Communicate!

Helping you win loyal friends through your communications

Navigation Bar

  • About
  • Services
  • What Clients Say
  • Contact

Lead by Telling the Story

February 27, 2017 by Dennis Fischman Leave a Comment

where you are going

Somebody has to lead

“The best way to get people to venture into unknown terrain is to make it desirable by taking them there in their imaginations.”

-Noel Tichy, co-author, The Leadership Engine

You get people moving by telling them stories.

Storytelling can be a form of leadership. So sit back and think:

  1. Where are you trying to get your organization to go?
  2. What’s the story that shows what the world will look like when you succeed?
  3. What’s your travel story about how you will get there?

Ready? Start! “Once upon a time…”

For more about telling the story of where you are going, read http://www.trippbraden.com/2015/03/31/lead-by-telling-the-story/

Share this:

  • Click to share on Facebook (Opens in new window) Facebook
  • Click to share on X (Opens in new window) X
  • Click to email a link to a friend (Opens in new window) Email
  • Click to share on Pocket (Opens in new window) Pocket
  • Click to share on WhatsApp (Opens in new window) WhatsApp
  • Click to share on Pinterest (Opens in new window) Pinterest
  • Click to share on LinkedIn (Opens in new window) LinkedIn
  • Click to print (Opens in new window) Print

Fundraising Tuesday: 3 Generations Nonprofits Want to Reach

March 22, 2016 by Dennis Fischman 1 Comment

father daughter granddaughter

How does your nonprofit engage with all three?

I don’t go to many nonprofit events. I get invited to too many: I can’t attend all of them.

So, this spring I chose to go to The Welcome Project’s Yum: A Taste of Immigrant City and skip half a dozen other events held by groups I care about. I’m a Baby Boomer.

Lauren doesn’t go to many nonprofit events either. But she doesn’t pick and choose. She just doesn’t go. She’s a member of Generation X.

And meet Katie, a Millennial. She doesn’t go to galas…and “what’s a check?” But Katie will volunteer (especially along with her friends), and she will raise money for you online (by asking her friends).

How do you get all three generations to feel engaged and excited about your cause, and support your organization? Here’s how:

Approach us as we’d like to be approached.

For the details, read my guest post on Tripp Braden’s blog, The Three Generations Nonprofits Want to Reach!

Share this:

  • Click to share on Facebook (Opens in new window) Facebook
  • Click to share on X (Opens in new window) X
  • Click to email a link to a friend (Opens in new window) Email
  • Click to share on Pocket (Opens in new window) Pocket
  • Click to share on WhatsApp (Opens in new window) WhatsApp
  • Click to share on Pinterest (Opens in new window) Pinterest
  • Click to share on LinkedIn (Opens in new window) LinkedIn
  • Click to print (Opens in new window) Print

Grip & Rip Leadership for Social Impact: a review

March 21, 2016 by Dennis Fischman Leave a Comment

Wayne Elsey photo

Author Wayne Elsey

If you enjoy reading books about leadership, or inspirational books, you will recognize a lot of what Wayne Elsey does with his brief book Grip & Rip Leadership for Social Impact.

Using a catch-phrase to brand his books. Listing traits and qualities that make a good leader. Relentlessly focusing on the individual and what you can do, not the structure of the organization you work in, and not the political or economic constraints you face.

The great thing about this book is that makes it seem so simple to start improving things where you are right now. And the drawback of the book? It makes things seem so simple.

The Best Thing in the Book is the Stories

I don’t remember Elsey’s seven principles right after I read them, and I don’t think it would make much difference if I did. They are pitched at too general a level to be of much use day to day. For me, and I suspect for many nonprofit professionals, the best part of the book will be the stories.

Michele was hired to work with major donors, then assigned to write grant proposals. Her boss forced her to lie about the organization’s budget. Terrible leadership!

The VP of Development at another nonprofit was told it was impossible to send out acknowledgments within 48 hours. She tested by doing the work herself.

She asked for a couple hundred unopened donation envelopes delivered to her office. Then she personally set time aside to see how long it would take for her to open the envelope, scan the information, look up the donor in the database, key in the necessary information, check amount, and create a batch.

By doing it personally, she found a way to do it faster. Model leadership!

Transforming a Nonprofit via Servant Leadership

Elsey advocates something called “transformational servant leadership,” but he doesn’t really explain it. If you want to grasp the concept, Tripp Braden’s blog Developing Serving Leaders is a better place to start.

But Elsey makes clear that you’re not going to get anything worthwhile done unless you do it as a team. I admire what he does in chapter 12, where he shows how a leader can empower the team she or he works with. For example:

  • If you want to change your colleagues’ attitude, model the change yourself
  • Support their work by investing in their training and professional development.
  • Set clear expectations, provide resources, and hold people accountable.
  • Encourage experimentation, and learn from failure.
  • Pay a living wage so your staff can make a commitment to their work.

Figuring out how to do these things would take a longer book. But Elsey has given us some good places to start. If you are NOT someone who usually reads leadership manuals or inspirational writing, you needn’t linger over it, but you should read it, take notes, and put the good ideas to work.

Share this:

  • Click to share on Facebook (Opens in new window) Facebook
  • Click to share on X (Opens in new window) X
  • Click to email a link to a friend (Opens in new window) Email
  • Click to share on Pocket (Opens in new window) Pocket
  • Click to share on WhatsApp (Opens in new window) WhatsApp
  • Click to share on Pinterest (Opens in new window) Pinterest
  • Click to share on LinkedIn (Opens in new window) LinkedIn
  • Click to print (Opens in new window) Print
  • 1
  • 2
  • 3
  • 4
  • Next Page »

Yes, I’d like weekly email from Communicate!

Get more advice

Yes! Please send me tips from Communicate! Consulting.

Subscribe to Blog via Email

Enter your email address to subscribe to this blog and receive notifications of new posts by email.

Copyright © 2025 · The 411 Pro Theme on Genesis Framework · WordPress · Log in