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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?"

Cultivating sustainability in an organization has long been a best practice. During 2020, we have seen this importance magnified as those who embraced a philosophy of sustainability are generally weathering the pandemic and related economic turmoil better than the rest.

The good news: it’s never too late to embrace a sustainable mindset!

This is the second of a two-part series. Read the first part here. 

In a recent strategic planning meeting, a former hospital president suggested to the committee, “We must collaborate, or we won’t survive.”

For years I coached my non-profit employees and volunteers about how to improve their success in securing gifts for non-profits. And for years, I lifted up the benefits of face-to-face interactions and downplayed direct response as an acceptable means of solicitation. 

For the past two months nonprofits have been in "emergency" fundraising mode. It has been a scramble to serve communities in new ways, make difficult staffing decisions and try to forecast an entirely new budget. 

Many are probably thinking "I can't wait to get back to normal."

But what if "normal" isn't the best idea for the rest of 2020? In a world still filled with uncertainty, what can we do to maximize our impact and prepare ourselves to be ready for whatever may come?

Our current crisis has revealed the financial strengths and weaknesses in our companies, in our families, and in nonprofits. While no one could have anticipated this particular set of circumstances, history tells us that challenges will always come.