In episode 95 of Mission: Impact, Carol Hamilton and Emily Taylor discuss

• the challenges nonprofit CEOs face as they become victims of their own success.

• how nonprofit leaders can become disconnected from their community as their organization grows

• how when an organization is overly associated with the CEO, this can result in a culture of dependence and bottleneck decision-making

Episode Highlights

[11:15] Recognizing Organizational Dependence

how nonprofits become overly dependent on a charismatic CEO and how this can stifle organizational growth and sustainability.

[20:56] Strategic Reflection Before Planning

nonprofits should engage in reflective practices to understand their true challenges before embarking on strategic planning.

[23:03] Gaining Objective Insights

the benefit of having an outsider's perspective to identify common goals and values among staff that may be clouded by internal bias or jargon.

[33:02] The Human Aspect of Leadership

leaders must view themselves as humans with limitations, which can foster a healthier organizational culture and enable growth beyond the capabilities of a single individual.

Guest Bio:
Emily Taylor

Emily Taylor works with nonprofit leaders who are ready to catapult their organizations into their next stage of growth by shifting their decision-making from intuitive to intentional. Leaders who seek Emily’s expertise are not only frustrated with the typical strategic planning process but don’t feel fully informed to make big, long-term decisions. Instead, she first grounds the organization in ‘who they are’ to help them prioritize the challenges that lie ahead.

To achieve this, Emily applies her individualized strategic listening methodology with an organization's community, allowing teams to 'see their value' and align their decision-making as an organization, not just the CEO. She helps them find a planning process that fits their needs, not something that is out of the box, which is why most organizations get frustrated with strategic planning!

Important Links and Resources:

Emily Taylor: https://www.linkedin.com/in/emily-taylor-teenybig/

Paper on pre-strategic planning:

https://mailchi.mp/teenybig/you-shouldnt-jump-into-your-next-strategic-plan

Related Episodes:

Episode 21: Investing in the next generation of nonprofit leaders with Andy Robinson

Episode 60: Why bother doing strategic planning?

Episode 70 Values Based nonprofit strategic planning

Episode 90 Five steps to successful nonprofit strategic planning with Carol Hamilton

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