Appomattox Regional Library System

If you’ve not read any of Patrick Lencioni’s work, you must think about doing so now. Notables from organizations such as Major League Baseball, The Wall Street Journal, Southwest Airlines, Mail Boxes Etc., and New York Life Insurance all sing Lencioni’s praise. Richmond’s own Melissa Hough, Executive Director, Partnership for Nonprofit Excellence, used Lencioni’s The Five Dysfunctions of a Team for a teambuilding recently when the four partner programs all moved into their new Boulders offices. She says, “Norman Burns, ED at Maymont, shared with me how he has used Lencioni in developing his staff into a high achieving team over time. I looked into it myself and found I really liked his approach. It’s straight forward and practical.”

The books are written in fable format but beautifully drive home their messages. Five Dysfunctions of a Team also offers a Graphic Novel format! Here is a list of several Lencioni titles. Check them out. (Two copies of Five Dysfunctions of a Team will be available at PNE’s offices by September 1.)

Death by Meeting

The Five Dysfunctions of a Team

The Five Dysfunctions of a Team (Manga Edition)

The Five Temptations of a CEO

Getting Naked

Getting Naked (Book on CD)

Luchas por el poder dentro de las empresas

Obsessions of an Extraordinary Executive (On Order, place your copy on hold today!)

Silos, Politics, and Turf Wars

The Three Signs of a Miserable Job

Anyone sincerely interested in measurement should read Measure What Matters: Online Tools for Understanding Customers, Social Media, Engagement, and Key Relationships by Katie Delahaye Paine. I won’t promise you that it’s a fascinating read, but it is an important one. You’ll learn how to identify metrics that matter to your organization, how to get started, the seven steps to the perfect measurement program, how to choose the right tools for measurement, all in part one. Part Two takes you deeper into measuring marketing, PR, and advertising, as well as using numbers to build relationships with customers, measuring the impact of events and sponsorships, and how to measure what influencers, your local community members, and your employees think. The book is written by someone who has consulted with large corporations on measurement (Cisco and Raytheon to name two), but most of the principles and methodology can apply to your nonprofit work. Plus, an entire chapter is devoted to nonprofit measurement. In a world where so many of us are working so hard to impact our communities, we often don’t see change fast enough (or at all). If you find yourself in this category, perhaps you need to re-think your outputs. You need to begin to measure what matters. Check it out.

The End of Fund Raising: Raise More Money by Selling Your Impact by Jason Saul

The End of Fund Raising echoes much of the 2008 report, “Virginia’s Nonprofit Sector: An Economic Force” (click here to read report). Strong nonprofit organizations have always had social impact, now they can show they have economic impact as well. And this economic impact gives nonprofits great leverage when they seek funding. The book says, “For the first time, nonprofits have economic power. We live in a new era where consumers, businesses, investors, employees, and service providers attach real economic value to social outcomes.” The book is divided into three easy-to-read parts: Capturing Your Impact, Marketing Your Impact, and Selling Your Impact. You may be well versed in Parts I and II, but a refresher is always good. I think you are bound to find a lot of new gold to mine in Part III. Check it out.

As proven as author Joel Kurtzman’s (senior fellow at the Milken Institute) leadership track record isn’t proof enough, he interviews over 50 leaders and includes research he did while working for The New York Times, The Harvard Business Review, PriceWaterhouseCoopers, and more to provide insight that can help you become a better leader in your organization. Most of us in the nonprofit sector will relate to, and applaud, his advocacy of flat organization structure. Good leaders beget healthy organizations, and we all want to lead and be part of healthy organizations. Check it out.

Have you registered yet for tomorrow’s Learning & Leadership workshop, “Cultivating a Healthy Organization”? Click here for more info and to register now.

Hildy Gottlieb’s The Pollyanna Principles is part textbook, part inspirational call to action. By page 35, the author is delving into a list of six principles necessary to “create the path to the future we want,” including:

• Holding ourselves accountable
• Creating the future
• Interconnected and interdependent
• Being the change we want to see
• Strength builds upon strength
• Systems

The author spends several pages describing each principle before moving into how to apply them to individual organizations, program development and sustainability, and finally, putting them in action for whole communities. Don’t miss Part 5 where community-wide infrastructure is addressed, most notably on the topic of measurement and evaluation. Do you want to be part of creating the path to the future you want? The Pollyanna Principles can help. Check it out.

We’ve been busy book buying so you can access the most comprehensive and up-to-date resources available anywhere nearby. Take a minute to read through the 14 titles listed below. But know this is just a taste of what’s to come. Stay tuned for an announcement about another fun-filled and informative Southside Community Partners event, this time focused on a new and improved Nonprofit Resource Center!

Meanwhile, check these out:

Board Development

Doing Good Even Better: How to be an Effective Board Member of a Nonprofit Organization

Leadership

Leading from the Middle

Next Generation Leader: Five Essentials for Those Who Will Shape the Future

Tell to Win: Connect, Persuade, and Triumph with the Hidden Power of Story

Too Many Bosses, Too Few Leaders

Management

Nonprofit Management 101

Marketing

Content Rules: How to Create Killer Blogs, Podcasts, Videos, Ebooks, Webinars (and more)

The Idea Hunter: How to Find the Best Ideas and Make Them Happen

Marketing Plans: How to Prepare Them, How to Use Them

Influencing Culture

Brains on Fire: Igniting Powerful, Sustainable, Word of Mouth Movements

Brand Aid: Shopping Well to Save the World

Enchantment: The Art of Changing Hearts, Minds, and Actions

The Flat World and Education: How America’s Commitment to Equity Will Determine Our Future

The Way We Think

Everything is Obvious* *Once You Know the Answer

Summer Shift by Lynn Kiele Bonasia

Ms. Bonasia holds a BA from the University of Massachusetts and an MA from Florida International University.

Booklist reviewed Bonasia’s Summer Shift, saying “she has a gift for vivid and inventive descriptions and a clear affection for and understanding of her characters, who come across as flesh-and-blood individuals as opposed to typical small-town eccentrics.” The magazine reviewer also points out that the author does, however, try to juggle a few too many subplots. Both statements ring true to me.

You’ll cheer the main character, Mary, on as she deals with past guilt, a new (but old) boyfriend, an aunt with Alzheimer’s, and a wait-staff at the local and popular restaurant she runs in Cape Cod. The writing is charming and friendly, just like many of the characters. The book is light enough, and certainly appropriately set, for a summer read, but will give you plenty to think about as well. Check it out.