"...If you've ever felt like an organizational schizophrenic, surrounded by people making vastly different meanings out of the same actions, you are right. Your staff is going to view you as a business manager; your board will want to see your actions in terms of their political savvy; and your volunteers will wonder any time you direct your attention toward anything but serving the best interest of your agency's clients...The best voluntary sector managers do find a way to ride their elephants - their flanks guiding the beast's direction, their eyes wary of the probing tusks, their hands alert to the waving trunk, their hearts remembering why they originally climbed on board, their voices speaking soothingly into the ears of their charges. Nothing to it, you say? Ride on!"

"The ultimate test of success for an organization is not whether it can win today but whether it can keep winning tomorrow and the day after. Therefore, the ultimate test for a leader is not whether he or she makes smart decisions and takes decisive action, but whether he or she teaches other to be leaders and builds an organization that can sustain its success even when he or she is not around. The key ability of winning organizations and winning leaders is creating leaders."

"Good executives tell it like it is. They know that transparency can hurt, and they're not afraid of the discomfort that sometimes comes along with it. They've got courage, and they understand that great things can only be achieved through honesty, openness, and with ethics.

This rule is simple. If you made a mistake or you think you've gone in the wrong direction, admit it - and sleep better at night. This is as easy as it sounds, though it isn't for the weak at heart. The ability to fess up is a trait that every great, transparent leader possesses. It's harder to tell it like it is than it is to avoid the truth, but even when you avoid the truth, you're not fooling as many people as you think."

Nonprofit marketing guide Kivi Leroux Miller posted some great tips on her blog that are sage advice for any nonprofit leader. Here's an abridged version:

1. Define your niche. Don't try to be everything to everyone.
2. Hire and mentor smart people. Never underestimate the value of your really good and really smart staff members, no matter how young or old they are.
3. Be transparent. Hold integrity and truth in the highest esteem, and admit right away when you screw up.
4. Be willing to experiment.
5. Get out there and update as you go. You don't have to wait until you have all of the details to start conversations with your supporters.

See Kivi Leroux Miller's full post here.

"In general, do not say anything, do anything, or write anything down that you would be unhappy (or devastated) seeing in tomorrow’s newspaper."

Are "best practices" really best? Trina Isakson doesn't think so, and prefers to use "good practices" instead.

Regardless of what they're called, we think her advice is strong:

Quote:

GOOD PRACTICE DEPENDS ON GOOD LEADERSHIP Can the leader inspire a shared vision around the good practice? Can they motivate and encourage creativity around the practice? Can the[y] model the good practice rather than just preaching it?

GOOD PRACTICE DEPENDS ON STAKEHOLDERS AND PLACE Every community is unique. Every organization is unique. Every individual is unique. The uniqueness lies within history, interrelationships, culture, social norms. Best practice is not an ointment to be applied as directed in the instructions on the tube.

GOOD PRACTICE DEPENDS ON THE EXTERNAL OPERATING ENVIRONMENT What works in boom times doesn’t always work in a recession. What works in times of emergency doesn’t work in time of peace. What’s going on in society – are people leaning left or right, looking out for themselves or others, recycling or wasting, etc...

What do you think is important about "good" or "best" practices? How have you seen them hurt or help an organization?

Contributed by Laura Deaton