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Coming in OCTOBER
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OCTOBER is
Fair Trade
Month and
Mental Health
Month
Oct 02-06 is
Read-In Week
1 Intern'l Day of Older Persons(UN)
1 Intern'l Coffee Day
2 World Habitat Day (UN)
2 Custodial Worker Day
4 Random Acts of Poetry Day
4 Taco Day
6 Badger Day
10 World Mental Health Day (UN)
10 World Homeless Day
11 Intern'l Day of the Girl Child (UN)
12 World Arthritis Day
13 No Bra Day
15 World Maths Day
16 World Food Day (UN)
17 Intern'l Day for the Eradication of Poverty (UN)
19 Get Smart About Credit Day
20 Intern'l Sloth Day
24 United Nations Day (UN)
28 Make a Difference Day
31 World Cities Day (UN)
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Shout Out!
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A big thanks to some who made my life better in
September!
MaryJane Alanko
BC Lions Alumni Association
Marnie Beaudoin
Shelley Carmichael-Silins
Barry Cavanaugh
David Cheoros
Bruce Clarke
Michelle Demers
Louise & Randy Duncan
Bobbi Fitzgerald
John Fluevog
Mandy Foster
Karen MacKenzie
Jeff Mawson
Karlan Morrison
Bonita Murdock
Andy Northrup
Darlene Ramsum
Lori Schmidt
Ian Sinclair
Ralph Suppa
Jamie Taras
Janna Tominuk
Theresa Tsoukalas
Jane Tulloch
Esther West
Gord West
Elana & Jason West
Chris Wood
Louis Yu Tim Lun
"Surround yourself with a trusted and loyal team. It makes all the difference."
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Links/Websites
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Unroll.me (Unsubscribe and manage subscriptions) Click Here
How Do I Get Millennials to Join My Association (Good article) Click Here
How the Pyramids Weren't Built (Graham Hancock gives his theories) Click Here
5 Things You Didn't Know About Bacon
(I did NOT know that!)
Click Here
Fun T-Shirt for Plumbers (You can probably guess) Click Here
Misconception about Thread Count of Sheets (Higher is not better!) Click Here
LUE-42 Enterprises
(Mine)
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Heard in the Boardroom
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Groundtruth (Fancy way of saying validate or confirm, especially in government)
Intersectionality (Not even sure. You facilitators...what are you on about?)
Make haste slowly (Boards are great at this!)
Firsted and seconded (I was "moved" to report that)
Skunkworks (A small group who works on a project in an unconventional way; develop something quickly with minimal management constraints)
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Alberta Aviation Museum Access
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Through its community partnerships,
Servus credit union is sponsoring
Free Access Nights at the
Alberta Aviation Museum on the
3rd Thursday of the month starting in September.
Thank you, Servus, for making this great museum more accessible to the community.
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Reader Notes
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I found in your newsletter the inspiration I was looking for. JT
Gawd I love these. Thanks for your infectious energy. CM
Is it wrong that your newsletter is sometimes the best part of my day?...reading it is like chocolate, chips, beer, and a heartfelt laugh all in one bite. MA
Contributors to this issue: Erica Brown, Mandy Foster, Janna Jorgensen, Peter Portlock, Laureen Regan, Ralph Suppa, Greg Swanson
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Wish I'd said that...
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"Don't be intimidated by what you don't know. That can be your greatest strength and ensure that you do things differently from everyone else."
"Never grow a wishbone where your backbone ought to be."
"Everyone you will ever meet knows something you don't."
Bill Nye
"The price of doing the same old thing is far higher than the price of change."
"Success is walking from failure to failure without any loss in enthusiasm."
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Networking Tips
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People are talking about Christmas already! Seems a good time to review some networking tips.
Donna Paris (Ignitemag.ca; Sept/Oct 2017) just published a list of strategies to network with a difference.
For starters, when you approach someone, start by asking yourself "How can I help this person?" I love this idea. Here are some others:
Build Your Brand: Speak with passion; network often.
Do the Prep: Get a list of attendees and do some research.
Fuel Up: Have a snack first so you can focus on people, not food. (Another good idea!)
Make it Snappy: We average 7 minutes a person networking. Stick to the basics.
Be Brave: Compose yourself on entry. Ask to join a small group. Meet one more person each time.
Remember Names: Pay attention to the intros. Ask for a card. Figure out a clever way to remember it.
Disengage Gracefully: Don't just split for the buffet. Say something relevant.
Follow Up: Send a brief email or a note on LinkedIn.
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| Forecast for October 04 |
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| Cloudy with a chance of Tacos |
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| Books by Moi |
| Understanding Bylaws: A Guide for Directors of Not-For-Profit Organizations ISBN 978-0-9866030-0-6 (NOTE: There is good stuff in here, but this book isn't aligned with the Federal NFP Corporations Act or the new BC Societies Act. Email me directly with your bylaws questions about NFPs registered federally or in BC) Exceptional Board Members, Exceptional Boards ISBN 978-0-9866030-1-3
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| * |
| With fond acknowledgement to Douglas Adams and The Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy |
| Join Our List |
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Spread the Word!
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To forward this to a friend click below
To use the content, please include this blurb: Linda Wood Edwards and LUE-42 Enterprises produces "Life, the Universe, and Everything" for her clients and subscribers. Visit www.lue42.com for more information
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Hey, September's done and I forgot to tell you another cool thing about August! I attended the last (last)
Canadian Derby - who knows? Maybe there will be one more last Derby. Once again I put my
mom's last $50 on the line and she won (again)! I get a kick out of putting her money on a
grey horse (like she would do) and keeping that last bit of her money going. I los
t my own money
, but it was a great day of racing and I got to wear my grandmother's hat, which I re-designed for the event.
I attended the
Labour Day Classic in Calgary and for the umpteenth year, had to pay off my bets with beers. It was great to see so many friends in Calgary, if only my team would have shown up. At least we still have time to right the good ship
Eskimos.
I had a trip to
V
ancouver and that meant sampling and evaluating several more craft beers but it also meant a beautiful
walk along the Fraser River with a friend. Otters and herons and gulls -- oh my! As great as that was, breakfast was even better:
Kim chi hash! I am totally trying this at home.
While at the coast I connected with friends and managed to get a ton of work done, too. A big shout out to the BC Lions Alumni Association who treated me to a Lions/Alouettes football g
ame. Great seats and more friendly faces.
I had a wonderful night out with a friend to go see
Daniel O'Donnell. He's a performer my mom really enjoyed, and he really does
put on a good show. Other than the consistently messed up parking at the Jubilee Auditorium, it was a perfect evening. And
Charlie Pride
skyped in for a song, so that was way cool.
I joined
#GreyCupFitUp headed up by CFL.ca's Brodie Lawson and Davis Sanchez. For the 100 days leading up to Grey Cup we are supposed to work out at least 30 minutes a day and then Tweet about it. Assuming people are telling the truth, there should be some really fit people in all those hospitality rooms in November! I'm Tweeting the
truth, but the truth is I don't Tweet all that often. Sure, sometimes I exercise and don't Tweet, but sometimes I just don't do the work out. You know how it is. Right?
My favourite
shoe store (
Fluevog) hosted a reception that featured my favourite shoe designer (
John Fluevog). What a treat to meet him! I got my first Fluevog shoes in the late 1970s and wow, were they great. I've loved every pair I've owned in the intervening years as well. It was so awesome to meet him and to be around all the fabulous shoes and the interesting people who wear them.
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| With John Fluevog |
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I was excited to learn how to make a
video in my
social media class, but it will need quite a bit of work before I share that link! I can see using this tool (maybe even in this ezine) but I'm not there yet.
I've been
learning
hard,
working
hard,
playing
hard, and
laughing
hard. I've been blessed to spend time with wonderful friends at open houses, parties, and on
road trips. Thanks to that one Charlie Pride song, I've been kicked into a phase of Hank Williams, Jim Reeves, and Johnny Cash so I just honoured it and stopped in the Torrington bar for a visit and some olde-tyme country tunes on a jukebox.
I've watched football, I've enjoyed great food, and I've culled more stuff. I think I'm ready for October. Are you?
"A positive attitude causes a chain reaction of positive thoughts, events and outcomes. It is a catalyst and it sparks extraordinary results."
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The Answer
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Q: WITH ALL THE FOCUS ON GOVERNANCE, WE'RE DOING BETTER, AREN'T WE?
A: Sure, but not as well as we could be.
Of course I follow governance trends, but I do it mostly through observation and experience.
BoardSource actually does a study every two years, and
Leading With Intent 2017: A National Index of Nonprofit Board Practices has just been released. The research is all US-based, but still relevant for us in Canada.
This is the ninth time they've done the study and while I haven't finished the entire report, I thought I'd share some highlights from the executive summary.
- Boards are no more diverse than they were two years ago, and current recruitment priorities indicate this is unlikely to change. Leaders are dissatisfied with the level of diversity but are not making racial and ethnic diversity a priority in board recruitment.
- Boards are starting to embrace their roles as advocates for their missions, but stronger leadership is still needed. Most organizations do not have formal policies around advocacy. Both the chief staff officers and the board chairs cite this in their top three things for boards to improve.
- Strong understanding of programs is linked to stronger engagement, strategy, and external leadership - including fundraising. The board needs ongoing education to deepen its understanding of the organization's programs and operating environment. When deep understanding is present, everything the board is supposed to do works better.
- Boards that assess their performance regularly perform better on core responsibilities. (Yet boards still fight me on this! This is an area I've also been doing research on and while BoardSource says boards are scoring better than before, I'm starting to wonder if we're even evaluating the right things. More on that in a future article.)
- Chief executives and board chairs agree that the board has an impact on organizational performance, particularly if the board understands its roles and responsibilities, and if the board is able to work as a collaborative team toward shared goals. There is a perceived connection between board performance and organizational performance.
The final section of the LWI2017 is designed to help you find ways to meet the challenges above with your own boards. BoardSource offers the following priorities to help you get started.
- Make it an ongoing priority to deepen your board's understanding of your organization's programs - what you do, why it matters, and how you know you are having an impact.
- Think strategically and creatively about how to position board members for stronger leadership outside the boardroom through fundraising, advocacy, and broader community outreach.
- Start a conversation about what a commitment to diversity, inclusion, and equity would look like for your board, your organization, and your work in the community.
- Ensure that every board member begins service with a firm understanding of the roles and responsibilities - what they are and what they aren't - and continually reinforce the importance of role understanding throughout every member's service.
- Work to cultivate a culture of trust, respect, and mutual accountability within your board by creating opportunities for your members to engage with each other in a way that deepens their understanding of each other and their shared commitment to the organization's work.
You can download the full report, free!
Click Here
/lmwe
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Getting Your Meetings Back on Track
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In a recent Crucial Skills blog, "Exasperated" wrote about a co-worker who keeps hi-jacking the meetings -- talking on every item every time -- causing meetings to go too long, not be productive, and not be a place where everyone is heard. Sound familiar?
The response by David Maxfield had some good tips, summarized below
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Take ownership for the meeting.
Recognize that your acceptance of bad norms reinforces those very norms. Suggest changes to the meeting leader. Work together to create new norms.
Name the problems and create ground rules.
List the behaviors that derail your meetings, and describe the impacts these behaviors have on decisions, wasted time, and morale. Come up with <5 ground rules to prevent these behaviours.
Schedule time to discuss problem behaviors and proposed ground rules. Use this time to model the ground rules. Post a sign that labels the problem behaviors and ground rules. Change ground rules if they aren't working.
Have agenda topics with time limits.
Agendas in advance, always. This helps introverts. Have start, end, and topic time limits. Meeting leader and participants all manage the time.
Decide how to decide.
Are people being asked for input, or do they have authority to make the decision? If they do own the decision, how do they decide among options? The decision process will vary by agenda topic:
- Command: Decision is already made; team is being informed. Team has to implement.
- Consult: Input requested; identify/evaluate options, but no decision.
- Vote: Team decides among options. "Voting favors efficiency over dialogue, so it only works when all team members feel they can support whichever option wins."
- Consensus: Talk until everyone honestly agrees to one decision. Consensus is appropriate only when dealing with a) High-stakes and complex issues, or b) Issues where everyone must support the final choice.
Hold each other accountable.
Don't rely exclusively on the meeting leader; remind people about ground rules.
Here's to better meetings.
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A Way to Focus on Gratitude
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Nataly Kogan (happier.com) blogged a story about a stressful time where she was about to lose her cool (perhaps even her life), but she played a game called IMAGINE LIFE WITHOUT THIS.
By asking herself to IMAGINE LIFE WITHOUT THIS she was able to feel gratitude for several things that were currently annoying her. Not only did she calm herself down, but it helped calm others around her too. I love this technique!
I'm lifting this right out of her blog because I think it's so important to remember a few things when it comes to gratitude.
"Gratitude doesn't ask that we delight in every moment of our lives. It doesn't require us to make everything okay or to turn negative into positive. It doesn't make us deny our feelings of stress or frustration. Gratitude simply asks that while we allow ourselves to feel what we feel we also don't take for granted the many miracles that make our daily experience possible, that we zoom in on what we appreciate within what might be going wrong."
Her story is a good one. Here's her blog
Click Here
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| About LUE-42 Enterprises |
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I help associations and boards with tasks that can't be done in-house due to lack of capacity, time, skill, or a combination. I spend most of my time with governance, facilitation/training, presenting, planning, bylaws, board development, interim management, and writing. I'm also a playwright, a funeral celebrant, and a big fan of the Canadian Football League. I am grateful for my good life. If I can help to improve your life, let me know.
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