Book Beat

 
BOOK BEAT

In her foreword to The Circle Way: A Leader in Every Chair by Christina Baldwin and Ann Linnea (©2010, Berrett-Koehler Publishers), Margaret J. Wheatley notes that the circle is the way humans have always sat together and gotten to know one another. "Circle welcomes us back into a shape where we can listen, be heard, and be respected, where we can think and create together," she adds. All modern group processes open to collaboration or to flattening the hierarchy are based on circle practices, contend the authors, who outline the basics of circle conversation, with detailed instructions and suggestions for getting started, setting goals, and solving conflicts. Wheatley concludes, "as in architecture, form should follow function. Once we define what we want to accomplish in a meeting, it becomes important to determine the shape in which we'll meet. No one form is good for every circumstance….If you need to convey information but not conversation, set the room for a lecture or teaching. If you want to include diverse colleagues and think well together, use the circle."

Nonprofit Finance for Hard Times (©2010, John Wiley & Sons), by Susan U. Raymond, PhD, features: strategic steps a nonprofit needs to prepare for and respond to economic crisis; public charities on the economic landscape; defining overall nonprofit revenue; accommodating change in the interests of stability; innovations in philanthropic financial support strategies; the complexity of economic cycles and nonprofit revenues; a systems approach to revenue strategy; and common principles for robust strategy. Six general steps for moving from crisis to cure, according to the author, are:

1. Move quickly. Too often institutions hope for the best; hope is not a strategy. Organizations need to create a system of incremental steps to react and adjust and move quickly when necessary.
2. Engagement first, last, and always. Draw your supporters (of all types and financial sizes) toward you at all times. Most of those who stop supporting a nonprofit do so because they no longer feel involved with the organization. Engagement of those who know of and support you is the best therapy to crisis.
3. Engage and expand the board. Many nonprofit executives see their boards as necessary, but not necessarily helpful in decision-making. Early discussion of emerging problems and full development of alternative scenarios can embolden nonprofit boards to reach out to their own networks to assist with solutions. Board understanding, involvement, and commitment are critical to cure.
4. Communicate. When resources are under stress, there is a tendency sacrifice things that reach out for things that reach inward to ensure staff stability, program provision, and central operations. While understandable, communication outward should be the absolute last and final item to be cut, not the first. The nonprofit must communicate broadly and effectively with its multiple publics. The emphasis must not be just a plea in crisis, but must demonstrate accomplishments and impacts. Communication must position solutions and value, not crisis and need.
5. Look for near-term collaboration. In the midst of crisis, the search for collaboration must be immediate, with a primary emphasis on efficiency. Shared administrative services, shared information technology capacities, even shared technical capacities in such areas as evaluation and measurement need to be put in place quickly so that resources are leveraged.
6. Position for the climb out. No crisis lasts forever. With recovery comes reengaged philanthropy. Even as a nonprofit copies with crisis, it must lay the groundwork for recovery and growth. This means putting in place at an early point an assessment and the organizational effects of the crisis, and a concrete development plan to ensure the nonprofit is positions, poised and ready to restore growth as soon as the crisis passes.

In a short half century, women have taken their places as creative forces for shifting the constructs of families and communities and are shaping the world they want. Nearly 150 public and private women's foundations in the US and globally have been created, and women are heads of more than 60 percent of family foundations. Written both for boom-generation women who want to create a formalized and strategic giving plan, as well as for fundraisers and development officers who need to better understand the giving culture of women, Women, Wealth & Giving (©2010, John Wiley & Sons), by Margaret May Damen and Niki Nicastro McCuistion, shares the stories of women who have found fulfillment through giving. The book gives an overview of who these women are and what motivates them to give, as well as provides a plan for women who want to contribute, including a plan overview, choosing a partner to work with, evaluation tools, common gifting techniques, and how to volunteer time and talent as well as money.

Leading the Virtual Workforce (©2010, John Wiley & Sons), by Karen Sobel Lojeski, requires three core competencies: creating context; cultivating community; and co-activating new leaders. The ability to create a common context for employees, contractors, part-timers, interns and others in a virtual workforce is critical to success. Effective leaders do this by understanding how to use technology to communicate effectively and by serving as a human anchor, or constant, to help everyone stay connected. Effective leaders need to cultivate a sense of community that activates a virtual team spirit, even among the most dispersed of workers. The third competency requires that leaders lead in an indirect way, using intent to influence and motivate others. This may come from encouraging employees in a community or from writing an engaging article on a blog that inspires others in a new way. What successful leaders in this model do is usually outside the usual lines of authority. They rely on their expertise, personal qualities, and a keen understanding that informal networks are the main routes into developing leaders of the future. Leaders of a virtual workforce also need to been keenly competent in mastering the different technologies in a way that matches the needs and significance of the communication or task at hand.

Celebrity Marketing (©2010, Mega Niche Media), by Jordan McAuley ooffers tips on tapping celebrity to get endorsements, product placement, and buzz to promote one's product or service. The book discusses how to get your products and services into the hands of celebrities, be featured in the media; use the Internet to market your organization. Each chapter includes interviews with top marketing and publicity experts, as well as case studies.