, reliable feedback to serve as the foundation for an individual, team, or organization development plan. Click here for more information on the assessment tools we use; we know they work.

In addition to the ONEplace Nonprofit Leadership Academy, we are currently completing a 360-degree management and leadership assessment process for two large teams. In both cases the organizations recognized that the need to invest in professional development was long overdue. Helping our clients to adapt and change – and being part of the individual and team growth that results – is exciting, rewarding and just plain cool!

What is your organization doing to develop the skills, attitudes, and behaviors needed today and tomorrow?

ONEPlace Leadership Academy Launches

Knudstrup Paul — Sun, 29 Jan 2012 22:54:57 +0000

The initial session (of 10) of the ONEplace Nonprofit Leadership Academy (ONLA) got underway on January 20th, with twenty of Kalamazoo County’s best and brightest nonprofit managers. After welcoming comments from KPL Director of Libraries Ann Rohrbaugh, an overview of the Academy syllabus and expectations, the participants received the results of their 360-degree feedback process. We used a great tool called the Mangement-Leadership Practices Inventory to gather feedback from their manager, their employees, and their peers.

Honest feedback is often hard to come by for most managers. When we manage a team or a department in a larger nonprofit the person we report to may not have much opportuntity see how you work with your employees and may have limited chances to see how you interact with your peers. For day-to-day, get-the-job-done managing, your employees will have a much better perspective on what kind of job you are doing at that level. And in most organizations, employees have very little chance to provide feedback anonymously. That’s where a tool like the MLPI can provide supervisors and managers with feedback you can use right now to help you grow, develop, and improve as a manager and leader.

As you would expect, the ONLA group’s scores were generally above average on the MLPI Factors. And yet, in most cases, a bit of digging into the data (and there is lots of data!) reveals some surprises, some “ah-ha’s” and some good ideas about what to work on right now. I’m sure the ONLA folks wished they didn’t have to sit through my briefing on what the instrument measures, how it works, and how to understand the data. But I know from past experience that without that briefing, the wealth of data can be a bit daunting.

After nearly an hour to work with their data and start to build the framework of their professional action plan for 2012, it was time to hand off to Janice Maatman, Director of WMU’s award-winning Nonprofit Education Program . She lead a great session on Ethics that got everyone thinking and discussing ethical issues with a nonprofit focus.

With reading assignments and a discussion with their mentor ONLA participants are going to be busy folks between now and their next session on February 3rd. This is going to be a great Academy, there is no doubt about it. Stay tuned.

Colleagues

Knudstrup Paul — Fri, 27 Jan 2012 02:09:10 +0000

What is a “colleague”? In the broadest sense it’s a term we use for someone we work with and value. Still, it has come to mean much more than that to me. When I think of my own colleagues, I see people with whom I work, sure. But more importantly, I see friends. Individuals with their own interests, yet we share interests in some areas. Over the years we become more than people who “work together” – we become friends. We look for ways to collaborate (another lovely word) with each other, to support and encourage each other, to be there when things don’t go quite the way we had hoped or intended. And occasionally to provide that poke, prod, nudge in the direction of our true purpose when we get a little off-track.

I am blessed with superb colleagues and friends within the virtual organization we call Midwest Consulting Group, Inc. And over the years I’ve also developed a wonderful network of colleagues across the country. The times we spend together are among the best of times.

To all my colleagues and friends, I wish the very best for all of us in 2012. And Thank You for being part of my life.

How about your colleagues? When was the last time you thanked them for being among that special group we call . . . colleagues.

A Leadership Academy

Knudstrup Paul — Thu, 19 Jan 2012 14:09:13 +0000

For the past six months I’ve been collaborating with the great folks at ONEplace@KPL in Kalamazoo (see “Building Nonprofit Capacity” for more on ONEplace) on creating the ONEplace Nonprofit Leadership Academy (ONLA). The first group of 20 high-potential nonprofit managers begins their journey tomorrow morning, and I confess to being pretty darn excited! Thanks to Bobbe Luce (founder and ED at ONEplace) Kalamazoo County nonprofits will have a ready-to-lead group of future executive directors. Bobbe’s research shows that a majority of the EDs of larger nonprofits are above the age of 50, and many are within less than 5 years of retirement. This means there will be lots of turnover at the top of these organizations.

This is not an issue just for our local nonprofits, but a national issue that needs attention. Many of the current EDs are also the founders of these larger nonprofits, and grooming leaders to follow in those footsteps is just not being done. And in many cases little or no succession planning has been done by nonprofit boards. Thus, ONLA is born.

Tomorrow the group will receive the results of a 360-degree feedback survey of their Employees, Peers, and Manager. For many this will be the first time they’ve received this kind of feedback, and the buzz within the group is pretty high. This is going to be a great series of experiences for these 20 future EDs. Stay tuned!

Building Nonprofit Capacity

Knudstrup Paul — Wed, 19 Oct 2011 14:04:23 +0000

This past week marked the final session of a 5-session course based on The 8 Essential Skills and delivered for ONEplace@KPL, a nonprofit resource center based in Kalamazoo, MI. With 40 supervisors, managers, and nonprofit executive directors participating, the course was lively and interesting. The work that Bobbe Luce and Monica Priest do in assisting area nonprofits is outstanding, remarkable, and a pleasure to watch. ONEplace@KPL provides one-stop resources, assistance, and advice for nonprofits of all kinds and sizes. From one individual with a new idea to long-established NPOs with a hundred employees or more, ONEplace@KPL has rapidly become the go-to place for nonprofit managers, executives, and boards of directors. ONEplace is funded by local foundations and provides its services free of charge to the nonprofit community and is housed in the outstanding Kalamazoo Public Library. Given the increased service demands and funding challenges faced by nonprofits in this economy, ONEplace is just a really great idea! If your community doesn’t have a resource like this, maybe it’s time to start one.

Retreating to the Front

Knudstrup Paul — Sat, 03 Sep 2011 04:00:36 +0000

This summer has provided several opportunities to leave work behind for several days at a time. Some time to myself to relax and reflect. Some time with colleagues thinking, planning, and collaborating together. The experience reinforced for me the wisdom of stepping backward to go forward. The opportunity to gain some perspective on the past year, look ahead to the next 12-18 months, and give some thought to the longer term future helped me to celebrate accomplishments, clarify values and priorities, set goals, and do some planning for myself and our business. It was a great experience.

How many of us set aside time to really step back to gain perspective on a regular basis? We all know the value of reflection and but it is often hard to “get away” from the daily rush and workload. We suggest an annual multi-day retreat such as I did a few weeks ago; it works wonders. But . . . you have to get it on your schedule and then actually do it!

When will you invest in yourself, your relationships, your business, and your future? Is it time for you to Retreat to the Front?

A PCAM Thing

Knudstrup Paul — Sun, 26 Jun 2011 01:53:34 +0000

Delightful. It’s the only word I can think of to describe my afternoon on Thursday at the West Michigan Forum of the Professional Coaches Association of Michigan (PCAM). Twenty-five professionals who coach people in all sorts of situations, professions, and organizations. Along with two MCG colleagues – Mary Jo Asmus and Jean Johnson - I met, listened to, worked with, and learned from some truly great people. I’ve been coaching managers and leaders for over twenty years (long before we called it coaching) and it is a great pleasure to see it become a true profession. I’m certainly looking forward to getting together with these folks again. If you are looking for a pro to coach you in the year ahead, let us know or check out the rest of the folks at PCAM. You’ll be glad you did!

A Shift in Focus

Knudstrup Paul — Fri, 10 Jun 2011 01:42:17 +0000

As you can plainly see, this is my first post in quite awhile to this blog. In the past the blog’s focus was directly linked to the content of my 2010 book, “The 8 Essential Skills for Supervisors & Managers.” Now that the book is getting wider recognition it’s time to reactivate the blog and provide a broader focus. We’ll see where this goes and who decides to join the ride. I’m always on the lookout for what I call “neat to hang out with” people. Maybe you?

What Are You Thankful For?

Knudstrup Paul — Thu, 25 Nov 2010 16:42:58 +0000

It’s been awhile since my last post and I’m thankful to have a few minutes to write a little. The past several weeks have been a series of rewarding, interesting, frustrating and exciting days filled with what has become my temporarily bifurcated life. Living in an old (1876) house is an adventure sometimes, and what began as a “remodel and update the bathroom” project has now become a major renovation complete with new plumbing, wiring, heating runs, and foundation work.

So, with three major client projects also kicking off this fall, the resulting 14-hour days have dried up the contribution to this blog. The client projects are now up are moving forward and the renovation project is reaching the end phase, which affords me a few minutes to say hello, and mention a few things I’m thankful for on this day of Thanksgiving:

I’m thankful for the privilege of citizenship in this wonderful, maddening, inspiring, beautiful country of ours. Even with all our mistakes our better angels still triumph over our inner demons most of the time.

I’m thankful for my colleagues far and wide and especially for my long-time collaborators in Midwest Consulting Group. As one of the first virtual corporations in the Midwest, MCG has become a wonderful team of “neat to hang out with” friends and co-creators.

I’m thankful for my family and the home we have built together. The love and support of my wife Susan has been the rock upon which I’ve been able to build my professional life for 35 years.

I’m thankful for the success of The 8 Essential Skills for Supervisors & Managers since it’s publication earlier this year. We know we’ve hit the target when we keep hearing the same feedback over and over again from readers. The book is easy to use, easy to read, and it is filled with practical ideas that work. The real thanks for this goes to my editor Jan Andersen of Beyond Words, Inc. who turned my raw words into a very readable finished product.

I’m thankful for our clients. They challenge us to help them grow, improve, succeed, and reach their potential as an organization. We are proud to work with them. Over the years we have met, come to know, and enjoyed the emergence of a host of new leaders in all kinds of organizations.

I’m thankful to have these few minutes of your time. What are you thankful for today?