KATHY ARCHER
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It's not Time's fault! How to get through your leadership to-do list

8/9/2023

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​​If you are like most leaders, you've been here:

You have a precious break in the day, so you look at your endless to-do list.
All tasks seem important, but you scan the list, looking for the priority items you can knock off in a few minutes. As you glance at each item, you make a mental note:
  • I don't have time to do that.
  • I still have time for that, so I can do it later.
  • I'm waiting for Angela's part. I can't do that.
  • That's not even my job. I don't know why I still do it.
  • I'm not in the right space to do that.
  • I don't even know how to do that.
  • Ugh, I hate doing those!​

Your to-do list is like an emotional roller coaster
In the time it takes to scan down the list, your emotions move from overwhelmed to anxious, then annoyed and doubtful, ending with discouraged.

Pushing the to-do list aside, you begin scrolling through your inbox without realizing you've avoided doing anything on the list and, as a result, get further behind and more disheartened 😩

I get it. I've been there many, many times too! In fact, if you are like most leaders, you have a lengthy to-do list that haunts you into the wee hours of the morning and, honestly, will never get done.

But why is it that we will never get through our to-do list?

💥The reason your to-do list will never get done is twofold

REASON # 1
First, it's a disorganized list that is more of a holding place than a completion place.
  • Your to-do list is a storage place for everything they should, might, and want to do, but without delineating between the items.
  • Your to-do list is a bunch of projects and tasks all jumbled together without any indication of which tasks belong with which projects and in what order.
  • Your to-do list is not only your tasks but embedded in between are things others need to do.


REASON # 2
Second, we look at the list as items that need time to be completed, and we blame lack of time as the enemy 😡 ⏰

It's way more complicated than just not enough time.
For example, look at your to-do list and consider:
  • Who else is involved in the tasks
  • The level of complexity in the tasks
  • How confident do you feel about taking on the tasks
  • What else is happening around you, such as distractions, projects, clients, what's going on in your personal life, and, of course, world issues
  • Your energy level, physical well-being, mental clarity and emotional capacity
 
Without taking all of that into consideration, our to-do list becomes an impossible challenge, and time becomes the enemy. But time is getting a bad rap. ❌ It's not ⏳ time's fault.

The time available to complete tasks is only one small factor in managing our to-do list. There are other things to consider. Below are three steps to help you manage your to-do list with much greater success👇🏻

QUESTION: How do I get done, what matters on my to-do list?
ANSWER: You create order and awareness.

1) First, start by prioritizing your to-do list into some semblance of order
That way, your to-do list can become a tool working for you instead of a threat against you. 
  • Use the 3-step weekly planning for leaders who want to get done what matters most

2) Next, let go of inappropriate expectations of your to-do list
You change expectations of your to-do list by shifting your mindset from believing your to-do list is a list of things that need doing to a holding place for projects and tasks.
  • David Allen's book Getting Things Done will help you make this mindset shift.

3) Finally, move a few key items to each day's agenda, plan or priorities
When you only have three things to get done each day, you will check them off with greater speed and satisfaction. 
  • Use the Eisenhower Matrix to help you prioritize what you should be working on today.
But we are still overlooking something

That covers the tactical side of getting through your to-do list. But there is something bigger that needs addressing.

🐘 The elephant in the room is the emotions you felt when you scanned the list. 
  • Jobs you hate doing can make you feel unmotivated, and there is a good chance you'll struggle to get them done. 
  • Tasks that you don't know how to do can leave you feeling unsure about where to start, doubtful you'll be able to pull it off and have a way of rearing imposter syndrome. 
  • When you know it's someone else's job, not yours, your resentment may get in the way of getting it done.

Your emotions play a big role in productivity
Many of us are unaware of our feelings, let alone how our emotions affect our productivity. We can choose our responses better by slowing down and getting a better awareness of what we are experiencing and how our emotions distract us from getting done what matters most.

If you want more help with this, read this next: Why Your Emotions Are Sabotaging Your Productivity
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​If you've been meaning to
  • grow yourself
  • become a better leader
  • learn to keep your composure
  • get better at having those tough talks
  • figure out how to finally do supervision right

​NOW is the time to plan HOW you will do that 👆🏻 growth.
  • If you need a place to start, The Training Library may be a good resource for you.
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The #1 action leaders must take today to declutter your to-do list

29/6/2023

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Are you a nonprofit leader tired of looking at your to-do list with a sense of dread? Trust me. You're not alone. We all have a love/hate relationship with those seemingly endless lists. They can be overwhelming, but at the same time, they're essential for keeping us on track and ensuring we get things done.

👉🏻 If you want to transform your TO-DO list into a truly productive tool, it's time to make it more manageable.
 
🤔 Are you wondering....How do you trim your TO-DO list?


The wrong thing to put on your list​
To tame your TO-DO list, you must remove repetitive items. When you stop entering tasks on your list that you complete regularly, you will see your list shrink dramatically. Doing this lets you find that your TO-DO list becomes your trusted friend instead of a daunting foe.



 You can do what Sarah and Maria did 
👱🏻‍♀️ My client Sarah manages a group home. She used to have tasks like "prepare program schedule every week" and "review budget once a month," constantly cluttering her to-do list. 


Realizing that these were routine items, Sarah entered them directly into her schedule. This simple change made a massive difference in how she approached her daily tasks, allowing her to focus on more pressing matters and be more productive.


👩🏻 Another client Maria, a Program Coordinator, used to dread the monthly task of compiling statistics and preparing quarterly reports. It was a time-consuming chore that she would often leave until the last moment, sacrificing her personal time to get it done. 


However, after learning to treat routine tasks as appointments with herself, Maria scheduled a specific time slot every month to tackle the statistics. Not only did this help her prioritize the task, but it also freed up her evenings and weekends for personal activities.


❌ Removing the routine items
By removing routine items from your to-do list and scheduling them in your agenda, you're making a commitment to yourself to complete these tasks during designated times. 


📆 Book appointments with yourself​
Most leaders only use their agenda for meetings and appointments with others. They may list other things they must do during the day in their agenda, but only as bulleted points. Instead, you should enter routine items into a time slot in your schedule with a beginning and ending time. The routine task should be entered into your schedule as an appointment with yourself.

 
📊 The dreaded monthly stats task
Let me give you an example. Many managers need to do monthly statistics and quarterly reports. This means you pull together charts, forms, and spreadsheets every month. Laying them all out on your desk, you compile data into a report that goes off to the powers that be.
 
For most leaders, this data compilation is a challenging task. Leaders put it off and delay doing it until the last moment. I venture to guess that most leaders tend to get it done by either staying late or finishing it on the weekend. That's certainly how I used to get it done 🤦🏼‍♀️
 
This chore gets done on a manager's own time because the manager never prioritized it. Oh, they may put it at the top of their TO-DO list! But that didn't mean it came before other fires needing put out. Since the monthly statistical collection wasn't put in as an appointment, it was not completed during the regular daytime hours.

🙋‍♀️ How I do it:
I now have a standing appointment with myself to do it each 📆 Monday morning. Yes, you read that right. It's part of my weekly review that gets prioritized before anything else!

Move it from TO-DO list to your agenda​
Tasks that are routine things need to be put into your agenda. Schedule a regular appointment with yourself to get done the things that need to get repeatedly done. 
  • Thursday from 9 am to 11 am – Monthly Stats

How to Set Routine Tasks as an Appointment

Most leaders only use their agenda for meetings and appointments with others, but it's also important to include routine tasks. Rather than simply jotting them down as bullet points, I encourage you to allocate a specific time slot in your schedule with a defined start and end time.

Treat these routine tasks as appointments with yourself.

✔️ Appointments with yourself get entered into your agenda and are blocked off as busy times.

✔️ No one else should be able to book an appointment with you during this time.

✔️ Treat those times just like you would treat any other meeting:
  • When it comes to the time, you do the task.
  • You don't allow interruptions.
  • You don't answer the phone, the door or your email.
  • You do the work you said you were going to do.


But what if something more important comes up?
We all know that unexpected things can arise, and priorities can shift. If you cannot complete a task during the scheduled time, don't just erase it and forget about it. As author Jay Papasan says: "If you erase it, then you must replace it." 


 📚 Papasan co-authored the book The One Thing: The Surprisingly Simple Truth About Extraordinary Results, and I highly recommend it if you want to become more productive.


Rebook it if you can't do it
That means if you can't do the work as planned, find another suitable time slot in your calendar to reschedule it. Don't let routine tasks pile up and follow you home as unfinished business. They are an integral part of your workload and deserve the same level of attention as anything else

⭐️Compiling timesheets, writing reports, and reviewing budgets are all part of your workload. They are not extras. You need to treat them with the same importance as anything else.


✅ Your TO-DO list taming HOMEWORK:

1️⃣ During your weekly planning, review your TO-DO list.

2️⃣ Put a ✔️ checkmark beside anything that is a regular or cyclical task.

3️⃣ Take those items and 📆 schedule the appropriate amount of time into your agenda.

4️⃣ Stick to those times and complete the task in that time slot 💪🏻

5️⃣ If you can't do it, re-book it 📆


A manageable-looking TO-DO list
This leaves a manageable TO-DO list for you to prioritize. It won't be quite as scary to look at the items left 👀

Keeping your TO-DO list manageable requires being mindful of what you enter into it. Schedule routine items into your agenda. That way, regularly occurring tasks will get done on time. This will also leave your TO-DO list smaller, more inviting to scan and way easier to keep up with 👏🏻

I'm curious. Comment below: 
  1. How many items did you move from your TO-DO list to your schedule?
  2. Does your TO-DO list look more manageable now?
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Need more help prioritizing?
If you need even more help to tame your to-do list and get done what matters most, start The Emotions of Time Management today and learn time management strategies and how to make them work for you!
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Mastering Your Leadership Confidence Today

24/3/2023

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Do you like to read? The ladies whom I recently finished a six-week Mastering Confidence book club with were a group of leaders who, readers or not, wanted increased confidence. They read the book and worked through additional exercises to build their confidence over the weeks.

At the end of the final session, I asked them to come up with three summary points of what they had learned. Here is what they came up with.

​How to master your confidence in 3 steps:
​
Step # 1 - AWARENESS
Step one is to become aware that you need to build confidence in a particular area of your leadership.

Without awareness, you keep settling, putting up with and feeling uncomfortable. Increased awareness of what area you need to grow confidence in starts you on the journey.


ASK THIS:
  1. Where do I doubt myself, hesitate or feel anxious in my leadership capacity? 
  2. If I felt increased confidence in that area
  • How would I behave differently? 
  • How would I feel differently?
  • What would be different about how I experience leadership?
​
Answering those questions gives you increased awareness.


Step # 2 - Pause and Ponder
The second step to increasing your confidence is to pause and become self-reflective because confidence is not about what other people think you can do. It's what you believe you are capable of.  

You need to examine your thoughts, beliefs, emotions, values, and perspectives to shift your confidence. Therefore, the second step to building confidence is to change what you're thinking and experiencing inside you so that your behaviours change outside of you.

​One of the reasons the book club members identified pausing as a critical step is that it starts the process of examining your thoughts. It's the first step of the Inner Guidance Cycle, which I teach in the book.


ASK THIS:
What do I believe about my capacity, competence and confidence levels?
  • What would I have to learn to feel more competent?
  • What would I have to think about myself to feel increased competence?
  • What beliefs will help me shift my confidence levels?

​Answering these questions will help you feel more competent, capable and lead with confidence. 


Step # 3 - Build your support team
The ladies in the Mastering Confidence Book Club quickly realized how similar their challenges, stories and solutions were. 

The final point that the Mastering Confidence book club members identified is that you need to create a support network. You are not the only one who has struggled or is struggling with your leadership. Leaning into others on the journey or who are a few steps ahead of where you are can be incredibly helpful in navigating the journey. 

When you connect with others, you can share a human experience with many striking similarities and learn from each other.


DO THIS:
  1. Find a place where you can connect with other women in similar places as you. We do this in The Training Library on our monthly Coffee at the Library open Zoom calls.
  2. Find a coach, mentor or support person to help you. This person could be an "in person" person (if you want to connect with me, hit reply) or an author or guru you follow online where, for example, you read their book and follow their podcast.

When you create your support team, you will find confidence-building becomes easier.


BONUS Step - Teach what you learn
Watching these leaders grow over six weeks is a powerful experience for me. 

I experienced a lack of confidence in my leadership multiple times in my career. As I learned and grew, I taught others. First, it was my team leads and my program managers. Now my students and coaching clients. As I teach confidence, I learn more about it, become more confident in new areas and expand my comfort zone. 


Mastering Confidence is about the journey to mastery. Masters know they are never really masters. As I said in the book:

Mastering your confidence is a transformational journey. You will realize that, in many ways, there is no endpoint to your trip. You won't "get confidence" one day and be done.

Instead, you will continually strive to find this place. 

Then, just when you think you have, you will find that something happens, and you lose balance, feeling unsure again. As you go along, you'll discover an inner process, the Inner Guidance Cycle, to keep you growing as you move forward and bouncing back each time you get knocked down. 

Inside the book, you get access to a free course. You can join it now!

Join the free Mastering Confidence Course.


What makes a world of difference is when you turn around and teach what you know. Teaching others helps you grow even more, and your confidence builds exponentially.


ASK THIS:
  • Whom do I know that needs to build confidence?
  • What can I teach them to help them increase their confidence?
  • When will I do that?

When you find the answers to those questions, not only will you be helping someone else build their confidence, but you'll also be mastering yours!


Additional Resources

📙 If you want additional help that, grab Mastering Confidence.

👭👫 If you'd like to build confidence in your leadership team and would like to do a six-week book club with your team, message me, and I will make the arrangements. It might be good to do before summer hits, and it might also be a great Summer experience for your team.

✏️ ☕️ If you want to join The Training Library and join us for the monthly Coffee at the Library calls, you can join here and find more details about the Zoom calls here. 


You've got this!
Confidence for you and your team is yours!!! Become aware it's time, and then do work to make it happen!

p.s. When you grab Mastering Confidence: Discover your leadership potential by awakening your inner guidance system, you get access to a free online course!
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How to become a stronger nonprofit leader in 10 minutes a week

2/2/2023

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If you've written down your nonprofit leadership goals, congratulations. Many never even get to that point. If you are one of the leaders determined to grow this year, you've also devised a plan to accomplish those goals. Now what? Now, you need to take action, and you need to keep taking action throughout the year!

But rather than steadily moving towards your goal, if you aren't careful, you'll join the 80% of people who abandon their goals by February. 

What, then, is the trick to sticking to your goals? Instead of floundering, forgetting and failing - you successfully achieve your goals by reviewing them regularly.


Build a systematic review process
Positive thinking, believing you can achieve your goal, is the first step. However, positive thinking alone does not equal success. You actually have to do something!

Habitually reviewing where you are on your journey as you progress toward your goal will make you more successful. Being determined, even though adversity will always hit, is how you achieve your goals and become a strong leader.


Review your strategy for achieving your goals
The actions you take on the journey to achieve your goals make a difference. However, it's consistently taking action that is the hard part. In truth, many of the steps you need to take to achieve your goals won't be easy or enjoyable. That is precisely why many people don't achieve their goals. They stop when it gets tough or they come up against a barrier.


Remember that adversity strengthens you
Here is the thing, though, you NEED those roadblocks! The difficult parts are the essential parts. By going through the struggle, we learn, grow and become better versions of ourselves. It is during the challenges that we become better leaders. Therefore, getting through the trying segments of the journey is necessary for reaching the goal. 


The truth is for you to get to the next step:
You need to learn something
You must increase skills in some area
You are required to come to a new awareness

This more difficult part of goal attainment is the portion that many of us resist but, sadly, it is also the part that will keep you stuck and unhappy.


Your plan keeps you moving​
To keep moving forward when challenges hit, you must have a plan that includes 
  1. Recognizing roadblocks
  2. Plan how you will overcome them

Your plan might incorporate coursework
  • Your strategy could be about building support networks
  • Your approach might integrate the practice of learning to manage your thoughts and actions
But you need more than a plan to ensure you reach your goals.


You must keep reviewing your plan
Once your strategy is in place, you must regularly review that plan. That way, when you hit a roadblock, feel overwhelmed or want to quit, you can reconnect to your goal and strategies to get over the hump. In addition, reviewing your plan will remind you of what you can do if you feel overwhelmed, confused, apprehensive or stuck.


Make the review time effective
Create a habit of reviewing your goals to make the review time effective. The following steps give you a process for the weekly review of your goals and your strategic plan to achieve those goals:


The 10-minute framework for your weekly review

​Each week, set aside 10 to 30 minutes to review your goals and the plan you have for achieving them. During this time, create the habit of doing the following:

1. Write out your goals
Don't just read them over. Rewrite them. Writing your goals down creates new pathways in your mind that activate the desire to achieve your goals. It keeps them alive and real.

2. Visualize achieving your goals
Close your eyes and imagine what it will be like when you reach your goal. Connect emotionally and viscerally to it. Feel the excitement, pride, and sense of accomplishment. Let your tummy get jumbly, and your heart swell and your eyes water.

3. Identify the overarching steps needed to achieve your goals
Remind yourself of the steps you identified in your strategic plan that you need to take to achieve your goal.

4. Visualize yourself moving through the steps
Close your eyes and see yourself navigating the steps you need to achieve goal attainment. As you do, notice challenges that may pop up and envision yourself overcoming them. Then, as you see yourself moving towards your goal, notice what it takes for you to progress through the difficult times. It may be your determination, increased patience or ongoing persistence.

5. Identify the next step you need to take
As you review your plan each week, identify what you need to work on to keep moving towards your goals.
Next, write that action step down. 
Then, schedule it in your day timer and commit to doing it.


The ongoing review will help you achieve your goals!
To be a better version of yourself this year and, thus, a better leader, you need to set goals. Then, you must have a strategy and a plan for how you will achieve those goals. But from there, the next crucial step is regularly reviewing your goals and plans. Creating the habit of regularly reviewing your goals will help you be the best leader you can be. ​
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3 Tips to help you measure immeasurable goals

26/1/2023

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If you want to make this year different, then you've likely set goals for yourself, and if you're serious, you've probably created a plan for how you will reach those goals. The Next Step? It's to measure your progress. 

But how do you measure goals that seem immeasurable? 🤷‍♀️
These 3 tips can help you 👇🏻


Measure the use of the TOOL
​

Think about what you will use to help you reach your goal. Get clear on how you will use that tool. Then measure the usage of that tool. For example

GOAL: Be better able to focus on important but not urgent work
  • TOOL: Practicing meditation
MEASUREMENT: Measure how frequently you meditate

GOAL: To feel more confident in staff meetings
  • TOOL: A Journal to track and shift thoughts
MEASUREMENT: How often are you journaling your thoughts?

GOAL: To spend more time doing strategic thinking
  • TOOL: Getting away from your desk and going for a walk
MEASUREMENT: Count the times each week you walk and are simply alone with your thoughts


Measure the HABIT you need to instill to help you reach your target.

If your goal this year is a more work-life balance, habitually leaving work on time will provide more balance. Therefore, you could measure how often you leave work at five o'clock.

To feel more confident in staff meetings, you'll need to be more intentional before going into staff meetings. Choosing how you will respond instead of reacting to a trigger needs to become a habit before meetings. Therefore, you'll measure how often you preplan how you'll manage your emotions during the meeting. Is it becoming a habit that you naturally do?

When you find yourself stuck on a problem, you've likely been trying to figure it out in a linear, analytical or in-the-box way. Instead, you may need to think more freely, creatively, or strategically. When you create the habit of scheduling "thinking" time into your week, you'll be on your way to finding more time to think. Count the times you do it. Has it become a weekly habit yet?


Measure the MILESTONES along the journey to the goal

Completion of goals takes time and often involves many steps. However, we feel more engaged in our goals when we can see progress along the way. Therefore, checking off each milestone along the way is a way to measure progress.

FOCUS
Did you pick which app you'll meditate with?
  • Check it off.
Did you start with two minutes, but a week later moved up to 3 minutes?
  • Check it off.

CONFIDENCE
Did you find a journal or scribbler to write down your thoughts in?
  • Note that as a milestone.
Have you journaled for at least five days in one week?
  • Celebrate. You hit another milestone.


STRATEGIC THINKING
Did you do your first walk to think, despite feeling guilty about all the work you were walking away from?
  • That counts as a point along the journey!
Did you tell someone you were "going to think" and not apologize for it?
  • Write that down. That's another big step towards your goal. 



You can't manage what you don't measure says Peter Druker
You'll need to measure your progress regularly to help you achieve your goals this year. To help you do that...
  • Measure the use of the TOOL
  • Measure the HABIT you need to instill to help you reach your target
  • Measure the MILESTONES along the journey to the goal

Review this regularly, and you'll FEEL the difference!
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Too late? No! Here is an easy way to set your leadership goals today

18/1/2023

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​No goals yet for this year? It's not too late

It is the third week in January already, and perhaps you are one of the ones who have yet to set your goals for the year. I have many clients in your shoes. They need to find the time to draft their goals but are struggling. But rest assured. It is not too late to set them. Now that the dust of the holidays has settled, you may be in a better place to do that. 


Setting goals is essential to leading a nonprofit organization but also essential to the development of your capacity to lead. Yet, it can be challenging to find the time and focus on doing so amidst the busyness of day-to-day operations. Below you'll find easy strategies to help you develop goals that will build your competence and confidence as a leader this year.


You do need goals
First, let's get clear. You do need goals. As teleological beings, we perform at our best when we have targets to work towards. You know this if you say you do your best work at the last minute. A looming due date is a fabulous target to motivate most of us. 


Without goals, you wander in circles
Without goals, we can quickly feel like we are just going through the motions and not making progress. Without targets, you are wandering aimlessly. That is why you may feel like you are just going in circles!


With goals, you are intentionally creating your leadership experience
Are you taking an active role in shaping your future? You are if you are intentionally creating life, days, your career and your personal life as you choose. 


When you are intentional, you create your leadership and life experiences by reflecting, deciding, setting goals and planning, all before you take action.


The easy goal-setting method
​
Gather thoughts
Whenever anything comes to mind about your goals, jot it down on a sticky note or digital file. Your brain is always thinking, and you have ideas, awarenesses and ah-has. Those are important to capture.


Schedule time to review last year
As little time as 5 minutes will do. Begin by reviewing the past year and reflecting on your strengths, areas of growth, and accomplishment. Here are some prompts to get you started:
  • I have grown stronger in this way last year...
  • The part of me that is coming alive that I am loving is...
  • This is the part of my inner growth that I am most proud of last year...

EXTRA HELP: Nonprofit leaders, you need to do this now to make next year amazing!

Create a future vision
Knowing where you are going will help you get there. It would help if you had that target to aim at. Craft a quick vision of what you want in your future by answering these questions:

​
If I have the "perfect" life, career and relationship:
  • This is what it would look like...
  • This is what it would feel like...
  • These are the kinds of things that would be happening...
  • These are the kinds of conversations I'd be having...


EXTRA HELP: Most nonprofit leaders miss this step critical step when setting goals


Rough out your goals
Consider the steps you need to take this year to move closer to that vision. Draft 2-3 goals to help you achieve that vision. They don't need to be perfect, SMART or finalized. Draft is the important word here. You'll continue to refine them as you work on them. Just get something down on paper as a starting point. 


Expand the goal into a plan
Once you have your goals, develop a plan to achieve them, including specific actions, practices, and training.


Consider what habits you need to develop to maintain your goals over the long term. 
  • What daily actions will you need to take to stay on track? 
  • How will you make those habits a part of your daily routine?


EXTRA HELP: Create your plan to ditch "Survival Mode"

An example of how it works:


Vision
Perhaps you imagined yourself as a courageous leader. You visualized how you are stronger, more assertive and more confident. You got a sense that as you grew, you could feel yourself doing tough things like addressing issues, setting boundaries and being true to yourself.


Goal
Your goal could be to increase your confidence level in your leadership role. 


Plan
Your plan could include:
  • Learn to manage my thoughts by reading and applying the concepts in the book: Mastering Confidence: Discover your leadership potential by awakening your inner guidance system. 
  • Learning more about leadership competencies by
  • Reading leadership books
  • Listen to podcasts.
  • Attend training.
  • Practice public speaking by joining Toastmasters. 


The bottom line 
Taking the time to set goals and create a plan to achieve them intentionally can significantly impact the success of your leadership and personal life. By being intentional and self-reflective, you can progress toward your desired experience of blending life and career. Regardless of the time of year, it's always possible to start creating the future you want.
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Most nonprofit leaders miss this step critical step when setting goals

29/12/2022

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As a nonprofit leader, when was the last time you planned how you wanted to feel?
 That is a crazy notion, isn't it? However, if you consider how you want to feel and attach goals to those feelings you desire, you will find that you have a way different year ahead of you!

Start by looking over the past year for lessons
In this post, I encouraged you to look back over the past year for the lessons you learned. Pausing and then pondering how things turned out in different situations allows you to collect ideas for what you want to do differently in the future. 

If you want different results, then you need to do something else. The strategic review of the past year in this post will help you highlight areas of your life that you want to change.


Next, look ahead to choose your feelings
Now that you have taken a look back, it's time to pivot and look forward. The backward review and peering into the future are part of laying a solid foundation before setting goals for the new year.
As you inspect what might unfold in the new year, I want you to consider how you want to feel. Instead of starting by thinking about what you want to achieve or what you are hoping to accomplish, I want you to think about your feelings first.


It may be helpful to note what you DON'T want
Looking at the past year, you can identify what you don't want, and it's an excellent place to start. If you are like most women leading in the nonprofit sector, you know what you don't want:
  • You are tired of feeling stuck.
  • You don't want to feel exhausted.
  • You hate the constant feeling of overwhelm.
  • You are fed up with the repetitiveness of the same old hamster wheel.


Then, it's time to shift
But if not that, then what? That's the easy part. We complain, grumble and moan about what we don't want. However, continuing that cycle of what you don't want in your head keeps you stuck on the negative. Instead, it would be best if you look for something different. 


Consider the experience you DO want
Consider for a moment what feelings and experiences you want in the coming year. Here are some examples of what feelings you may be looking for:
  • Perhaps you want to feel more energetic
  • You may want to feel more at peace with yourself.
  • It could be that you are looking to feel a deeper sense of connection with someone
  • You want to feel more engaged in your work


Hold off on developing goals
If your mind keeps going to goals, step back from them for a bit. Setting goals are important, and we will get there. But the goal is only part of the picture. When we only identify the target, we miss the importance of attaining that. 
When you ask yourself what you want to accomplish a goal or achieve, it's about the feeling you will get as a result of completing it.
  • Why does it matter so much?
  • Why is that so important to you? 
  • What difference does it make if you achieve that? 

It matters because it's doing or achieving something that will produce a certain feeling. So it's that feeling that I want you to focus on now.


Here are some examples
A goal that so many identify each year is to become healthier. So what difference does it make if you lose weight or change your eating habits? 
  • You'll feel more alert
  • You'll feel more confident
  • You'll feel increased energy

Imagine that you want to do something different at work, return to school, apply for a new position or start a new project. Consider that outcome for a moment and think about what the feeling is that you are longing for. 

Changing jobs will make you feel what? 
  • More aligned with your values? 
  • Will it make you feel more fulfilled?


Where do you already feel that?
The second part of this exercise is to consider the list of feelings you've identified. Then, look at where you experienced those feelings now. 
  • If you're looking to feel happier, when was the last time you felt happy?
  • If you're looking to feel more energetic, you noticed that was happening on the weekend when you had more sleep. 
  • If you want to feel a sense of peace, you may see you felt it after you took a lunch break the other day.
These are clues about what you want more of in the new year. It is this information that will help you set goals. 


Combine the lessons learned and feelings desired
Pulling these two concepts together (lessons + feelings) looks like this:
  • Perhaps looking back, you learned that late nights drag you down. You may realize that the lesson is you get sick when you work yourself to the bone.
    • A goal for the new year might be to create a full day on weekends with no work.
 
  • When you look at the feelings you desire, it may have been to feel more energized. You see, you feel that when you have more sleep or catnap in the middle of the day.
    • A goal for the new year might be to get more sleep.
 
  • If you looked back and realized that no matter what, you can't connect to this job, you saw your commitment level drop and your desire to go to work each day fades. The lesson you learned was this organization isn't aligned with your values and vision.
    • A goal for the new year might be to look at how to realign your work with your values.
 
  • Looking forward, you might crave feeling a deeper connection to your work. You see glimpses of that when you work on a specific project. That is a clue for you about the work you could cultivate in the new year.
    • A goal for the new year might be around exploring options in that area.


Looking back and then ahead
When you pull out lessons learned and pair them with the desired feelings you have for the future, you are in a great place to set goals for the future. 

First, take the time to let these two ideas sit with you in the next few days.

Then, come back to them a few times. Journal some thoughts about them. Talk to others in your life about it as well. Slowing down to get a handle on your life intentionally will put you back in the driver's seat. 

Finally, you'll be able to create goals that help you create your future rather than just watch it unfold!​

Complete your Annual Analysis
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​Here is how it works:
  1. Become a member of The Training Library
  2. Complete the course: Leadership Training and Growth Annual Analysis.
  3. Discover, feel and identify ⤵️​ ​
​✅ Discover how effective your growth and development plan has been over the last year

✅ Feel pride as you acknowledge your achievements, inner growth, development and progress
​
✅ Identify the next steps for your continued path towards excellence.
Learn more about completing your Annual Analysis here
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Nonprofit leaders, you need to do this now to make next year amazing!

8/12/2022

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​Do you set personal leadership goals for each year? 


The most effective leaders have personal leadership goals that drive them throughout the year. These aren't the organization's goals for you. Instead, they are your goals that drive the type of leader you are becoming. 


You probably aren't thinking about your goals quite yet. Instead, gifts, parties, baking and work deadlines likely have your attention these days. I get it!


👉 However, December is the perfect time to let the last year percolate in your mind. That way, you'll have some things in mind when it is time to sit down and work on your goals for next year.
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We know that typical goals fail
Most of us wait until the end of December or the beginning of January to start thinking about setting goals. The problem with waiting until then is that we often jump into goal setting with whatever is on our minds at the beginning of the new year. And for most of us, overeating and overspending are top of mind.


The most popular New Years' Resolutions are about weight loss and reducing debt. AND…most New Year's resolutions are dropped within a couple of weeks, and goals are forgotten by February. Often that is because we set the same goals half the world does every January.


🎯 However, as a leader who wants to achieve excellence and live a somewhat balanced life, you need goals specifically for you and your situation.


To create more impactful goals that will develop you as a strong leader, you need to be more intentional. 


Lay the Groundwork for Success Next Year
If you want to be more successful with your leadership goals next year, start thinking about laying the foundation for goal setting now. This groundwork will help you identify the goals that will impact you most and how to achieve those goals. 


Start here:
This coming week, start to look back over the past year. Scan events, relationships and experiences for the lessons you've learned.
  • What is it that you've done or not done that has taught you something that you can take forward into the New Year? 


Have Self-Compassion
This review is not a time to judge or beat yourself up. Instead, it is a nonjudgmental observation. So, be curious as you look back.


Examples of lessons you may have learned

🔲 Looking back, you might see that the few times you had time to yourself were when you consciously created it. For example, you booked an afternoon off or got up earlier to journal.
  • The lesson you learned might be that if you want solitude, time or time to yourself, you must create it. 


🔲 When you review the past year, you may notice certain calmer and more relaxed times. However, by digging deeper, you may see that you were doing your yoga regularly in those times.
  • The lesson you learned, perhaps, is that you need to up your game by doing yoga regularly.


🔲 Looking back, you may have noticed times of better productivity and focus. When you get curious about what was going on then, you may see you were sleeping better.
  • The lesson learned is sleep is critical for you and a fundamental thing you need to ensure happens.


Make a note of your discoveries
Choose whatever method works for you as you have some realizations or ah-has. I'm a sticky note kind of gal. I'll jot it down when something comes to me on a sticky note. They'll pile up over several weeks whenever something new comes to mind. Then, when it's time to do my review and set goals, I'll have all of those random but so very important lessons and ah has to go review and use them as information to guide me going into the new year.


You could use a notes app on your phone, a Google doc, or a notebook. The idea is to have something easily accessible to capture realizations on the fly.
❎ You aren't committing to anything.
✅ Instead, you are simply noting insights. 



Keep Curiously Looking Back
Let this idea of 'lesson's learned" simmer in the background for the coming weeks. Write down the lessons you notice as you go back over the past year. They will help you when you start to define your goals next year. 


You may want to complete a deeper review of the past year
Students in my membership site, The Training Library, often schedule time between Christmas and the New Year to complete their Annual Analysis. 


Your Annual Analysis is an in-depth review of the inner growth of your leadership. When you complete your Annual Analysis, you'll:
✅ Discover how effective your growth and development plan has been over the last year
✅ Feel pride as you acknowledge your achievements, inner growth, development and progress
✅ Identify the next steps for your continued path toward excellence.
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How to develop leadership skills to lead your nonprofit team in 3 weeks

1/9/2022

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How to be an effective nonprofit leader? Continue to grow and develop yourself!

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Do you love to learn? Perhaps not. I know that not everyone is a lover of learning like me. But what I also know is that learning is part of leadership. It's necessary if you want to be an effective leader to continue to grow and develop yourself.

But if you struggle with the learning component, it's hard to make it happen on an ongoing and effective basis. Yet when you do, the results are astounding.

  • When you learn to manage your emotions, you can stay composed during a meeting even though you get triggered.
  • TRY THIS: Managing Your Emotions at Work
 
  • When you learn the difference between coaching and corrective conversations, you spend more time coaching your employees than correcting them. 
  • TRY THIS: Creating Comfortable Coaching Conversations
 
  • When you learn what not to put on the supervision meeting agendas, even though everyone else tells you you should, you find staff meetings way more effective at building your team and having them do what they're supposed to do. 
  • TRY THIS: Staff Supervision That Transforms


Is your learning too shallow?
Learning in a way that helps you apply it and get value from it requires some effort. So often, when we learn, we're just going shallow. We read a book, listen to a podcast or attend a session at a conference and get some good ideas. And that's as far as it goes. Perhaps you apply one of them, but more often than not, it's a fleeting thought.


What if you spent 3 weeks diving deep into how to develop your employees?

Mark These Leadership Training Suggestions

Consider taking a topic like learning how to develop your employees. For example, perhaps you listened to Strengths-Based Leadership on your commute to work. Then you listened to 10 Ways to have better conversations with your team leads and discussed it. Additionally, you completed the course Staff Supervision That Transforms.


Do you do this as you learn?
As you read the book, listened to the video, and completed the training, you wrote down what you were learning. You also had a couple of discussions with a peer who read the same book. On those calls, you added any new learnings or deeper understandings of how to apply the concepts to your notes. Then over the 3 weeks, you went back to your notes regularly. You added to your notes what you continued to learn as it related to your day-to-day world. You also became intentional in identifying where you could practice or apply the concepts. 


What would you expect would be different in your leadership abilities?
Can you even imagine the change you might experience? I bet you would feel way more confident! Think about it. It's only a 3-week commitment. That's it. And it wouldn't require much time, just intentional scheduling of your time. 


Will you make a 3-week commitment that allows you to go deep on a subject?
To be a stronger leader, you must go deep on one subject rather than bounce from book to podcast blog, but never really dive deep. Are you ready to dive in?
  1. Slow down, pick one topic, and learn about it in different ways. 
  2. Consider how the concepts translate into your world. 
  3. Apply the concepts. 
  4. See if they work, what needs work, and try again.

Keep reading as we break it down more as you learn to create your 3-week learning plan.


How to deepen your learning into a leadership topic in 3 weeks

If you want to dive deep into a topic, here are three strategies. Once you've picked the topic:


1️⃣ Identify 3 places you will learn about that topic
There are a ton of places to learn from. Pick 3 that will give you various insights, perspectives and strategies. 
  • Read a book
  • Take a course
  • Interview people
  • Listen to podcasts
  • Do online research  


 2️⃣ Identify 3 ways you will integrate that learning
  1. Write about the concepts and how they relate to your work.
  2. Have a conversation with someone else who's learning about the same thing and talk about how it applies to your work 
  3. Create a tool measurement for scoring your implementation. For example, in Wellness at Work, my students measure their engagement at work and see if it changes. They use a Likert scale to measure:
  • How involved were you in what mattered most at WORK? 
  • On a scale of 1-10, how much time were you (1) Fighting Fires or (10) focusing on what matters most?
  • Were you enthusiastic most days at WORK? 
  • On a scale of 1-10, how much time were you (1) drained or (10) enthusiastic?
  • Did you feel committed, not trapped, to your work & workplace? 
  • On a scale of 1-10, how much time were you (1) feeling trapped or (10) feeling committed
** You can access the worksheet that measures this and so much more in the first lesson of Wellness At Work.


3️⃣ Identify a time to review your learning
Set aside 15 minutes and answer these questions
  1. Do I feel like I've learned enough about this topic? What else do I need to learn?
  2. Do I feel I've spent enough time strategizing how the ideas fit into my work? Where needs more attention?
  3. What's the next step with this topic for me? When will I take it?

When you set aside three weeks to deepen your learning about a topic, integrate your knowledge by implementing strategies, and practice it, you'll find that a quick dive into learning something has benefited you exponentially. ​
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4 Inspirational strategies so you can lead your nonprofit team with impact

14/8/2022

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Do you wonder how to be the best leader you can be? One who makes a difference, has a great team and finds some balance in life? 

Unfortunately, it's not the easiest thing to do. One of the reasons we struggle is that we don't see a lot of other women doing it, so part of us doesn't believe it's even possible. We need more women mentors. I keep looking for them and sharing them with you so we both have more inspiration.

Let me introduce you to Yvette Vargas.

I was listening to an interview with Yvette, Head of Development at Citizen's Bank in the states. Yvette was part of a Women in Leadership conversation series for LHH, an organization that focuses on recruitment, assessments, coaching, and career transitions.

I found Yvette's story, persistence and intentional personal and professional growth as a woman leader inspiring. So many of the suggestions she made for women in leadership had me thinking of the four fundamentals I teach leaders.

Let's dive into them together.

The four fundamentals of leadership:
  1. Be yourself
  2. Develop yourself
  3. Take care of yourself
  4. Teach others to do the same


Lead with Authenticity - Be yourself
On Citizen's Bank website, Yvette is quoted as saying, "I used to have separate selves — mother to my children, wife to my husband, caretaker to my parents, employee and friend. I thought that compartmentalizing my 'different selves' would help me manage each relationship better," she said. However, it's only by working to integrate her selves — and finding a job that allows her to bring every aspect of herself to work — that she's found true meaning in her career.

This quote speaks to the authentic nature that we need to lead with. We are not separate people in different aspects of our lives. We are one person doing various things. The more authentic you are, the more confident and comfortable you will feel, and you'll make a more considerable contribution.

To help you lead your best, I encourage you to identify your strengths, gifts, and personality traits. Then, do the work to figure out who you are and authentically be who you are daily. 


START HERE:
  • Begin by identifying and clarifying your values in the Values Verification course.
  • Then move on to identifying your VIA character strengths.


Continue to grow yourself personally and professionally - Develop yourself
Intentionally developing yourself is critical to becoming the leader you want to be. Yvette spoke in the interview about being very intentional about this. She indicated you need to develop your growth plant and intentionally spend time working on yourself. 

"The amount of time you spend on something is a manifestation of what you value."

If you value your growth and development, you'll put time into growing and developing yourself. 


START HERE:
  •  Develop your personalized curriculum for Leadership Development
  •  Evaluate your Training and Growth 


Be a balanced leader - Take care of yourself
4️⃣As I listened to Yvette, I could tell she has drive. That's different than being driven. When the work drives you, it becomes a problem. When you drive the work, you do that with intentionality. You also need the energy to do that! That means you need to take care of yourself. 

But Yvette wasn't always that way. She tells the story of needing to shift from being driven by her career to intentionally creating her life and career simultaneously—that required intentionality and self-care.

Taking care of yourself it's not something you do just outside of work. It is something you do all day long. Start by adding teach micro-moments of wellness into your workday.


START HERE:
  • Learn how to add Wellness AT Work
  • Take 5 minutes to take care of yourself


Be a leader, teacher, mentor and coach - Teach others to do the same

I love Yvette's story of supporting other women to grow and pulling them up as you advance. She learned this early on from her mother and sisters. She's been clear about continuing to do it throughout her career. She sees a large part of her role is developing others. 

When we teach others to be themselves, develop themselves and take care of themselves, we do this through mentoring, guidance, coaching and leadership. Our job as a leader is not always correct and fix employees. Our job as leaders is to help our employees reach their full potential.


START HERE:
  • Learn how to do: Staff Supervision That Transforms
  • Create Comfortable Coaching Conversations with your employees

The four fundamentals of leadership:
  1. Be yourself
  2. Develop yourself
  3. Take care of yourself
  4. Teach others to do the same
To learn more about these fundamentals, tune into this episode of the podcast.


What strategy, suggestion, or idea will you begin with today? Hit reply and tell me where you are starting and what you are inspired to awaken in yourself after listening to Yvettes' story.
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    Kathy Archer

    Women leaders often hit a point where they find themselves in over their heads and wondering if they have what it takes to lead.
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    ​In my online courses and coaching I teach them inner and outer tools to restore their lost confidence so they can move from surviving to thriving in both leadership and life.

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