I follow the ‘projectshrink’ Bas de Baar, from the Netherlands, on Twitter. Bas writes stuff on project management. As you know, John Coxon & Associates has a workshop, ready for your team, titled Practical Project Management for Non Profits. (Give John a call on +61 3 5561 2228 to organise). Anyway back to Bas. He pointed me to a squidoo lens titled Not So Dumb Project Management Questions, hosted by Hal Macomber.
Even if you don’t have any interest in project management you gotta read this list of so-called dumb questions. They are not really that dumb – what is so dumb is that many people fail to ask them in the first instance. While written in the context of project management, every one of these questions applies to every other aspect of organisational management. I will even bet there are few in this list that you have failed to ask from time to time and wish afterwards that you, or someone, had done so. How dumb did you feel after not asking?
Let the Journey Continue
John Coxon
John Coxon & Associates
Taking You from Frontline Manager to CEO
Email john@johncoxon.com.au
Skype: john_coxon
Blog: http://healthsector.blogspot.com
Blog: http://nfp-management.blogspot.com
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Sunday, February 22, 2009
Succession Planning
Marshall Goldsmith, Harvard Business School, renown executive coach and author, writes in the January 09 issue of the Harvard Business Review, on succession planning and why it is many 'nominated' successors fail to gain the promotion into the top job.
Goldsmith points to the inability of potential successors to build relationships with stakeholder groups prior to promotion. Many executive managers are tapped on the shoulder by an existing CEO and assured they will transition into the top job - only to find that when the time comes, the board appoints someone else.
Appointing someone into the top job is as much about confidence in their abilities as it is in their prior experience. On the surface it appears logical to suggest an insider should recieve the promotion. Afterall they know the ropes, they know how things are done. All of that may be true. Do they have the confidence of the board?
Being known as an excellent employee is not sufficient. Being 2IC often means you operate in the shadow of the current CEO or Director. It is not safe to assume that person is promoting your talents to the board - afterall not all CEO's feel that sure of their own abilities. The CEO might want you to succeed him or or her, on the other hand they may be trying to keep you on board, avoiding conflict between potential successors or simply trying to be friends with everyone. You have to do the work.
Goldsmith suggests six stakeholder groups a potential CEO should be working with - in advance of a potential promotion. These include, the current CEO, peers, direct reports, customers, analysts (substitute funding bodies) and the board. Most potential CEO's focus only on building relationships with the current CEO.
This is not about currying favours or building up markers for future leverage. Relationship building is a long-term exercise. It takes time and patience. Building relationships requires diplomacy and a desire to give back as much as you get - often more - with the certainty of not knowing whether all this work will be any help in the future.
What is know for sure is this. If you aspire to the CEO's role in your current organisation and you fail to build long-term, sustainable relationships with all stakeholder groups then you increase the chance of failing to achieve the top job.
Let The Journey Continue
John Coxon
John Coxon & Associates
Taking You from Frontline Manager to CEO
Email john@johncoxon.com.au
Skype: john_coxon
Blog: http://healthsector.blogspot.com
Blog: http://nfp-management.blogspot.com
http://www.linkedin.com/in/johncoxon
Follow john_coxon on Twitter
Join John Coxon on Facebook
Goldsmith points to the inability of potential successors to build relationships with stakeholder groups prior to promotion. Many executive managers are tapped on the shoulder by an existing CEO and assured they will transition into the top job - only to find that when the time comes, the board appoints someone else.
Appointing someone into the top job is as much about confidence in their abilities as it is in their prior experience. On the surface it appears logical to suggest an insider should recieve the promotion. Afterall they know the ropes, they know how things are done. All of that may be true. Do they have the confidence of the board?
Being known as an excellent employee is not sufficient. Being 2IC often means you operate in the shadow of the current CEO or Director. It is not safe to assume that person is promoting your talents to the board - afterall not all CEO's feel that sure of their own abilities. The CEO might want you to succeed him or or her, on the other hand they may be trying to keep you on board, avoiding conflict between potential successors or simply trying to be friends with everyone. You have to do the work.
Goldsmith suggests six stakeholder groups a potential CEO should be working with - in advance of a potential promotion. These include, the current CEO, peers, direct reports, customers, analysts (substitute funding bodies) and the board. Most potential CEO's focus only on building relationships with the current CEO.
This is not about currying favours or building up markers for future leverage. Relationship building is a long-term exercise. It takes time and patience. Building relationships requires diplomacy and a desire to give back as much as you get - often more - with the certainty of not knowing whether all this work will be any help in the future.
What is know for sure is this. If you aspire to the CEO's role in your current organisation and you fail to build long-term, sustainable relationships with all stakeholder groups then you increase the chance of failing to achieve the top job.
Let The Journey Continue
John Coxon
John Coxon & Associates
Taking You from Frontline Manager to CEO
Email john@johncoxon.com.au
Skype: john_coxon
Blog: http://healthsector.blogspot.com
Blog: http://nfp-management.blogspot.com
http://www.linkedin.com/in/johncoxon
Follow john_coxon on Twitter
Join John Coxon on Facebook
Monday, February 2, 2009
Are you warming your management seat?
While facilitating a recent workshop on Managers as Coaches I made a statement, where I suggested that those in front line management roles without ambition to be involved in executive management were simply warming a seat and preventing those with real ambition from gaining appropriate experience.
As I expected my comment generated a lot of discussion both during and following the workshop. Excellent, objective achieved. As Socrates has been quoted, I cannot teach you anything, I can only cause you to think. If, as a result of my workshops I cause people to think then I believe it is an outcome worth achieving.
Let's look at this in more depth. Over the next decade every current CEO or EO or Director, aged over 50 years, in both Australia and New Zealand will retire. These people form the bulk of leadership roles in the not for profit sector. I calculate this to represent a turnover of around 30,000 leaders.
Who will replace our current leadership group? Those warming a front line manager seat or those young, ambitious 30-somethings chomping at the bit? If you are currently in a front line management role or middle management role, do you have the ambition to lead an organisation? If not, someone younger, more energetic and more ambitious than you will do so. Maybe they will want you to remain warming your seat or maybe they will not. I will leave you to think about that!
Let The Journey Continue
John Coxon
John Coxon & Associates
Taking You from Frontline Manager to CEO
www.johncoxon.com.au
Email john@johncoxon.com.au
Skype: john_coxon
Blog: http://healthsector.blogspot.com
Blog: http://nfp-management.blogspot.com
http://www.linkedin.com/in/johncoxon
Follow john_coxon on Twitter
Join John Coxon on Facebook
As I expected my comment generated a lot of discussion both during and following the workshop. Excellent, objective achieved. As Socrates has been quoted, I cannot teach you anything, I can only cause you to think. If, as a result of my workshops I cause people to think then I believe it is an outcome worth achieving.
Let's look at this in more depth. Over the next decade every current CEO or EO or Director, aged over 50 years, in both Australia and New Zealand will retire. These people form the bulk of leadership roles in the not for profit sector. I calculate this to represent a turnover of around 30,000 leaders.
Who will replace our current leadership group? Those warming a front line manager seat or those young, ambitious 30-somethings chomping at the bit? If you are currently in a front line management role or middle management role, do you have the ambition to lead an organisation? If not, someone younger, more energetic and more ambitious than you will do so. Maybe they will want you to remain warming your seat or maybe they will not. I will leave you to think about that!
Let The Journey Continue
John Coxon
John Coxon & Associates
Taking You from Frontline Manager to CEO
www.johncoxon.com.au
Email john@johncoxon.com.au
Skype: john_coxon
Blog: http://healthsector.blogspot.com
Blog: http://nfp-management.blogspot.com
http://www.linkedin.com/in/johncoxon
Follow john_coxon on Twitter
Join John Coxon on Facebook
Wednesday, January 7, 2009
Succession Planning Time
Look around you. Estimate the average age of those in leadership roles in your non profit organisation. Where would you calculate the average age to be? 40 years. 50 years. 60 years. If you calculated the average age to be between 50 and 60 then sometime in the next decade your organisation is going to require a new CEO. Even if you were to calculate the age younger than 50 there is a good chance your current CEO will leave during the next few years.
Does you organisation have in place a succession plan? Or do you leave it to chance when the time comes? Does your organisation develop the a corp of internal leaders or do you leave that also to chance with the time comes.
If your organisation hires an external person to fill a key leadership role what message does that send to your management team? The message it sends is that they are not good enough. Or it may tell them they they shouldn't have been in that management role in the first place. If a top position becomes available in your organisation and none of your current managers apply for that position, what message does that send? It tells you they should never have been placed in that role to begin with. There is no point in having senior managers unable, or unwilling, to step into the leadership role if and when it becomes available.
Have a look around your organisation. Who are the people on your leadership team, do they have the competencies to lead as well as manage, are they able to step into the CEO role if called upon?
Identify the key leadership competencies needed by your organisation. Conduct an audit of current managers and identify the gap between their current skill level and the desired skill level. Prepare them in advance. This creates loyalty when they can see an investment being made in their professional development. Provide them with opportunities to lead the organisation, to make decisions and to learn to live with the consequences. Test them, find out those that have both the desire and the ability and nurture those people by providing them with increasing levels of responsibility. In this way the transition will be smooth and painless. In this way even if you do hire an external appointment you will have confidence in the internal team in holding the ship on course. Should one of your existing managers put their hand up for the leadership role then you will have confidence in them because you invested in their development and you will have saved the recruitment fee.
Let The Journey Continue
John Coxon & Associates
Taking You from Frontline Manager to CEO
www.johncoxon.com.au
Email john@johncoxon.com.au
Skype: john_coxon
Blog: http://healthsector.blogspot.com
Blog: http://nfp-management.blogspot.com
http://www.linkedin.com/in/johncoxon
Follow john_coxon on Twitter
Join John Coxon on Facebook
Does you organisation have in place a succession plan? Or do you leave it to chance when the time comes? Does your organisation develop the a corp of internal leaders or do you leave that also to chance with the time comes.
If your organisation hires an external person to fill a key leadership role what message does that send to your management team? The message it sends is that they are not good enough. Or it may tell them they they shouldn't have been in that management role in the first place. If a top position becomes available in your organisation and none of your current managers apply for that position, what message does that send? It tells you they should never have been placed in that role to begin with. There is no point in having senior managers unable, or unwilling, to step into the leadership role if and when it becomes available.
Have a look around your organisation. Who are the people on your leadership team, do they have the competencies to lead as well as manage, are they able to step into the CEO role if called upon?
Identify the key leadership competencies needed by your organisation. Conduct an audit of current managers and identify the gap between their current skill level and the desired skill level. Prepare them in advance. This creates loyalty when they can see an investment being made in their professional development. Provide them with opportunities to lead the organisation, to make decisions and to learn to live with the consequences. Test them, find out those that have both the desire and the ability and nurture those people by providing them with increasing levels of responsibility. In this way the transition will be smooth and painless. In this way even if you do hire an external appointment you will have confidence in the internal team in holding the ship on course. Should one of your existing managers put their hand up for the leadership role then you will have confidence in them because you invested in their development and you will have saved the recruitment fee.
Let The Journey Continue
John Coxon & Associates
Taking You from Frontline Manager to CEO
www.johncoxon.com.au
Email john@johncoxon.com.au
Skype: john_coxon
Blog: http://healthsector.blogspot.com
Blog: http://nfp-management.blogspot.com
http://www.linkedin.com/in/johncoxon
Follow john_coxon on Twitter
Join John Coxon on Facebook
Saturday, December 20, 2008
Were taking a break
Its the festive season and we are taking a break for a couple of weeks. We are shutting up shop, leaving the laptop in the office and putting the phones on message bank while we spend time with friends and family and recharge the batteries. To all those that chose to follow this blog through 2008 we thank you and we feel humble you should choose to share the journey with us. We hope you all enjoy the festive season, however you celebrate, or otherwise, and we look forward to traveling with you in 2009.
John Coxon
John Coxon
Wednesday, December 10, 2008
How does your nfp fare in these economic times?
Glastonbury Child and Family Services was recently reported in local media.Glastonbury is reported to be experiencing financial difficulties due to the economic downturn. Many programs are funded from Glastonbury's reserves, according to CEO Judy Wookey; these programs are under threat and may result in workers being deployed.
How is your organisation faring in these difficult times? Have you invested reserves in non-bank organisations? Are those funds accessible or frozen?
It is to be expected non-profits will have in place a policy and framework to guide the board and management on investment decisions. Afterall we are trustees of those funds we hold. The problems can begin when economies go into freefall. Decisions made in the past, when stability reigned, can be inadequate in these changing times. Of course, the economic decline has been in place for a while and many organisations have felt the impact - yet there is likely to be more pain before stability returns. If your board hasn't looked at its policies and applied a risk management analysis to its funding and reserves then now might be the time to do so. Better late than never.
An investment policy should contain clear guidelines on objectives such as investment types, timeframes and even levels of return on investment, details on who is responsible for investment decisions and reporting processes and even costs. While it is clear the management team must take responsibility for any losses incurred, equally so must the board or committee. It is a responsibility of the governance team to have in place risk management process, which should include an analysis of risks associated with financial investments.
Government funding bodies have a responsibility to ensure adequate funding of programs delivered by social service agencies on behalf of the government. In the case of programs funded through non-government means the responsibility for fiscal conservatism falls squarely on the shoulders of the board and management team.
It is rare for financial calamity to occur overnight. When it does occur, hindsight, wonderful as it is, will almost always show that a series of 'key events' occured, which if they had been monitored and given appropriage analysis would have served as a flag to management that whatever was being done wasn't working and that it was time to do something new. Every non profit has the opportunity to avoid financial disaster. Does your organisation have the experience and skills amongst board members and managers to spot the trends, to analyse the data and to make proactive decision?
Let The Journey Continue
John Coxon
Taking You From Frontline Manager to CEO
Email john@johncoxon.com.au
Skype: john_coxon
Blog: http://healthsector.blogspot.com
Blog: http://nfp-management.blogspot.com
http://www.linkedin.com/in/johncoxon
Follow john_coxon on Twitter
Join John Coxon on Facebook
How is your organisation faring in these difficult times? Have you invested reserves in non-bank organisations? Are those funds accessible or frozen?
It is to be expected non-profits will have in place a policy and framework to guide the board and management on investment decisions. Afterall we are trustees of those funds we hold. The problems can begin when economies go into freefall. Decisions made in the past, when stability reigned, can be inadequate in these changing times. Of course, the economic decline has been in place for a while and many organisations have felt the impact - yet there is likely to be more pain before stability returns. If your board hasn't looked at its policies and applied a risk management analysis to its funding and reserves then now might be the time to do so. Better late than never.
An investment policy should contain clear guidelines on objectives such as investment types, timeframes and even levels of return on investment, details on who is responsible for investment decisions and reporting processes and even costs. While it is clear the management team must take responsibility for any losses incurred, equally so must the board or committee. It is a responsibility of the governance team to have in place risk management process, which should include an analysis of risks associated with financial investments.
Government funding bodies have a responsibility to ensure adequate funding of programs delivered by social service agencies on behalf of the government. In the case of programs funded through non-government means the responsibility for fiscal conservatism falls squarely on the shoulders of the board and management team.
It is rare for financial calamity to occur overnight. When it does occur, hindsight, wonderful as it is, will almost always show that a series of 'key events' occured, which if they had been monitored and given appropriage analysis would have served as a flag to management that whatever was being done wasn't working and that it was time to do something new. Every non profit has the opportunity to avoid financial disaster. Does your organisation have the experience and skills amongst board members and managers to spot the trends, to analyse the data and to make proactive decision?
Let The Journey Continue
John Coxon
Taking You From Frontline Manager to CEO
Email john@johncoxon.com.au
Skype: john_coxon
Blog: http://healthsector.blogspot.com
Blog: http://nfp-management.blogspot.com
http://www.linkedin.com/in/johncoxon
Follow john_coxon on Twitter
Join John Coxon on Facebook
Tuesday, December 9, 2008
The environment is shifting
I am in one of my bold prediction moods. Actually I might not be that bold, it might just depend on your perspective on the future.
Noone likes change. Seth Godin once wrote, 'successful companies dont like change, people in successful jobs especially dont like change'.
David Kirk, ex-CEO, Fairfax Group, this week paid the price for an inability to adapt to a changing environment.
Interestingly, David Kirk, quoted one specific environmental factor contributing to the changing environment that Fairfax operates in. That factor is called the internet.
Now lets return momentarily to Seth Godin. He pointed out that the internet is not going to change the world (surprise, surprise). The internet enables the world to be connected in a way that could never have occured in the past. It is this connectivity that allows information to be accessed by everyone, allows information, both good and bad, to spread quickly throughout the world and enables decisions to be made quicker. The internet is the enabler.
David Kirk, along with the Board of Fairfax, did what every other company tries to do when under pressure. They looked to cut costs to maintain profitability. This is what is demanded of shareholders. The issue here, as I see it, is that changing environments demand different strategies, creative strategies, maybe even something different, rather than more of the same traditional strategies. Try telling that to shareholders (or stakeholders).
Will Fairfax survive? I don't know. It doesnt really matter, there will be someplace else for shareholders to move their investments into. The bigger question for you as a manager in the not for profit sector is to ask how the shifting environment might impact upon your organisation?
Do you believe your organisation could be replaced by a faster, more nimble, less expensive to operate alternative? If you are tempted to answer no to this question then I truely hope you are within a couple of years of retirement. At least then you will not have to pay the price for your short sightedness.
Informaton is no longer the sole domain of professionals. Look at how health information is becoming accessible to a wider group of people. When people become informed they become empowered to make their own decisions.
You might be aged 40+ and working with people aged 20+ at present. Those that will succeed you over the next 20 years are those from the ranks of Gen X and Gen Y. These people have been bought up in an online environment. As will many of those that will seek their help. They are not afraid of a changing environment, they will adapt and learn and continue to adapt. Their success will not be measured in terms of stability rather in terms of achievement.
So are you still thinking in the past or has your thinking shifted to the future? Do you plan to stay in the present and take whatever happens to you or do you plan to adapt, learn and continue to adapt? If you do not, others will, and you will be left behind sitting at your desk looking at a very antiquated desktop and wondering why there is noone there to talk to!
Let The Journey Continue
John Coxon
Taking You From Frontline Manager to CEO
Email john@johncoxon.com.au
Skype: john_coxon
Blog: http://healthsector.blogspot.com
Blog: http://nfp-management.blogspot.com
http://www.linkedin.com/in/johncoxon
Follow john_coxon on Twitter
Join John Coxon on Facebook
Noone likes change. Seth Godin once wrote, 'successful companies dont like change, people in successful jobs especially dont like change'.
David Kirk, ex-CEO, Fairfax Group, this week paid the price for an inability to adapt to a changing environment.
Interestingly, David Kirk, quoted one specific environmental factor contributing to the changing environment that Fairfax operates in. That factor is called the internet.
Now lets return momentarily to Seth Godin. He pointed out that the internet is not going to change the world (surprise, surprise). The internet enables the world to be connected in a way that could never have occured in the past. It is this connectivity that allows information to be accessed by everyone, allows information, both good and bad, to spread quickly throughout the world and enables decisions to be made quicker. The internet is the enabler.
David Kirk, along with the Board of Fairfax, did what every other company tries to do when under pressure. They looked to cut costs to maintain profitability. This is what is demanded of shareholders. The issue here, as I see it, is that changing environments demand different strategies, creative strategies, maybe even something different, rather than more of the same traditional strategies. Try telling that to shareholders (or stakeholders).
Will Fairfax survive? I don't know. It doesnt really matter, there will be someplace else for shareholders to move their investments into. The bigger question for you as a manager in the not for profit sector is to ask how the shifting environment might impact upon your organisation?
Do you believe your organisation could be replaced by a faster, more nimble, less expensive to operate alternative? If you are tempted to answer no to this question then I truely hope you are within a couple of years of retirement. At least then you will not have to pay the price for your short sightedness.
Informaton is no longer the sole domain of professionals. Look at how health information is becoming accessible to a wider group of people. When people become informed they become empowered to make their own decisions.
You might be aged 40+ and working with people aged 20+ at present. Those that will succeed you over the next 20 years are those from the ranks of Gen X and Gen Y. These people have been bought up in an online environment. As will many of those that will seek their help. They are not afraid of a changing environment, they will adapt and learn and continue to adapt. Their success will not be measured in terms of stability rather in terms of achievement.
So are you still thinking in the past or has your thinking shifted to the future? Do you plan to stay in the present and take whatever happens to you or do you plan to adapt, learn and continue to adapt? If you do not, others will, and you will be left behind sitting at your desk looking at a very antiquated desktop and wondering why there is noone there to talk to!
Let The Journey Continue
John Coxon
Taking You From Frontline Manager to CEO
Email john@johncoxon.com.au
Skype: john_coxon
Blog: http://healthsector.blogspot.com
Blog: http://nfp-management.blogspot.com
http://www.linkedin.com/in/johncoxon
Follow john_coxon on Twitter
Join John Coxon on Facebook
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