That $5 donor can become one of your biggest donors.
That new follower can become your future business partner.
The shy intern may run the organization one day.
I’ve been amazed in my career at what the small moments can turn into with some cultivation and patience.
Today’s post is simple – please help the victims and communities affected by the devastating flooding in Texas over the Fourth of July weekend. As of this post, the death toll is now over 80 people, and 10 young campers remain missing.
You can donate here.
Every dollar helps.
Imagine you’re in a race with competitors flanking you on both sides.
After the starting pistol goes off, there’s a strong temptation to keep an eye on them. You want to see how fast they’re going, whether they’re gaining ground on you. But the more you look, the more you lose your own rhythm and risk stumbling behind.
I’ve seen the same thing happen to organizations and individuals alike. They have competitors – or peers – that they can’t stop keeping an eye on. Maybe it’s FOMO, or just traditional fear, but with every bit of ground a competitor seems to gain, there’s a risk of losing focus on your own lane.
Competitors exist, of course. Awareness is smart, but constant reaction is not.
You need to know your space and who’s in it, but you also need to establish your lane and own it. Someone else’s path is not the path for you. Comparison often disguises itself as clarity, but it usually leads to distraction, loss of direction, and even resentment
Run your own race in your own lane.
One of the reasons I struggled in Spanish class was that I often confused the past tense with the imperfect tense. They looked similar, sounded similar, and both referred to the past… but they weren’t interchangeable.
Strategy and tactics are like that. Easy to confuse, but they play very different roles. It’s a common mistake, and I experience it often.
Think of strategy as the destination and tactics as the directions.
A good strategic goal should be simple and brief:
Increase brand saliency with Gen Z
Diversify donor base across three new geographic regions
Create a strong culture with above-average retention rates
The tactics are in the weeds: partner with Gen Z influencers, host fundraising events in X, Y, and Z cities, launch monthly employee surveys.
A quick gut check to help differentiate the two:
Strategy sets the direction, and tactics are the steps. If you and your team aren’t clear on the difference, you’ll end up debating details when you should be defining goals.
If you dive into books or articles on building great organizations, you’ll find no shortage of frameworks, models, or operating systems. I’ve studied and used pieces of nearly all of them for about a decade now. But none quite fit the kind of organizations I’ve worked in: organizations created to solve big problems and create lasting impact.
After a decade of leading organizations, I’ve come to learn that every healthy and effective organization is built upon four foundations – Impact, Talent, Operations, and Ownership. And when these foundations are built well, they allow every corner of the organization to fire on all cylinders.
For the first five years, our organization operated without written values.
At first, it didn’t seem to matter. We were small, close-knit, and aligned by instinct. But as we grew, the cracks began to show. Departments started working in silos, communication broke down, turnover climbed, and morale slipped.
Our culture wasn’t toxic; it was just undefined. In many ways, it was accidental instead of intentional.
That tension finally pushed us to sit down as a team and define who we wanted to be, and how we wanted to work together.
Neither is your organization. I know that’s really hard to hear or accept.
You’re not so unique that the basics of leadership, systems, and clarity don’t apply to you.
You’re not so unique that you just happen to attract bad hires. Maybe you have weak management.
You’re not so unique that setting clear goals, building a healthy culture, and creating clarity somehow aren’t “your thing.”
Saying you’re unique is convenient. It’s a way to avoid change, sidestep responsibility, and ignore the hard truths every other leader eventually has to face.
The good news is, you’re not alone. But you’re not exempt either.
