Eric Lanke

OCTOBER 31, 2016

Truly great organizations don't cluster leadership only in their inner circle; they distribute leadership throughout their entire system. This allows any piece of the organization, especially those pieces on the periphery, to make decisions, to take action, and to more immediately satisfy the needs of the organization's stakeholders.

Leadership 100

Leadership System Organization 100

Eric Lanke

MAY 7, 2012

Shes a volunteer leader in an organization she cares about, and she was struggling with sub-standard performance in one of its programs. She had to rely on organizations staff to fix the problem, and they did not necessarily see it as the problem my friend did. Except she was not in a position where she could fix the problem herself.

Leadership 100

Leadership System Innovation Proposal 100

Eric Lanke

JULY 15, 2019

The goal is to get everyone in the organization to code expenses the same way. A crazy set of expense codes, after all, is more valuable to the organization than a logical set, assuming that everyone understands and agrees to code their expenses in alignment with the crazy set, and refuses to do so with the logical one.

Project 113

Project System Organization Strategy 113

Eric Lanke

AUGUST 7, 2017

I heard a great way for organizations to give their core values "teeth" at a recent conference I attended. But what the organization I learned about at the conference has done takes their values a step further. It strikes me as an bold stand, putting real teeth into the core values adopted by the organization.

Process 100

Process Conference System Tools 100

Eric Lanke

AUGUST 29, 2016

I've previously described associations as organizations whose goals are consistently larger than their resources, and one of the strategies many associations employ to help close that gap is to enter into synergistic partnerships with other organizations. Associations are often tarred with the "risk averse" brush.

Resources 100

Resources Tips System Organization 100

Eric Lanke

SEPTEMBER 26, 2016

How many people in your organization--staff and volunteers alike--really see the basket? If your organization is like mine, the answer will be far fewer than the number of staff and volunteers who see only one or more of the eggs. A lot of people in your organization spend all their time in one area of strategic engagement.

Resources 100

Resources Organization Leadership 100

Eric Lanke

SEPTEMBER 11, 2017

(a) Our Board discussions are primarily focused outward – not on the organization, but on the profession or industry it represents. (b) b) Our Board discussions are primarily focused inward – on the organization, not on the profession or industry it represents. (c) For my own association, the answer is (c).

Industry 100

Industry Analysis America Technology 100

Eric Lanke

MAY 28, 2018

There, the focus was primarily on Generation X, and our investigative question was primarily on whether and how members of that generation would step into positions of leadership in our society and its organizations as the swelled ranks of Boomers began leaving the workplace. In fact, they are among the hardest working people on my team.

millennials 100

millennials Leadership Course Team 100

Eric Lanke

JANUARY 8, 2018

While it is true that it is the whirlwind that can keep your organization from achieving things of long-lasting consequence, it is wrong to think that the solution is to reduce or somehow tame the whirlwind. Reducing your organization's attention on those things can put you in even greater jeopardy.

System 100

System Strategy Team Report 100

Eric Lanke

APRIL 24, 2017

In our process, this is a major pivot point for the organization, when we bring one operational plan to a close, and revise or refresh the strategy agenda around which the next operational plan will be built. Choosing where to set stretch goals and where to set maintenance goals can communicate a set of priorities throughout the organization.

Proposal 100

Proposal Strategy Communications Process 100

Eric Lanke

SEPTEMBER 25, 2017

a) Most of our Board’s decisions are about our ends – the outcomes that our organization will achieve. (b) b) Most of our Board’s decisions are about our means – the tactics that our organization will pursue to achieve our ends. (c) First, the Board owns "the what": what will the organization achieve?

Examples 100

Examples Leadership Course Recruiting 100

Eric Lanke

MARCH 19, 2018

If you don't know what that is, it's a book that describes a simple yet compelling system for getting an organization to focus on and achieve the wildly important. I've written about the book and my own organization's experiments with it many times on this blog. Chris was well-received by my members. I believe there is. I wondered.

System 100

System Revenue Conference Organization 100

Eric Lanke

MAY 20, 2019

There are some in the organization who track and trumpet this. The vast majority are coming from organic search -- meaning that they are typing "what is fluid power" into Google or Bing or some other search engine and finding our page in the results that come back to them. That's right. It's our "What Is Fluid Power?"

Newsletter 145

Newsletter Content Technology Industry 145

Eric Lanke

FEBRUARY 20, 2017

I think I've written before about the importance of a leader communicating a vision--about laying out a clear sense of where the organization is going and the key competencies and milestones that it will take to get there. To clarify what it is the organization is trying to achieve and what the essential steps to getting there are?

Communications 100

Communications Leadership Organization 100

Eric Lanke

SEPTEMBER 19, 2016

I had a talk with a staff person about our organization's core values. We need a whole interview session dedicated to our values, how they came to be, why they're important, and what the candidate will do to help the organization live them. It's actually something that should happen a lot more frequently than it does.

Process 100

Process Team Organization 100

Eric Lanke

APRIL 22, 2019

We update it every two years, and we share its results broadly, hoping that companies, universities, and other research organizations will use it to guide their decisions on research projects of importance to our industry. We, the association that sponsors and organizes this roadmapping activity, has no such resources to invest.

Project 113

Project Technology Industry Resources 113

Eric Lanke

MAY 27, 2019

Doing so risks creating a false level of success for the organization and, most damaging, a false understanding of the organization's execution capability.

Innovation 113

Innovation Review Resources Process 113

Eric Lanke

JANUARY 16, 2017

We want people in our organization who walk and talk our values, and the 3-month review is an opportunity reinforce that commitment, provide helpful encouragement and feedback, and, if necessary, make a different decision. But here's the thought that occurred to me. Time not as in weeks and months, but more likely time as in years.

Review 100

Review Process Organization 100

Eric Lanke

JUNE 22, 2019

The book was given to be by the Board chair of the association I work for and, although clearly written for a manufacturing environment, there are some transferable ideas that could benefit those non-profit organizations. He calls it that because the basic framework is a matrix with a big X in the middle. Still with me?

Examples 113

Examples Discount Process Analysis 113

Eric Lanke

JUNE 3, 2019

In making her decision, the boss may very well ask around her organization. "Is Names and emails no one in my staff organization is familiar with. Is anyone getting any benefit from this expensive dues payment we make every year?" If the answer is yes, the boss is much more likely to keep writing those checks.

Course 113

Course Examples Resources Marketing 113

Eric Lanke

APRIL 2, 2018

In true 4DX fashion, we're trying to engage the whole organization in a concentrated effort on identifying membership leads and recruiting them in as members. Either way, a missed sale should always be viewed as a teaching moment for the organization.

Recruiting 113

Recruiting Recruitment Examples Conference 113

Eric Lanke

JULY 17, 2017

Some of that complexity is inherent to our organization, and to many associations. Our Board embraced this mindset a few years ago, and now has a culture sharply focused on determining the intended outcomes of our organization. I'm embracing the same mindset and trying to build the same culture within our staff organization.

Committee 100

Committee Leadership Course Report 100

Eric Lanke

FEBRUARY 5, 2018

After many years of outdated practice, I've decided to bite the bullet and redo my association's account codes and reporting system so that they are better aligned with the current strategy and programmatic focus of the organization. Now, don't get me wrong. Each time, it will seem like a logical decision.

System 100

System Conference Report Strategy 100

Eric Lanke

SEPTEMBER 4, 2017

b) Our Board candidates are selected based on the stakeholder groups within our organization that they represent. (c) How might their organizations begin the process for selecting Board candidates based on those competencies? d) Our Board candidates select themselves. For my own association, the answer is (c).

Committee 100

Committee Process Review Leadership 100

Eric Lanke

FEBRUARY 9, 2015

Last week I starting sharing the advice I gave to my association''s newest employee, who had recently passed her three-month anniversary with our organization. A new employee is starting one kind of journey when they start working for a new organization. Last week, I talked about our core value of Leadership.

Leadership 100

Leadership Organization Association Management 100

Eric Lanke

SEPTEMBER 10, 2018

If there is one common interest or goal of organizations it is getting more people or more money. Amazingly, organizations often fail to explore the short- and long-term consequences (positive and negative) of having more. He doesn't support many of the things our organization does. But to what end? And at what potential cost?

Recruiting 113

Recruiting Recruitment Strategy Washington 113

Eric Lanke

JUNE 10, 2019

She's talking about a common problem -- something facing organizations of all types in all industries -- and she's presenting a case study of her own business. You recognize X as the common problem that it is, but you also realize that Y won't work in your organization or perhaps in your industry. When faced with X, my company does Y.

Content 113

Content Case Study Industry Innovation 113

Eric Lanke

NOVEMBER 12, 2018

I think I've written before about how interviews are one of those places where the values of an organization need to come into play, and my experience this week was a great illustration of why. I'm trying to figure out if your a good cultural fit for our organization." First a little background.

Process 113

Process Team Conference Organization 113

Eric Lanke

JUNE 15, 2015

As I like to say, a mission is a statement of an organization's essential purpose, the thing it has been created to do, the thing that wouldn't otherwise get done if the organization wasn't there to do it. But as simple as that definition is, accurate mission statements often elude otherwise well-intentioned organizations.

Strategy 100

Strategy Industry Examples Innovation 100

Eric Lanke

APRIL 14, 2014

In addition to the session they conducted for everyone, Notter and Grant also facilitated a private discussion with the association CEOs in attendance, which focused on the unique role that the staff executive has in changing and shaping the culture of any organization. In other words, I am the CEO and I had nine direct reports.

Leadership 100

Leadership Report Team Innovation 100

Eric Lanke

OCTOBER 17, 2016

First, present and lay out the status of the organization. Third, present and lay out the strategic challenges facing the organization. Focus instead on explaining them fully and describing the perceived impacts of the choices facing the organization. To which, all I can say is yes, yes, and YES! How are we doing on that plan?

Leadership 100

Leadership Video Resources Process 100

Eric Lanke

JANUARY 25, 2016

Some of what I've read seems aimed at large organizations, much of it arguing for the advantages of generalists over specialists. These expectations are often difficult for small organizations to meet, setting up a dynamic where neither the specialist nor the employer are completely satisfied with the arrangement.

Member Engagement 100

Member Engagement Organization Leadership 100

Eric Lanke

FEBRUARY 2, 2015

One of my association''s newest employees recently passed her 3-month anniversary with our organization. As in many other organizations, we traditionally use this milestone as an opportunity to assess performance and give feedback. Given such a frame, what does one say to a new employee about your organization''s values?

Leadership 100

Leadership Industry Communications Conference 100

Eric Lanke

AUGUST 1, 2016

There will be fewer bonus goals next year, and they will more obviously be connected to the overall success of the organization. Because the targets are not meant to be indicative of our ability to achieve them, but indicative of the level of success that is necessary to grow and improve the organization. This one seems obvious.

Proposal 100

Proposal Products System Team 100

Eric Lanke

SEPTEMBER 22, 2014

image source This post is part of a series in which I''m analyzing the efforts of my organization to define and embrace core values through the six rules for doing so defined by Francois Nader, CEO of NPS Pharmaceuticals. For the series introduction, go here. For my comments on the first rule, go here.

Course 100

Course Tools Examples Process 100

Eric Lanke

SEPTEMBER 1, 2014

image source This post is part of a series in which I''m analyzing the efforts of my organization to define and embrace core values through the six rules for doing so defined by Francois Nader, CEO of NPS Pharmaceuticals. And they must clearly communicate that throughout the organization in both words and actions.

Leadership 100

Leadership Team Communications Examples 100

Eric Lanke

MAY 22, 2017

This is leading many organizations to try to think about diversity more broadly than protected class. In either worldview, as Joe Gerstandt points out: "We can be different from each other in many ways, but the key words here are 'from each other.'" One final word.

Class 100

Class Wisconsin millennials Leadership 100