The Foraker Group

Rebecca and Laurie can’t resist a playground when they see one. Thanks, Sitka, for making our work days so fun in so many ways.

One of the many gems at our Leadership Summit was Vu Le sharing the idea of practicing “we-care” in addition to “self-care.” Our team at Foraker heard the idea of “we-care” and immediately adopted it – not surprising, perhaps, because it is all about giving and receiving support, which is a staple in our work. Support in this case can take many forms from gentle reminders, motivational support, planning, coordinating, or even jumping in and doing something together. Your team can define what “we-care” means for your workplace culture. And your choice should have the flavor of not just expecting someone to figure out self-care on their own, but rather of creating an environment where care in general is a high priority and a celebrated choice.

In that spirit and because it is summer, I offer the challenge and opportunity for us to support each other to get outside, find ways to relax, and practice some “we-care” and some “self-care” at work. True, it is an added bonus if you practice these things during your off-hours, but I am going to guess it is a touch easier to do that than taking steps during the work day.

I know working is about checking things off our lists and moving missions forward. Still, we can do those things better when we also remember that taking mini-breaks during the day makes us more productive, not less. It also has the added bonus of helping with other goals we might have like being happier or healthier than we are today.

Far too much evidence and data exist showing that our sector is notoriously unhealthy. We are hard to insure at any price that looks affordable, and our stress levels are through the roof. We often don’t think of ourselves as any less healthy than others. However, what we consider normal may only look that way because we are staring at our peers in the workplace and thinking they are just like us. The fact is there are likely few of us that couldn’t benefit from a little more “we-care” and “self-care” in our lives. I am certainly no poster child for low stress, but I do so love being outside. And I know the true difference that sunshine on my face, or a brisk walk or run, can do to shift my whole day for the better.

So, let’s give it a try. Here are ten ideas to kick-start our summer of “we-care” at work. Most are low or no cost, so no matter your budget size, staff size, or location, there should be something here for everyone. Feel free to comment on Facebook with your own ideas.

1. Schedule walking meetings – or the appropriate mobility for each team member – down the street, around the building, etc. Build in five minutes when you get back to your desk to jot down commitments from the meeting.
2. Buy some affordable folding or camp chairs and bring them outside your office – sides of parking lots still get sun – and get a quiet moment to think or catch up on email.
3. Set up a monthly staff meeting or outing to celebrate mission progress, or understand the issue better, or just to take a break together.
4. Find the garage sale guru on your team. Pool a few funds and send them to pick up exercise equipment people bought in the dark of winter that in the light of summer aren’t being used. Create a little space in the office – there is an empty cabinet somewhere – to set up your mini-gym. Hand weights, an exercise ball, or even a small stair-step machine can fit under a desk. Why not? (Added bonus, as we found in our shop, if one person has the equipment in their space, everyone else comes for a quiet visit).
5. Pick a late summer day and hold a potluck featuring garden grown vegetables. No green thumbs on your team? Take a trip to the local farmers market together and get inspired. All you need is a crock pot or a salad spinner.
6. Create friendly and voluntary monthly or weekly challenges for those interested. For example, who walks the greatest number of steps, drinks the most glasses of water, gets the most hours of sleep, engages in the most hours of laughter, or reads the most pages of a novel, etc. You get the idea.
7. Create a book club or TED talk video club on an area of common interest – sit outside to talk about it. We just learned about one that is a 21-day challenge on diversity, equity, and inclusion that we are going to try out together.
8. Schedule, and get it on your calendar, at least one hour a week to work on a mission-based project you simply love – no “have to” items allowed, just the ones that feel like “want to” and “get to” projects.
9. Plant some flowers by your office entrance or ask the gardener among you to bring in a few colorful stems for the front desk every few weeks.
10. When passing by a playground, don’t hesitate. Just stop and play. I promise, it is still fun.

So that’s ten. There are so many more. What are your summer “we-care” ideas? There is no better day than today to start practicing them. This winter we heard, and saw, and felt the weight of all that is impacting our work these days. As a sector we are faced with attacks on our budgets and missions by the proposed and compromise state budget. And we are likely in for more uncertainty if the state moves into a shut-down plan as has happened in our recent past. We have heard and seen so many personal stories of challenge this year, especially as the impacts of generational shift are felt on our families and ourselves.

And yet, in the midst of all of this, I have seen tremendous moments of support offered and received. I watched 500 people recently come together at our Leadership Summit to learn, laugh, and offer ideas to show more gratitude. And while there will always be more to do, we can, and we must, make time for the “we-care” and the “self-care” to keep going. Our summers are short. So let’s commit together to a healthy step. What will you do first?

We are teaming up with the UAA Department of Economics and Rasmuson Foundation to bring philanthropy researchers to Alaska. Join us, in person, or online to hear the latest research and learn how you might apply it to your fundraising strategies. The last two lectures in the series are scheduled for the following dates:

• May 22: Does Fundraising Create New Giving? Join in person in Anchorage or online.
• June 28: Fundraising through online social networks: A field experiment on peer-to-peer solicitation. Join in person in Anchorage or online.

For more than a decade, we have provided an array of organizational and leadership development services and offered some limited executive search services. We are now bringing those offerings into a comprehensive service called Transitions: Search & Succession.

In this new service, we see leadership transition as an opportunity for positive change. We are scaling up to help nonprofits across Alaska to navigate both planned and unplanned transitions for key leaders in your organizations.

All of us at Foraker look forward to seeing how the new search and transition service will benefit your organization as your key leaders make their next move. We are committed to not just standing beside you, but to being your valued guide along the way.

Learn more here.

Are you an Alaska nonprofit or tribal leader? Do you want to enhance your management skills and explore new techniques to effectively lead your organization? The Foraker Certificate in Nonprofit Management features courses developed to apply classroom teachings to your workplace, case studies directly related to issues facing Alaska nonprofits, and a network of fellow professionals to last a lifetime. The application deadline is June 3.

Learn more here.

Thank you is the best place to begin. Thank you to all of you who made space in your life to show up and be present for two full days of the Leadership Summit and to those who took the extra day to come to our pre-conference classes. Thank you for stepping in and stepping up to comfortable and uncomfortable conversations. Thank you for making space to laugh and connect and learn and dance. Thank you to our sponsors that walked alongside us to offer travel scholarships and keep two days of powerhouse presenters affordable and available to the sold-out house of just over 500 attendees. Thank you to our enthusiastic and all-in board members who hosted breakfast roundtables and lunch time conversations and breakout sessions. Thank you to staff who spend so many hours making it all feel seamless and jump in to troubleshoot a question or offer a helping hand when regular life stuff popped up for people. Thanks to the staff at the Dena’ina Center who are often unseen while doing their very best to keep everything running perfectly.

Thanks, also, to those of you would could not attend for any number of reasons. I thank you because you remind us that summits are not just a one-and-done experience. The lessons from this kind of convening come back over and over in a variety of formats and opportunities. You remind us that large gatherings are not for everyone and that barriers to participation still exist. You remind us that this is all a grand journey and while all of us don’t stop at the same spots to connect, share, and learn, we can find other spots along the way.

So, to those who came to the 2019 Leadership Summit and those who did not, I offer a bit of context on our theme and a few highlights to help energize us all for the journey ahead.

At our Leadership Summit six years ago, we introduced you to our new book, Focus on Sustainability: A Nonprofit’s Journey. The Foraker Nonprofit Sustainability Model has now been shared with tens of thousands of people across the country and around Alaska. It continues to guide our work, and we continue to learn every time we use it. This summit specifically honed in on how the lens of “Right People” guides our work.

What do we mean by “Right People?” The “Right People” are those who can use the values and culture of their organization to move mission forward. This has little to do with any outsider’s judgment about who is right or wrong and, instead, is all about creating a positive and welcoming workplace culture, developing talent, and engaging staff, board, and volunteers with purpose. It is also about nurturing the critical relationship between the board and the CEO and ensuring strategic attention is placed on this partnership.

It is hard to begin determining the right people without first looking through the “Focus” lens in the model. Focus reminds us of our core purpose, core values, and strategic goals. By having clear focus, we can begin the journey of strategically recruiting and engaging the right people at the right time, rather than anyone anytime, to meet the short- and long-term goals of the mission. To be clear, “Right People” does not mean all the people are the same, nor does it mean simply meeting a list of qualifications. The “Right People” are diverse in perspectives and experiences. They are the glue that holds us together.

Since nonprofits require a board and may have staff, everyone must agree on what should be done and who does what, while at the same time remaining in balance with one another. Maintaining a balanced and healthy relationship between the board and staff is best understood as a partnership, not a hierarchy. When you don’t have the right people at the right time, working together, we spend too much time on conflicts, leaving less time to focus on mission. At this summit we explored these topics, along with others like the generational shift in leadership, diversity and inclusion, effective governance, the power of a generosity mindset, a happy workplace culture, self-care, effective searches and transitions, and more. I believe that as a sector these are the topics to explore so we ask better questions about how to adapt in our leadership models, and our recruitment and engagement efforts. As we do this work, we will undoubtedly encourage more diverse perspectives and experiences. While this work might stretch the comfort zone for some, it will create opportunities that last a lifetime for many more.

And, indeed, we did stretch some comfort zones and created rich learning spaces throughout the two days. There are far too many highlights to mention all of them. Some of our speakers have blogs and books and so many wonderful ways to stay connected (see below for more links). But here are a few thoughts to get us started.

We kicked into high gear with some happy brain science. Scott Crabtree brought us the science and the fun in a profoundly authentic way. We knew science was fun, but Scott took it to the next level. By the end we understood that we need to eat seven vegetables a week to improve our mood – we have to focus on the positive even when our brains are drawn to the negative – we need to hear or say five positive things to combat one negative piece of feedback. And, as an added bonus, we learned that it never hurts to throw soft brain-shaped toys across the room and play a happy song on a ukulele.

Akaya Windwood reminded us of the power of generosity in our work – to give freely without expectation of return. She asked us to consider the everyday gesture – to notice what is possible when generosity is the motive and the outcome. The ideas flowed around the room as board and staff members noted what they would do differently in their everyday lives from the simple to the profound. Along the way we heard gifts of gratitude to other nonprofit partners and funders who were taking the extra step to not ask us to compete while asking us to collaborate – a rare moment indeed to be celebrated.

National experts and practitioners Tom Adams and Rachael Gibson helped us dive in and more deeply understand the essential elements of a successful executive transition and leadership succession. Tom literally wrote the book on this topic and Rachael is a leader in this work across the country. They provided a safe space to explore how we authentically bring diversity and equity into this work that impacts all of us every day. With an expected 70% turnover in nonprofit leadership over the next three years, Foraker is scaling up our new service of Search and Transition. To find out more, explore the program on our website.

We felt so strongly that any summit on “Right People” had to include the tools to convene because that is how we come together in formal and informal ways to get the work done. Knowing this, we turned to Ted Lord who for several years has been bringing together a group of facilitators, including myself, on the art of convening. This work culminated in his workbook the Powerhouse Convening Guide which provides hands-on, fabulous tips for working with groups inside and outside your organization. Trust me, there are many great ideas for working with groups of any size.

Edgar Villanueva and Will Cordery jumped in deep by asking us what was keeping us up at night around the work of diversity, equity, and inclusion. More than nice ideas, Edgar and Will created space for meaningful and heartfelt connection on what it means to create and sustain welcoming workplace cultures.

Joan Garry brought the laughter and the serious. She reminded us that Kermit the Frog might be the best model of a servant leader and that the board/CEO relationship works best as a twin-engine plane headed in one direction. Her gift of telling the truth of the everyday nonprofit experience helped pave the way for needed conversations about board governance and life as a CEO, along with the required role we all have in leading as ambassadors and champions together.

Vu Le reminded us all that we are nonprofit unicorns – slightly mythical in our multitasking and magical in our energy to navigate ambiguity and complexity while still getting a whole lot done. If we can heed his advice and stay out of the “Nonprofit Hunger Games,” we would be wise. Be sure to check out the antidote in the slide deck link below.

Our time at the summit would not be complete without some self-care. From morning yoga, to dance breaks with Stephanie Wonchala of Pulse Dance Company, to a mindfulness session with Woodrie Burich, we were reminded to take care of ourselves before we can effectively lead and be with others.

Whew! If you are interested in learning more or want the handouts from all of the presentations, they are on our website. If you want to learn more directly from some of our speakers, you can follow them online or read their books. Here are some links: Vu’s blog, Scott’s blog, Edgar’s top-selling book, and Joan Garry’s book or blog.

We have so much to still uncover, reflect upon, and rediscover together. The theme of “Right People” was no accident. In this time for our state, when so much of what we strive to do is up for debate and when the foundations from which we operate seem to be rattled like our earthquakes, we must come together and remember what we are good at and where our power lies – in our people, YOU, the ones that make all of this work. The 44, 0000 of you who are directly employed in the sector in Alaska and the 67,000 who are employed as a result. Together, you make missions work.

We are incredibly curious about what you will do next with your learnings and insights from the summit. Will they spark a new conversation for you? Will you ask a new question? Will you make the space to stop, think, and breathe? And just as much as we want you to take something new with you, I also hope you will consider what you leave behind. What ideas and strategies no longer serve your mission? How will you make space for the new by leaving what is no longer useful? Getting energized around the right people doesn’t mean doing more with less. Instead, it asks us to consider our work and do what is core – and do it together, not alone. It takes us all. To those of you who have been in this work for decades and those of you who just got your first job, thank you for each step you take to make this world we care about so deeply a better place for tomorrow and the generations that come after us.

Post Script. I shared a message at the summit that I think is worth repeating so that more of us can take action. As nonprofit leaders we make difficult financial decisions every day and are driven to do what is best by the communities and people we serve. We know that the essential services we provide, the gifts we create for community, and the economic opportunities we create all work because we do it as partners with government, private industry, and individual philanthropists. No one operates in a vacuum, and we need each other. Even if your organization receives no funding directly from government, each decision impacts the people and places we serve. This is Alaska – we are all connected. I strongly encourage you to see public policy as an essential element of your mission. Whether it is getting involved to ensure a full and accurate count of every Alaskan in the 2020 Census, or standing up for the communities where you live, or communicating directly with your legislators, we strongly encourage you to get engaged. In each message you deliver, we encourage you to dispel the myths of your work. Highlight how your mission is serving Alaska communities, and how we are part of, but not the sole solution, to the challenges that face Alaskans. I encourage you to be at the table for discussions and decisions so that decisions are made with us if they are about us. In this way, we can focus on building an Alaska that works for all Alaskans. At Foraker we are proud to be the nonpartisan, nonprofit voice of the nonprofit sector and to amplify your incredible work every day. We endeavor to work closely with government at every level and in many ways. We are standing with all of you as we work to create and sustain the Alaska that works for all of us.