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11. Almost all resignations and firings are the result of unnegotiated expectation.

11. Almost all resignations and firings are the result of unnegotiated expectation.
NetGain had a talented and funny person upon whom we depended for a couple of years.  Her name is Emily Parker, and she is now very happily and productively employed at PowerPlant Gallery where she works for my friend, Gaetane Verna.  There were times when Emily probably wanted to quit because of my unreasonable demands,…
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10. A vaccine is needed to protect non-profits from the myth of charismatic leadership.

At the risk of repeating myself, the turnover of leadership among our clients and more generally across the sector, demonstrates the foolishness of hinging plans on charismatic leadership. Rainmakers are in short supply. They come and go with greater freedom than lesser talents.  Often their past success is not reproducible in a different setting. Even more often,…
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9. It’s hard for clients to declare a desire with the same certainty with which their commercial counterparts declare their corporate intentions.

For those who struggle in scarcity, a clear admission of ambition or desire feels like a failure.  The gap between the lofty future and the meagre present can seem soul-destroying.  Yet NetGain frequently presses and finds the lofty goal is actually not that precious or even necessary to the client’s real goal, nor that the…
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8. There is no shortage of anything in Canada – except the will and ability to deliver plenitude where there is scarcity.

8. There is no shortage of anything in Canada – except the will and ability to deliver plenitude where there is scarcity.
Shockingly, we have to report that there is enough of everything.  This will shake the foundations of economic theory and political partisanship, but reality deserves some part in our world view, don’t you think? Our clients need people, money, and things.  That’s the sum total of their organizational resource requirements.  While it is true that…
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