It’s not easy to lead a for-impact organization. At Impact Now, we understand how hard it can be to overcome perfectionism, wrestle with the imposter syndrome, and build alliances. That’s why we have hosted a series of 55-minute roundtables over the past four months.
Take a look at this brief summary of four of our roundtables:
Our Executive Director, Mary Henton, led us through Enneagram: What Is It? The Enneagram is a typology method to deepen understanding of ourselves and others. Unlike other typologies, the Enneagram anchors on our motivations and offers numerous pathways to continuous growth. We also noted that we have access to three centers of intelligence (head/thinking, heart/feeling, body/doing). However, our tendency is to rely on just two of those centers. The Enneagram can help us remain alert to all three.
Breonna Stone, with a PhD in Leadership, led two sessions entitled Get Out of Your Head. Do you ever doubt your abilities? Afraid that maybe you’re not really as good as “they” think you are? Afraid that “they” will find out? During this roundtable we identified ways that we can cultivate support and challenge the negative voices. For example,
- Name and acknowledge previous successes.
- Write out self affirmations.
- Seek support from a trusted colleague.
We built on this theme with When You’re the Only (fill in the blank) in the Room. Ann Parks, a forester with the Montana Department of Natural Resources and Conservation, facilitated this session. We discussed the value that each of us brings to meetings or teams or work groups,whether we’re the only woman, the only young person, or the only person of color. We also talked about how where we sit in a meeting can influence how others perceive us.
Decision-making is central to all of our processes, but efficiency and inclusivity can be elusive! Jessica Lembelembe, Board Chair of Impact Now, led an informative session on RAPID, a decision-making framework developed by Bain & Co. RAPID is an acronym for the different roles necessary for good decision-making: Recommend, Agree, Perform, Input, Decide. The model also outlines the key questions to answer before making decisions that affect an organization. For example,
- What are we deciding?
- Who should be involved?
- What role should they play?
- When does the decision need to be made?
Our roundtables provide practical tools and strategies to help you think differently about the opportunities (aka challenges) you face. They are also opportunities to connect with other women who lead small for-impact organizations.
Keep your eyes open for information about upcoming roundtables!