Four Resolutions All Nonprofits Leaders Should Make for 2015

Originally posted on www.cnmsocal.org.

Happy New Year! Have you made a resolution yet? No? Don’t worry – I have created some for you, and none of them involve diets.

Follow these simple resolutions and watch as your 2015 becomes your best year yet.

I resolve to take better care of my employees.
Studies and research show that your people are very important. We’ve mentioned this before and will again…and again and again. Your people are everything. And without the proper TLC they will burn out, leave, or just plain do bad work. Developing your employees is the path to accomplishing your mission and vision.

I resolve to take better care of myself.
As Brene Brown once said, “Screw the exhaustion metric.” 80 hour work weeks and missed lunches are not helping you or your constituents. Keeping yourself happy, healthy, and calm will do wonders for the quality of your work.

I resolve to look at things from my constituents’ point of view.
Sometimes we are too close to the work to make improvements. There is a well-quoted example of a hospital that wanted to re-design the ER experience. IDEO consultant Kristian Simsarian went through that process with a camera strapped to his head. What they found out was the patients spent a lot of time looking at the ceiling. From there they “started a series of deliberate discussions about the findings, and those led us to talk about improving the overall approach to ER logistics, so patients were treated less like objects to be positioned and allocated, and more like people in stress and pain.”

You might not have the money and time to strap cameras to your head, but you can have conversations with your constituents and ask them what the need, what they want, and how you can help.

I resolve to stay focused on the mission.
It’s sometimes very hard to keep your eye on the prize. You become focused on your career path, getting grants, wooing donors… and the mission gets lost. Keep your eye on the mission and create goals aimed on achieving that mission and the rest will come.