Latest / The Strength Catalyst / Choosing How You Want to Lead

Transcript

Choosing How You Want to Lead · The Strength Catalyst

• 0:06
  SPEAKER_01: What happens when the strengths that have made you successful aren't necessarily the only strengths you'll need for what's next?
• 0:16
  SPEAKER_01: I'm Colleen Baselli, and this is the Strength Catalyst, where we explore real leadership challenges through the lens of strengths.
• 0:39
  SPEAKER_01: She's the director of development at the Ellie Fund, which is a Massachusetts nonprofit providing financial and emotional support to people undergoing breast cancer treatment.
• 0:50
  SPEAKER_01: Kate's an experienced fundraiser and a highly relational leader.
• 0:56
  SPEAKER_01: But as the Ellie Fund grows, her role is changing too.
• 1:00
  SPEAKER_01: And that raises an interesting leadership question.
• 1:04
  SPEAKER_01: How can she become more intentional about which of her strengths to keep leaning on, which ones she may need to use differently, and which parts of herself she hasn't been using enough?
• 1:16
  SPEAKER_01: Our conversation takes us from fundraising and developing a young team to delegation, creativity, and even the potential downside of Kate's number one strength, optimism.
• 1:29
  SPEAKER_01: But the question Kate ultimately asked herself may be the most important one, not simply how do I lead, but how do I want to lead?
• 1:42
  SPEAKER_01: Let's get started.
• 1:57
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, tell me.
• 1:58
  SPEAKER_00: I think we met in 19, I'm gonna go with like 1998, 1999, somewhere in there.
• 2:04
  SPEAKER_01: I'm so glad that I was thinking what we reconnected.
• 2:07
  SPEAKER_01: So last year, last December, right?
• 2:09
  SPEAKER_01: You were at the Ellie Fund booth at the Mass Conference for Women.
• 2:12
  SPEAKER_01: I was at the Introspective Cards booth, and somehow we bumped into each other.
• 2:17
  SPEAKER_01: And then when I heard more about the work you're doing, I thought, hmm, you'd be such an interesting person to have this conversation with.
• 2:24
  SPEAKER_00: Thank you for that.
• 2:25
  SPEAKER_00: But I will say that is when we reconnected.
• 2:28
  SPEAKER_00: And I purchased three of your sets of your introspective cards.
• 2:32
  SPEAKER_00: I have been using it for a year.
• 2:34
  SPEAKER_00: I gave one to my sister and one to a dear friend.
• 2:37
  SPEAKER_00: And we're still learning, but we find ourselves talking about it and talking about one of our strengths.
• 2:43
  SPEAKER_00: So you've inspired us.
• 2:45
  SPEAKER_01: Yay! All right.
• 2:46
  SPEAKER_01: Oh, I'm so glad to hear that.
• 2:47
  SPEAKER_01: All right.
• 2:48
  SPEAKER_01: Well, we're gonna see how I can inspire you or the strengths will inspire you even more through our conversation today.
• 2:53
  SPEAKER_01: But we really need to start with you telling uh the listeners about the LA fund and the work you're doing there.
• 3:00
  SPEAKER_00: So it's always great to spend time with you, but to be able to spend time reflecting on myself as a leader as well as reflecting on the LA Fund is just a gift.
• 3:10
  SPEAKER_00: So thanks for that.
• 3:10
  SPEAKER_00: LA Fund is this amazing organization based out of Needham, Massachusetts, that covers the state of Massachusetts.
• 3:17
  SPEAKER_00: And we support people with breast cancer.
• 3:20
  SPEAKER_00: And I think the thing that's most important about LA Fund is that we made a promise 30 years ago.
• 3:25
  SPEAKER_00: And the promise we made is that no one in Massachusetts facing breast cancer would do that alone.
• 3:31
  SPEAKER_00: And up until now, we have not broken that promise.
• 3:34
  SPEAKER_00: We have been able to help anybody that has come to our door and needs financial support.
• 3:40
  SPEAKER_00: We provide grants for things like groceries, transportation, parking, child care.
• 3:45
  SPEAKER_00: Things that are essential to a person's healing and essential to hope for healing, but are not necessarily covered by insurance.
• 3:54
  SPEAKER_00: So we step in to help the men and women facing breast cancer and that need the support.
• 4:00
  SPEAKER_00: We are need blind.
• 4:02
  SPEAKER_00: So anyone receiving care in Massachusetts is welcome to call us and welcome to apply for our grants, which can start very quickly.
• 4:12
  SPEAKER_00: And we are told from our patients time and time again that the financial resources are, of course, really important and necessary and sometimes to get access to care.
• 4:24
  SPEAKER_00: But what really helps our patients is the emotional support that it also provides.
• 4:28
  SPEAKER_00: So having an organization that's able to say, no questions asked other than you're receiving treatment for breast cancer in Massachusetts, we're gonna help you.
• 4:37
  SPEAKER_00: We're gonna help provide some support to help you heal.
• 4:41
  SPEAKER_00: Focus on that as opposed to focusing on some of the worries that accompany people with breast cancer.
• 4:47
  SPEAKER_00: Nobody saves for it.
• 4:48
  SPEAKER_00: It's very expensive.
• 4:49
  SPEAKER_00: And so we're able to help.
• 4:51
  SPEAKER_00: So it's just an amazing organization to work for.
• 5:04
  SPEAKER_01: And it was stage three breast cancer when I found it.
• 5:07
  SPEAKER_01: And I had three young children, and I was in my 30s, and it was a pretty precarious situation.
• 5:13
  SPEAKER_01: And what you just said there, you know, about the emotional support being really important.
• 5:18
  SPEAKER_01: That really got me through it because it was people like you who said things to me like, we're gonna get you through this, or who brought me meals, or who drove me to chemotherapy, um, that gave me a less of a feeling of being alone.
• 5:34
  SPEAKER_01: Because it's really a feeling of being alone when you have uh an ailment like cancer.
• 5:39
  SPEAKER_01: But when people are attaching themselves to you and offering something, which is sometimes hard to take, um, it really does give you a level of confidence and hope that you really need in order to stay positive.
• 5:51
  SPEAKER_00: I'm glad you brought that up.
• 5:52
  SPEAKER_00: I wasn't sure that you would, but looking back at that period, so many of us in our town really wanted to support and help you and help your family.
• 6:01
  SPEAKER_00: And we were so blessed to be in a situation and in a town where that occurred.
• 6:06
  SPEAKER_00: There are so many other people out there that don't have that kind of support.
• 6:10
  SPEAKER_00: 25% of our patients live alone.
• 6:12
  SPEAKER_00: They don't have a community surrounding them to give them the emotional support as well as the um the physical support.
• 6:20
  SPEAKER_00: When you said driving to chemo, you know, we we're able to step in and be sure that people that don't have what you and I have been blessed to have, that we can help them.
• 6:30
  SPEAKER_00: You know, I could see just looking at you right now, you can feel it.
• 6:34
  SPEAKER_00: You've been there, you know, you know what's needed.
• 6:37
  SPEAKER_00: And hopefully um, we're able to provide what you felt from us and from the town, the LE fund can provide to people that don't have that.
• 6:44
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, I got a huge, huge lump in my throat, tears in my eyes at the moment.
• 6:48
  SPEAKER_01: Oh goodness, brings back memories anyway.
• 6:51
  SPEAKER_01: Tell us about the the role that you play um at the LA Fund.
• 6:56
  SPEAKER_00: So I am the current director of development.
• 6:59
  SPEAKER_00: So that means I'm responsible for all fundraising that goes on at the LA Fund.
• 7:03
  SPEAKER_00: And we have a mixed portfolio.
• 7:04
  SPEAKER_00: So for those people that are in nonprofit management, we have different revenue sources that we look to to raise the funds to meet the needs of our patients.
• 7:13
  SPEAKER_00: Um, we have several events that we plan.
• 7:17
  SPEAKER_00: We have individual donations that come through.
• 7:19
  SPEAKER_00: We have a bit of funding from the state, which is just amazing, which is super, super helpful.
• 7:24
  SPEAKER_00: And then, of course, we look to corporations and foundations.
• 7:27
  SPEAKER_00: So we're a balanced portfolio.
• 7:29
  SPEAKER_00: It's a busy portfolio, though, because of that.
• 7:32
  SPEAKER_00: And my job is to oversee and be sure that each of those, if we call them appeals or revenue sources, that each of those meet the goals that we set.
• 7:40
  SPEAKER_00: Um, I have a team of about five people, because some are part-time, but it's in that range.
• 7:45
  SPEAKER_00: And each of them are dynamic and do wonderful, wonderful work.
• 7:51
  SPEAKER_00: And my job is to help keep them on task and to help support them so that they can reach the goals and then we can reach the overall goals of the organization.
• 7:59
  SPEAKER_01: And you mentioned um about how the organization has grown or is growing.
• 8:05
  SPEAKER_01: And I'm curious to know, you know, as that is happening, how does the organization's needs of you or how have they been changing?
• 8:15
  SPEAKER_00: That's that's a great question.
• 8:16
  SPEAKER_00: We are absolutely growing.
• 8:18
  SPEAKER_00: We're growing, not only did we grow by number of employees over the last few years.
• 8:22
  SPEAKER_00: We went from five or six to we're 17 right now.
• 8:25
  SPEAKER_00: Um, we're growing in terms of the revenue needed to meet the needs of the patients.
• 8:29
  SPEAKER_00: So this year we anticipate 30% more patients than we had last year.
• 8:34
  SPEAKER_00: We think by the end of December, we're going to be at about 2,300 patients this year.
• 8:39
  SPEAKER_00: That's out of 7,000 patients.
• 8:41
  SPEAKER_00: That's the number of patients that are diagnosed with breast cancer in Massachusetts per year.
• 8:46
  SPEAKER_00: So we're helping to serve about a third of them.
• 8:49
  SPEAKER_00: And in prior years, as I said, we were 30% lower last year, never mind the year before.
• 8:56
  SPEAKER_00: So the needs have increased, which have forced us in a good way to have to look at all of our jobs, all of our responsibilities to be sure that we're scaling to meet the needs of those patients.
• 9:09
  SPEAKER_00: So that's what drives us.
• 9:10
  SPEAKER_00: The patient need is what we wake up every day saying, How are we gonna, how are we gonna support that?
• 9:15
  SPEAKER_00: And the ways we support that are largely through fundraising.
• 9:19
  SPEAKER_00: So we've had to shift our thinking around fundraising to be sure that we're putting enough resources into it and to be sure that we're strategic in the ways that we're looking to ask others to support us, whether it's a corporation or an individual.
• 9:35
  SPEAKER_00: That's the shift that we've made in the past few.
• 9:38
  SPEAKER_00: I'd even say like year and a half that this change is on.
• 9:41
  SPEAKER_01: So thinking about your strengths, Kate, how do you need you use your strengths differently now versus when you had fewer employees and you weren't in such a growth mode?
• 9:53
  SPEAKER_00: That's another really good question and something that I have to reflect on a lot right now because of things changing.
• 10:00
  SPEAKER_00: When I look at the profile, I it's so clear that I'm like a cheerleader, that my natural strengths are optimism, relationships, believing you can do it, those kind of things.
• 10:12
  SPEAKER_00: In the role I'm in now, those are still important, but I have to be able to rely now on some of the strengths that aren't as realized.
• 10:20
  SPEAKER_00: Things like helping people to be able to do the work themselves, right?
• 10:25
  SPEAKER_00: I have to delegate more than I've had to in the past.
• 10:28
  SPEAKER_00: I have an excellent team.
• 10:30
  SPEAKER_00: I should not be afraid to delegate.
• 10:32
  SPEAKER_00: But something happens when you know you've been a certain style leader your whole life that you have to wake up and pause and say, wait a minute, I have this amazing team.
• 10:40
  SPEAKER_00: They can do this work.
• 10:41
  SPEAKER_00: I can support them differently.
• 10:43
  SPEAKER_00: When I do that, when I support them and really encourage them to full take full responsibility for, let's say, an event or a situation, they're pretty proud of themselves.
• 10:53
  SPEAKER_00: So it does work.
• 10:54
  SPEAKER_00: But I have to be intentional.
• 10:55
  SPEAKER_00: I have to think about it.
• 10:56
  SPEAKER_01: Let's try to be intentional in this conversation.
• 10:59
  SPEAKER_01: And I'm wondering as you're looking at your list of skills from the skills discovery in front of you, other than enabler, which you made just made a quick uh reference to, which of your realized and unrealized strengths might help you be on a consistent basis a stronger delegator, uh stronger in power of other people?
• 11:26
  SPEAKER_01: What are you genuinely good at?
• 11:28
  SPEAKER_01: But if you just started employing that strength for this purpose.
• 11:45
  SPEAKER_00: I mean, I got a second master's degree at 57.
• 11:48
  SPEAKER_00: I started this job a year and a half ago at an age I'm not going to disclose, but I have never been afraid of change.
• 11:56
  SPEAKER_00: I need to be able to take that and support my team as we all change in our roles as the organization grows.
• 12:04
  SPEAKER_00: I've been reflecting on it and trying to make the transition from personal Kate that doesn't have a fear of change to professional Kate that can support others as we go through this change at the organization as we grow.
• 12:17
  SPEAKER_01: Okay.
• 12:18
  SPEAKER_01: Give me one more.
• 12:19
  SPEAKER_01: If we can stab a few of these on top of each other, your likelihood of succeeding in your goal of being a better delegator and enabler is greater.
• 12:28
  SPEAKER_00: I think one that you and I talked about when we met a month ago or so is relying more on strategic awareness.
• 12:36
  SPEAKER_00: And I look at strategy a couple ways.
• 12:38
  SPEAKER_00: I think you have to have long-term strategy that you're thinking as an organization, what are the long-term goals that we have to reach?
• 12:45
  SPEAKER_00: But you can take strategy and you can even look at your calendar and be more strategic in the way you spend your day.
• 12:52
  SPEAKER_00: In looking at strength finders with you, I've realized, and we just spoke about this a bit ago, but I realized that you can look at your calendar and say, what where does my energy come from?
• 13:03
  SPEAKER_00: And within that calendar, when should I be doing those tasks?
• 13:06
  SPEAKER_00: So here's an example.
• 13:08
  SPEAKER_00: Writing is not something I can write, but it is not something that I get psyched over.
• 13:13
  SPEAKER_00: It doesn't give me energy.
• 13:15
  SPEAKER_00: When I look at my calendar strategically, I need to do my writing earlier in the day because it doesn't give me energy.
• 13:21
  SPEAKER_00: I love making phone calls.
• 13:22
  SPEAKER_00: I can do that at four o'clock.
• 13:24
  SPEAKER_00: But I've got to be using that strength of being a strategy builder more often as I grow in this role and lead a full team.
• 13:33
  SPEAKER_00: Okay, give me one more.
• 13:34
  SPEAKER_01: Pick one more strength that that has some, you know, looks kind of attractive to you as you look at the list that you think maybe might be helpful in your attempt to be a stronger enabler.
• 15:25
  SPEAKER_00: All right, there's so many.
• 15:26
  SPEAKER_00: But I today, when I'm looking at this, I think what's super important as I, again, as I grow in this role is being able to provide meaningful feedback.
• 15:37
  SPEAKER_00: That's hard, right?
• 15:39
  SPEAKER_00: You can provide feedback, but to make it meaningful, meaning it's going to affect change, that takes a bit more, right?
• 15:48
  SPEAKER_00: It takes thinking that through, building in the trust with your employee so that, or with your coworker, in this case, uh, direct report, there has to be a trust there so that you can give feedback, make it specific, and then help that to enable them to become the leader they want to be.
• 16:06
  SPEAKER_00: That's one that I think um I got to put some time into.
• 16:09
  SPEAKER_01: You know, just before we started recording here, we were talking a little bit um about some of your goals.
• 16:15
  SPEAKER_01: And one of the thoughts that we had is that maybe you set an intention uh and you pick a few strengths that you want to use in a given day.
• 16:24
  SPEAKER_01: So maybe the three that you just talked about there might be an example of setting an intention, saying next week, you know, these are the three strengths that I'm gonna mostly focus on.
• 16:32
  SPEAKER_01: And then, but what I've found in my coaching work is the more people can be reflective on what the tools are in the toolkit, you know, what are the strengths that I have that give me, that give me the greatest success, and how can I be more purposeful in when I use them?
• 16:49
  SPEAKER_01: And then you feel more confident, and then you're more likely to want to do and achieve the thing that we're talking about here.
• 16:55
  SPEAKER_00: Um, I love that.
• 16:56
  SPEAKER_00: And as we said before we started, I I had said to you that I use the deck, but I haven't been intentional.
• 17:02
  SPEAKER_00: I've been random.
• 17:03
  SPEAKER_00: I just pick one and I look at it and I say, oh, how could that work for for today?
• 17:07
  SPEAKER_00: What do I feel about that, that strength?
• 17:10
  SPEAKER_00: Moving forward, I love the idea that I put more focus on my strengths and on the ones that I want to realize and put them out.
• 17:18
  SPEAKER_00: Take three, put them out on my desk for a week and see how I can use them in different situations.
• 17:24
  SPEAKER_00: Because that's one thing I'm learning from you is that situations require different strengths.
• 17:29
  SPEAKER_00: And you have to be to be successful, we have to pull the one we need for that particular moment.
• 17:35
  SPEAKER_00: And some are easier than others, right?
• 17:37
  SPEAKER_00: To pull some of them I have to write.
• 17:38
  SPEAKER_00: Right, exactly.
• 17:39
  SPEAKER_00: Exactly.
• 17:40
  SPEAKER_01: Some are not very energizing.
• 17:41
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah.
• 17:42
  SPEAKER_01: Not very energizing.
• 17:43
  SPEAKER_01: You don't really like writing, for example, then all right, well, can someone else do this that really does get energized by it?
• 17:49
  SPEAKER_01: Or that's a good idea.
• 17:50
  SPEAKER_01: Well, and that's a gift to the other person if they get to use their strength that they really love.
• 17:54
  SPEAKER_01: And sometimes it's hard for us to even imagine why someone would want to do something with a strength that we don't particularly enjoy, but they do.
• 18:01
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah.
• 18:01
  SPEAKER_00: But you know what you're making me think about, um, and I know you've done this with other organizations, but I would imagine the most well-rounded teams have people with different strengths.
• 18:13
  SPEAKER_00: And then my job would be to rely on those strengths, what you just said.
• 18:16
  SPEAKER_00: So um, this is making me think differently and think about each of my team members.
• 18:22
  SPEAKER_00: What do they bring to the table and rely on that, right?
• 18:25
  SPEAKER_00: Capitalize on it.
• 18:26
  SPEAKER_01: And that's where they grow the fastest, that's where they're most engaged.
• 18:30
  SPEAKER_01: The research actually says that when we use our strengths at work, we're six times more engaged.
• 18:36
  SPEAKER_01: That's significant to be six times more engaged.
• 18:39
  SPEAKER_01: So, so yes, like being able to spot the strengths in your team members and then encouraging them to use them is only gonna hopefully help them feel that much more connected to you and to the work that they're doing.
• 18:54
  SPEAKER_01: All right, let's talk about fundraising since that's the main part of your job.
• 18:57
  SPEAKER_01: I'm I'm curious to know as you think about donor relationships, fundraising situations that maybe that have gone particularly well.
• 19:04
  SPEAKER_01: Like, what do you do?
• 19:06
  SPEAKER_01: What are the strains that you bring that really make that work?
• 19:09
  SPEAKER_00: You're right.
• 19:10
  SPEAKER_00: It's my number one job.
• 19:11
  SPEAKER_00: It's my number one responsibility.
• 19:13
  SPEAKER_00: And I could tell you this, I don't think, well, I shouldn't say I didn't dream of becoming a fundraiser.
• 19:18
  SPEAKER_00: So I think that's super important.
• 19:19
  SPEAKER_00: Maybe some people did.
• 19:21
  SPEAKER_00: I didn't.
• 19:22
  SPEAKER_00: And when I look at the reason I can be successful in fundraising, I think there's two things.
• 19:27
  SPEAKER_00: One is you absolutely have to believe in the mission.
• 19:29
  SPEAKER_00: You cannot fundraise unless you truly believe that you're helping to make a difference in people's lives.
• 19:37
  SPEAKER_00: Um, and I've been in several different, you know that I've been in other organizations as well.
• 19:42
  SPEAKER_00: But what I've learned is you have to wake up every morning saying, okay, in my case, I wake up every day and say, okay, what can I do today to serve more patients?
• 19:50
  SPEAKER_00: So what Kate Ward can do today to serve more patients is find people that want to support it.
• 19:57
  SPEAKER_00: And the only way you that the only way you can make asks in fundraising is if you have a relationship.
• 20:03
  SPEAKER_00: You can't make a blind ask.
• 20:04
  SPEAKER_00: It doesn't work.
• 20:05
  SPEAKER_00: But if you begin to understand how people think and what they what they have affinity towards, if it's towards helping people with breast cancer, then that's a great conversation that we can have.
• 20:17
  SPEAKER_00: And if that's not their thing, that's okay.
• 20:20
  SPEAKER_00: You know, you have to learn as a fundraiser to say that that's just not that person's, that person doesn't want to put their support there.
• 20:28
  SPEAKER_00: They're going to put it somewhere else.
• 20:29
  SPEAKER_00: And there's so much need out there.
• 20:30
  SPEAKER_00: We have to believe that that it all comes around and goes around.
• 20:34
  SPEAKER_00: But I spend, um, I would say the most important thing I do on a regular basis is look for and create and nurture relationships because that's the only way you can be successful.
• 20:43
  SPEAKER_00: Philanthropy, um, philanthropy has changed even in the last, like since COVID, I would say.
• 20:49
  SPEAKER_00: I think people now are want to become more involved in where they uh what they support and what they give their uh money to.
• 20:57
  SPEAKER_00: And they want to know that they've really made a good investment.
• 21:01
  SPEAKER_00: So part of my job is to really steward that money and to be sure that our organization is doing a good job and is investing wisely.
• 21:09
  SPEAKER_00: And in this case, it would be investing in patience.
• 21:12
  SPEAKER_00: And I know we do that at the Ellie Fund.
• 21:14
  SPEAKER_00: So I can easily have a conversation with a potential donor and share all the things we do to be good fiscal stewards of their money.
• 21:22
  SPEAKER_00: Because at the end of the day, that's really what we are, right?
• 21:25
  SPEAKER_00: They're a donor is looking at us and saying, I respect you and I believe in your organization enough to give you this.
• 21:33
  SPEAKER_00: And now I ask, please steward it.
• 21:35
  SPEAKER_00: Please do a good job with it.
• 21:36
  SPEAKER_00: And we do do that at the LA Fund.
• 21:38
  SPEAKER_00: We're super careful.
• 21:40
  SPEAKER_01: For you then, which strengths are you using when you are stewarding the money?
• 21:45
  SPEAKER_00: I think the relationship is the biggest strength that I have that I need to use when I'm stewarding um money.
• 21:52
  SPEAKER_00: Even and when I say that, I mean that would be because I have a good relationship with my colleagues.
• 21:57
  SPEAKER_00: I have a good relationship with the person that's made the donation or the corporation.
• 22:00
  SPEAKER_00: And I'm always trying to make sure that that matches.
• 22:03
  SPEAKER_00: Um, that that would, again, we're doing this correctly.
• 22:06
  SPEAKER_00: But I I would guess the strength that you need in that when we're stewarding is good communication skills.
• 22:13
  SPEAKER_00: Because you've got to be able to communicate back to a donor what's happening, and you also have to communicate to your with your colleagues to be sure that it is happening, right?
• 22:24
  SPEAKER_00: And so you spend a lot of time uh on the communication piece.
• 22:28
  SPEAKER_01: All right.
• 22:28
  SPEAKER_01: So if we look at we look at your list of unrealized strengths and we think or start to think about what could the next two or three years at the LE Find look like for you as you're growing into an even stronger leader and um making all the important efforts to be as engaged and effective in your role?
• 22:51
  SPEAKER_01: Like what would it look like to use your creativity and innovation strengths a little bit more?
• 22:58
  SPEAKER_01: So you've got strengths on the list that say you're good at not only the out-of-the-box thinking, the innovative thinking, but you've also got a strength that says you're really good at even taking existing things and putting them together in different ways.
• 23:08
  SPEAKER_01: So those feel like they are great gifts in your toolkit that maybe you could use more.
• 23:14
  SPEAKER_01: I'm just curious what your thoughts might be.
• 23:16
  SPEAKER_00: Creativity is just is absolutely critical in a nonprofit.
• 23:21
  SPEAKER_00: So never mind a nonprofit that's growing.
• 23:23
  SPEAKER_00: Any nonprofit, because we're so scrappy, right?
• 23:25
  SPEAKER_00: We don't have all the resources that we need.
• 23:28
  SPEAKER_00: So your suggestion that I begin to rely more on creativity to meet the overall goals of scaling and of growing, it's going to be essential.
• 23:38
  SPEAKER_00: Because we don't we're not going to have all the resources we need to grow at the rate that we want to.
• 23:43
  SPEAKER_00: So how can we be creative with the resources that we do have?
• 23:47
  SPEAKER_00: And I think I think that's where you're going.
• 23:48
  SPEAKER_00: Like how do I use that?
• 23:51
  SPEAKER_00: I would, I think you're right.
• 23:52
  SPEAKER_00: I think I have to wake up and say, all right, Kate, how can I be creative today?
• 23:57
  SPEAKER_00: I have that in me.
• 23:58
  SPEAKER_00: It's lying somewhere right with my being.
• 24:02
  SPEAKER_00: But how can I, how can I use that strength to realize the the growth goals that we have within the organization?
• 24:09
  SPEAKER_00: And I think one of the ways that you're kind of inspiring me to think about it because I think I have so much creativity on my team.
• 24:17
  SPEAKER_00: So it goes back to relying on my team to help me with the creativity.
• 24:22
  SPEAKER_00: They are.
• 24:23
  SPEAKER_00: They're a bunch of creative people, much more so than I am.
• 24:26
  SPEAKER_00: But I need to rely on that and go back and ask and have them decide how can we tell me what what would that look like?
• 24:33
  SPEAKER_01: If you were, let's just say you were set we were set to set an intention that in the next quarter you are really going to ratchet up the creativity that you're going to try to evoke from your team.
• 24:44
  SPEAKER_01: But what might be a first step that you might take next week?
• 24:48
  SPEAKER_00: I think I could take this today.
• 25:00
  SPEAKER_00: And as we grow, and even as we finish this year, I need to rely on your their creative talents to reach the goals that we have.
• 25:08
  SPEAKER_00: A good example would be, you know, we're moving into annual campaign season, annual appeal season, right?
• 25:13
  SPEAKER_00: It's now.
• 25:14
  SPEAKER_00: That's not, I'm not creative, but my team is.
• 25:17
  SPEAKER_00: And if they can write a really creative annual appeal, I can drive it, I can get it done, but they'll be much more creative than I will be.
• 25:26
  SPEAKER_00: And it takes me out of that, that role that I don't love, the whole writing role, right?
• 25:32
  SPEAKER_00: So I think I need to acknowledge it, I guess I would say.
• 25:34
  SPEAKER_00: And which is what you've just made me do is say, wait a minute, you have this as a strength, Kate.
• 25:39
  SPEAKER_00: It's not your top strength, but it's part of your team's top strength.
• 25:43
  SPEAKER_00: So use it.
• 25:44
  SPEAKER_01: Excellent.
• 25:44
  SPEAKER_01: Oh, I really hope that that's productive for you.
• 25:48
  SPEAKER_01: Um, yeah.
• 25:48
  SPEAKER_01: And I'm excited for the people who have that strength that they might be able to use that more and therefore be that much more engaged in their work.
• 25:55
  SPEAKER_01: Okay, I want to switch gears and I want to talk about your number one strength.
• 25:59
  SPEAKER_01: Your number one strength is optimism.
• 26:01
  SPEAKER_01: And in fundraising, I have to imagine that's enormously valuable.
• 26:05
  SPEAKER_01: Uh, you know, because you've got to believe that the next donor, the next idea, the next opportunity, my work.
• 26:12
  SPEAKER_01: But I'm curious to know when does that optimism serve you beautifully?
• 26:17
  SPEAKER_01: And when do you have to be careful with it?
• 26:19
  SPEAKER_00: I've been thinking about that because in any nonprofit, like I said, we're moving into the fourth quarter.
• 26:25
  SPEAKER_00: So that means there's a lot of work to be done to reach the final goal for just this year.
• 26:30
  SPEAKER_00: Optimism can get you so far and you need it, but you also have to put the work in.
• 26:37
  SPEAKER_00: You can't just hope that a gift is going to come in.
• 26:42
  SPEAKER_00: You've got to be working towards that gift.
• 26:45
  SPEAKER_00: And so I am an optimistic person, but sometimes you have to balance that with reality.
• 26:52
  SPEAKER_00: And the reality in fundraising for us, you often have to rely on some on data.
• 26:58
  SPEAKER_00: You've got to go back.
• 27:00
  SPEAKER_00: And and data, it's just that, right?
• 27:02
  SPEAKER_00: It's a point in time.
• 27:03
  SPEAKER_00: It's what you're looking at.
• 27:04
  SPEAKER_00: But I have to be very careful to be sure I do look at data because I can be overly optimistic, actually, right?
• 27:12
  SPEAKER_00: It's not a bad thing, but it is something you have to control a little bit to be sure that you reach the goals.
• 27:18
  SPEAKER_01: And which strengths could you use to make the data looking more uh energizing for you?
• 27:28
  SPEAKER_00: You know what?
• 27:28
  SPEAKER_00: That's almost easy for me.
• 27:30
  SPEAKER_00: It's it's um, it's doing it with other people, it's collaborating.
• 27:34
  SPEAKER_00: It is, it's like taking these numbers and sitting with the team or you know, colleagues at this point and saying, okay, this is what I was able to find out.
• 27:43
  SPEAKER_00: How does this data change the way we're thinking in order to meet the goals that we need?
• 27:49
  SPEAKER_00: But I love the collaboration of that.
• 27:51
  SPEAKER_00: I don't like sitting behind the desk by myself to make those kind of decisions.
• 27:55
  SPEAKER_00: I want to rely on a group to do it.
• 27:58
  SPEAKER_00: Um, much more energizing for someone like me who's so extroverted.
• 28:01
  SPEAKER_00: So it serves me better.
• 28:03
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, it's such a great example of taking something that that we can do fine.
• 28:09
  SPEAKER_01: You know, the data collection, you could do it fine.
• 28:11
  SPEAKER_01: Um, but attaching your relationship strengths to it and all of a sudden reshaping the the energy you have around the activity.
• 28:20
  SPEAKER_00: It totally helps me.
• 28:21
  SPEAKER_00: Totally.
• 28:22
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah.
• 28:23
  SPEAKER_01: Great, great.
• 28:24
  SPEAKER_01: But before we wrap up, I asked you to have your introspective cards nearby because I want to try something with you.
• 28:31
  SPEAKER_01: Um rather than look what no, I was just thinking rather than choosing a strength we've we've been talking about necessarily, just pull a card at random and read us the strength and the question on the card, and let's just see what it brings up for you based on everything we've been talking about today.
• 28:47
  SPEAKER_01: Okay.
• 28:48
  SPEAKER_00: I pulled up adaptable.
• 28:50
  SPEAKER_00: Okay.
• 28:51
  SPEAKER_00: And where do I need to be more adaptable?
• 28:54
  SPEAKER_00: And how can I show flexibility in this area?
• 28:58
  SPEAKER_01: So as you think about the the growth of the L fine that you're navigating now, where might adaptability be useful to you?
• 29:09
  SPEAKER_00: I think when organizations are going through growth, I would actually say adaptability is critical, right?
• 29:16
  SPEAKER_00: To to being able to sustain the pace of growth, if that makes sense.
• 29:22
  SPEAKER_00: So one of the things we're working really hard at the LA fund right now are putting structures in place so that as we grow, we have structures that create efficiencies within our work plan and with our work day.
• 29:35
  SPEAKER_00: We've all had to really adapt to new ways that we might not have been doing uh individually.
• 29:42
  SPEAKER_00: And now as we grow as a team, we have to do them a certain way.
• 29:46
  SPEAKER_00: And I think for me, you have to lean into that.
• 29:49
  SPEAKER_00: Like, so I guess I don't know that I'm answering this correctly, other than to say you can't fight adapting.
• 29:55
  SPEAKER_00: You have to lean into adapting because in a change organization, that's what you're doing every day.
• 30:01
  SPEAKER_00: You're you're something's coming at us, another ball comes, and you've got to be like, okay, I got this.
• 30:06
  SPEAKER_00: And some days that can be hard, you know, you're just like to kind of say, okay, enough, no more change.
• 30:12
  SPEAKER_00: You have to adapt, you have to go with it in order to be successful.
• 30:17
  SPEAKER_00: I mean, I think I know for me again, it goes back to doing it with somebody, with collaboration, right?
• 30:22
  SPEAKER_00: Definitely.
• 30:23
  SPEAKER_00: If if if we're all gonna roll our sleeves up and adapt, I am far happier than if Kate Ward has to adapt by herself.
• 30:30
  SPEAKER_00: So um I need to always be cognitive of that.
• 30:34
  SPEAKER_00: That I for me to go through for me to pull out strengths that are not at the top of my toolkit.
• 30:41
  SPEAKER_00: Um, working with other people really helps me to do that.
• 30:46
  SPEAKER_01: Excellent.
• 30:46
  SPEAKER_01: I mean, it's so good that you have you have strengths in that area and you're deeply aware of that because that being deeply aware sets us up for much greater success because we know how we're likely to show up, and then we can modify ourselves if we need to in order to be as versatile as is necessary when you're leading a team or you know, a part of part of an organization.
• 31:09
  SPEAKER_01: Well, I'm so glad, Kate, that after all these years, our paths have crossed again and they cross at a time when we could have this meaningful conversation.
• 31:18
  SPEAKER_01: I so respect the work that you and the LA Fund are doing, and I've loved, loved getting to think about how your strengths can help you at this next stage of the organization's growth, both in this conversation and in the ones we had kind of preparing ourselves for today.
• 31:34
  SPEAKER_01: So thank you so much for being uh uh willing to let all of us sort of listen in to what you're thinking about and what you're doing.
• 31:43
  SPEAKER_00: Well, Colleen, thank you.
• 31:45
  SPEAKER_00: I I have so enjoyed it.
• 31:47
  SPEAKER_00: And it's been both eye-opening and challenging, right?
• 31:50
  SPEAKER_00: To to sit.
• 31:51
  SPEAKER_00: And I think sometimes as leaders, we don't take the time to reflect.
• 31:55
  SPEAKER_00: And this process uh encourages that.
• 31:58
  SPEAKER_00: It encourages me to sit back and say, okay, how do not only how do I lead, but how do I want to lead?
• 32:05
  SPEAKER_00: And this is super helpful stuff.
• 32:06
  SPEAKER_00: And if I can lead from my strengths, it we're all gonna be happier.
• 32:10
  SPEAKER_01: How do I want to lead?
• 32:12
  SPEAKER_01: I love that Kate arrived at that question near the end of our conversation because it captures so much of what strengths work is really about.
• 32:22
  SPEAKER_01: Knowing your strengths is useful, but the greater opportunity comes when we become more introspective and intentional about how we use them, when to lean into a strength that already serves us well, when to reach for one we haven't been using enough, and when to step back and create the opportunity for someone else to bring their strengths forward.
• 32:45
  SPEAKER_01: I also love the coincidence of Kate randomly pulling the adaptable card from her introspective card deck.
• 32:52
  SPEAKER_01: For a leader thinking about how she wants to show up in a growing and changing organization, it couldn't have been more fitting.
• 32:59
  SPEAKER_01: My thanks to Kate for sharing her reflections so openly and for the important work she and her colleagues are doing at the LA Fund.
• 33:07
  SPEAKER_01: And perhaps Kate's question is one worth borrowing for all of us.
• 33:11
  SPEAKER_01: So please take a few moments to be introspective and ask yourself, as you think about your own strengths, not just how do you lead, but how do you want to lead