Balance

Last week, we talked about thinking carefully before answering the question “Are you available?” As a follow-up to that conversation, another really important question to ask is “Does it need to be me?” Whether you are in a meeting and someone asks who would be able to provide follow-up on an action item OR if […]

This question seems so easy. We look at our calendar, and if there is nothing listed on the calendar, then we say yes. Right? Or perhaps we have something scheduled on our calendar, but it’s time to write or work on a project so it can be moved. It’s not like we have a meeting

Although the Thanksgiving holiday is over, we can continue to practice thankfulness as we finish the year. We began our discussion on reflection and last week emphasized specific actions that you can take to demonstrate thankfulness to individuals. When we lead coalitions, we have opportunities to be thankful to individuals as well as to groups

Last week, we began our thankfulness in our coalition series. Thankfulness begins with reflection and recognition and then leads us to taking specific action. One of the reasons we often struggle with practicing thankfulness is that we think it needs to be something big in order to be meaningful. Think about the times when you

One of my favorite holidays has always been Thanksgiving. Since our rainbow baby was born just a few days after Thanksgiving almost six years ago, I am especially thankful this time of year. In our coalition work, we can easily become overloaded with a never-ending to-do list, unrealistic expectations (of ourselves and others) and the

When you are new to coalition building, assessing roles and responsibilities is a natural first step. You spend time figuring out what you need to be doing and what others are doing. If you have been leading coalitions for a long time, you may find yourself stuck doing the same things just because you have

In coalitions, saying “yes” can be easy, but actually doing the work is much more difficult. Even if you have clarified who is doing what and connected people to meaningful roles, follow-through can be challenging. Common barriers to follow through include: busy schedules, competing priorities, unrealistic expectations of how much time it will take and

While most people who participate in your coalition are interested in the coalition and probably even passionate about the topic, the ability for them to contribute varies considerably. Depending upon your current funding situation, staff, leader and member competency and capacity, what is realistic will also vary. Although the need is always great when you

Although sometimes in our coalition work, we have to work together to just “get it done,” if we are always approaching our work this way, we will quickly become overwhelmed, weary and burned out. This approach will also impact all of those working with us in the coalition. If you want to recruit and maintain

One of the most important and challenging aspects of leading a coalition – or really any team – is getting clear on roles. When we find ourselves overwhelmed by all of the work or frustrated that no one is volunteering, unclear roles and realistic expectations are likely part of the problem.  While our vision for