As a leader, have you ever considered how to create a positive physical environment for your mission? I remember when I entered my first day at Lakeside how discouraged I was at the physical environment. Like many non-profits the facilities lacked any sense of order. Our furniture for our school and reception areas was not […]
Non-Profit Leadership – How to Give Sociological Grace in Leadership
I was at a leadership seminar many years ago where the presenters offered the idea of incorporating sociological grace within organizations. I was familiar with the concept of how God is so gracious to us as people, but I had never considered that as a potential for a leadership model that could be a vital […]
Why We Need to Make Mistakes
Can you recall a recent mistake you made? How did it make you feel? Guilty? Incompetent? Ashamed? I have a very dear friend who struggled after he hired someone for a job in his newly-formed organization and discovered within the first two weeks that this person was not meeting expectations and clearly was not somebody […]
Non-Profit Leadership – Leaders as the Brain of a Biocracy
I have the privilege of having regular conversations with Dr. Sandra Bloom. Lakeside is managing her newly formed Creating PRESENCE organization which provides trauma responsive training and certification to organizations that are desirous to become trauma-informed in their knowledge, skills, policies and practices. It is an exciting new movement throughout our country for organizations! In […]
Non-Profit Leadership – How to Shift Perspectives
I make it a habit to tour around my organization and departments as often as I can. As I enter offices and check-in with staff one of the realities that I have observed is the wide range of emotions and perspectives they may have on any given day. Their emotions can range from very happy […]
Clarification about How the Amygdala Impacts Behavior 
In my last blog I shared some of my thoughts about why Will Smith behaved as he did at the Oscars, suggesting his amygdala hijacked his behavior, a concept proposed by Daniel Goleman in his book Emotional Intelligence. As I shared my thoughts with friends and colleagues, I received mostly strong opinions that a person […]
Non-Profit Leadership – Leaders Who Instill Hope and Gain Trust
As a non-profit CEO you often have discussions with disillusioned employees. Some are exhausted with their work. Some are upset about organizational issues or offended by other staff members. Some feel they have been discriminated against. Some have very legitimate complaints and others have personal issues that may have nothing to do with their job […]
Non-Profit Leadership – Are You a Compassionate Leader?
The term compassion is typically used for those who are people helpers and caregivers. It is often not a part of the training of most leaders and managers. Yet when we think of the leaders we admire, most of them have a level of human connection and compassion that created positive relationships with those within […]
Viewing Will Smith’s Oscar’s Assault through a Trauma Lens
A friend was appalled when I shared that I was writing a blog describing my trauma theory that might explain Will Smith’s violent outburst and assault on Chris Rock at the Oscar’s on March 27th. He couldn’t believe I was going to excuse his violent behaviors because it was somehow related to childhood trauma. He […]
Non-Profit Leadership – Are You a Mindful Leader?
There has been a lot of research and publication on the issue of mindfulness. There are several ways to think about mindfulness but in leadership it is an essential characteristic that makes a huge difference in the emotional and relational climate of the group of individuals that you are leading. A mindful leader intuitively creates […]
