It may come as a surprise to some of you that English is not my first language. While it is true that it has been my primary language for over two-thirds of my life, I can honestly say that it was a five-year uphill battle to master.
It may come as a surprise to some of you that English is not my first language. While it is true that it has been my primary language for over two-thirds of my life, I can honestly say that it was a five-year uphill battle to master.
We have all been there, a project we researched, planned, and executed perfectly fails, a trusted colleague drops the ball, or worse we discover unethical practices in our organization. During my tenure in the nonprofit world, I became an expert at turning failing nonprofits around. Understanding how to stop noncompliance, and fix programming and operations is my specialty. And along this journey, I have learned a lot.
Advocate, probably a word many of us hardly ever hear or think about, is one that can be used as a noun or a verb. The noun is used to define a person that publicly supports or recommends a particular cause, and the verb form is the action taken to publicly support or recommend a cause.
We sometimes confuse education with schooling and that is not what it is all about. There are other means of education that will help the community be more productive and self-sufficient. Perhaps the meaning of the word education has been narrowed in our modern culture to only encompass that which is imparted in a school setting, a setting that is not what some members of our community like or think productive or cannot thrive in.
So often I hear from business owners, entrepreneurs, and non-profit executives how uninspired and burned out they are. Running an organization is more challenging than being a parent. While there are 500 different books on every subject available, who has the time to read and knowing which book is right for you can be overwhelming.
If you ask: “How could it possibly help my company that we are spending money or time or talent in our community?”, I can assure you that you are not alone. Many people think in a small box fashion, not remembering or realizing that small box thinking is contrary to our true human nature and needs, giving in to the fear of not being in control and determining our own destiny, which as we all know, even if only deep down, is impossible.
