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In this week's episode of the DBD Podcast, Bruce Berglund and Jon Simons discuss two more leadership axioms that guide our work. If you've worked with us in the past these probably will sound familiar. Consider who else on your staff or volunteer team could benefit from learning these important concepts. 

Most of us have spent a good portion of 2020 reacting to the multitude of changes in our work lives and home lives. Whether we reacted wisely or poorly, we were still responding to something happening outside our control.

In the latest episode of the DBD Podcast, Bruce Berglund and Jon Simons discuss several leadership axioms that guide our work. If you've worked with us in the past, or attended one of our trainings, one or more of these might sound familiar. 

"As he stepped off the map into uncharted territory, Meriwether Lewis discovered that what was in front of him was nothing like what was behind him and that what had brought him to this point in the journey would take him no farther. ... [Lewis was] looking for a water route, and they had run out of water. How do you canoe over mountains?"

On a call with a client last week, working together to identify values for tough times, a word popped up: equanimity. I couldn’t remember what it meant, but it sounded like a smooth, peaceful lake, hinting of equity and justice. So I said, “Not sure if this is relevant, but what about equanimity?” She responded, “Yes! That is a perfect word.”

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.

The last few weeks have pushed non-profit organizations into new territory. As the world changes (sometimes daily), you have risen to the challenge and carried out your missions in new and amplified ways. For some it means historically high numbers of families seeking emergency food. For others whose doors have closed, you've quickly organized to identify what your community needs and how you can respond in new and different ways. It has been inspiring to see how organizations have answered the call to help.

“Hold the line…love isn’t always on time…oh oh oh.” (Familiar with this Toto song?)

Like love, flights out of Newark, expense reports (at least mine) and fundraising campaigns – sometimes we just don’t have control over things being “on time.”

We’ve said before that donors don’t really care that you were supposed to finish your annual campaign in March. Or that your capital campaign was supposed to be in the “community” phase by now. Especially during today's uncertainty, most people don’t care that your campaign timing might be off.

Non-profit organizations form in the hope and belief that they can address societal needs in ways that are more efficient and effective than have been previously tried.  Some organizations have a mission focused on solving a specific problem like regional homelessness or finding a cure for a disease.  Others have a broader mission that desires to serve the community in changing ways over time.  Either way, there is an inherent knowledge that while the mission is firm, the strategies and tactics needed to achieve that mission will need to be flexible over time.

Let’s be honest, and real.