Bruce Berglund

I took advantage of the beautiful fall weather in Chicagoland over the Thanksgiving break to clean up my backyard. My neighbor had the same idea and we struck up a conversation. He asked me (as my mother used to ask me too) "what exactly do I do for work"?

,We share the grief and outrage felt by the country in the wake of the deaths of George Floyd, Ahmaud Arbery, Breonna Taylor and countless others. This must end.

As we continue to navigate this new reality, we are challenged to step up as leaders. Whether we’re leading a company, a nonprofit, a team or a family, people are looking to us to understand how to live, learn and work in very altered and difficult circumstances.

One doesn’t have to be glued to the news to sense the uncertainty that is gripping the stock market, our nation and even the world. As a nonprofit professional or volunteer, how do you continue to seek support for your mission while acknowledging the volatility of our political, economic and health landscape?

As we come closer to the end of the year, many non-profits are ramping up their appeals. They are sending letters, posting on social media and trying to get in as many asks as they can before December 31. 

While asking is a critical part of fundraising, there's a complementary strategy that too often gets shoved to the bottom of the to-do list: saying thanks.

Summer is in the rearview mirror and that can only mean one thing: budgeting time is here.

Might we suggest you take a moment to move those antacids back to your desk?

I have the wonderful opportunity to learn from our clients and their volunteers across the country. The wonderful balance of staff and volunteer engagement makes this work rich and rewarding.

If you were welcoming guests to your home, you most probably would clean and de-clutter to make sure it was ready for visitors. Let me challenge you to do the same in your office these first few weeks of 2019. More than just cleaning off your desk, use the time to do a real inventory of the state of things before you launch into the new year.

It was day two of the Global Leadership Summit and the first speaker of the day was Rasmus Ankersen, a young soccer team owner from the Netherlands. Our expectations weren’t high. What could he have to teach us about leadership or how to help our clients succeed?