I am so sorry for this Monday Morning Bog intermission, but my father-in-law passed out in church yesterday and is in the hospital for observation. He is 85 years old so no one can say this is premature… except family - we love him dearly. So, please accept my apologies for the lack of a suitable entry today, as I am spending the day at the hospital with my beloved Pop.

Total Immersion Swimming!

In preparation for my second mini-triathlon I am trying to re-learn swimming. I’ve researched the latest in swimming instruction and arrived a Total Immersion Swimming Click Here.

Why re-learn swimming? Because it almost killed me the first time around! Seriously - I’ve always been able to swim but I fight the water to keep from sinking. Whenever I’m around swimmers of any age swimming laps I just look on with envy at how they seem to glide through the water effortlessly. I long for that. don’t get me wrong, I can swim fast… mostly because if I slow down I SINK! I’ve found the TI method to be just what they promise - an honest to goodness way to learn to slip through the water almost effortlessly. Really! I purchased the video on freestyle and I’ve only just completed the first three lessons in two sessions at the local indoor pool, but I can’t believe how comfortable I feel in the water! I actually believe I’ll get to the point where I enjoy swimming laps. Really!

I’ll update you on my progress over the next couple months. In the mean time, go ahead, check out the TI web site and who knows… maybe you’ll be swimming with the sharks… Well…

Over the last few years we have observed what appears to be an intractable law of nonprofits: when the board works well with the executive director things go well, and when they do not, the organization quickly spins out of control. This would seem to be common sense, but that is far from the case. I’m tempted here to share any of a variety of to-the-point examples here but for the sake of our client’s integrity (and ours) I’ll resist that temptation. Suffice it to say, it is VERY common but it doesn’t have to end in tragedy.

One of the services the Thomas Scott Company offers is conflict resolution and mediation. We are convinced your prospects for organizational success hinge on that critical relationship between board and executive. Don’t assume common sense will win the day. If you’re having trouble in this area please call us, we can help.

2008 brings us the Summer Olympics, and it also brings to us a whole new year of opportunities. Maybe this year you can win a medal in what you do. In this week’s blog I’ve included a few tips to make 2008 great!

• Join a health club. I like the YMCA because of its whole person emphasis but there are many other options. When you work out pick the same time of the day and get to know the people you work out with. It’s a great way to network for your organization, but it will also serve as a natural accountability program - there will be people that miss you if you don’t show up. I’m convinced working out with friends is the only way to keep at it over the long haul.
• Start your tax reporting now (both personal and organizational).
• Include your board or a committee of the board in your 990 preparation and review (particularly helpful considering Sarbanes-Oxley.
• Do you have an elephant-sized job ahead of you in 2008? Break it down into bite-sized bits now, at the beginning of the year, and then put each bite-sized task on your calendar (or better yet, put them on someone else’s calendar whose job description includes such a task).
• Make a list of advisors - people to whom you can go for advice… then go to them!
• Write a personal note to at least one person every day. It will only take about 10 minutes but the good will it will engender is huge. I’m talking hand-written-sent-snail-mail note. Send to supporters, foundations, colleagues, friends, board members, etc. Purpose yourself to do it for the balance of this month and see what a difference it can make.
• Pamper yourself once a month. Go ahead - it doesn’t have to be expensive, but be sure to do this: put it on your calendar NOW and don’t bump it for ANYTHING! Try a massage, get your nails done, eat at a nice restaurant, take a friend to a movie, buy a stocking-stuffer for yourself when it’s not Christmas, take a sack lunch to a park and sit there a little longer, buy new sunglasses, go to a comedy club and laugh, call The Grant Writing Coach and tell him you need some encouragement (I’m good at it!).
• Spend an afternoon with colleagues just blue skying it. Think of new ways to do what you do better, new fundraising ideas, new projects, new… you get the idea. Have fun with it and laugh a lot, but be sure to come away with at least one new idea.

Have fun this year - Go for the Gold! I’ll see you on the medals stand.