News and Events
We know it’s been a long stretch of very demanding work during this pandemic. Your dedication to making a difference in the lives of people encourages us all. We hope this brief window in the work of others like you will inspire you further. Thank you for doing what you do. We enjoy being in it with you.
We have been so impressed that many of you are continuing to prove and improve your impact in these chaotic times. We’ve been out there interviewing too, and we’ve learned that virtual interviews can be really powerful. We’ve also learned that there are a few key changes from our in-person interviews that help ensure virtual interviews go really well. Join us on Thursday, September 24, 2020 at 9:30 AM Pacific Time to learn more about the dos and don’ts of virtual interviewing.
In the final session, Dr. Steve Patty reminds us to celebrate our accomplishments during this series on leadership development. We’ve gone through a lot together and it’s important to remember every step and recognize the progress you were able to make, even the small ones. Growing, developing and leading yourself is certainly not an easy thing to do. Sometimes we feel discouraged or feel we’re moving backwards despite our best intentions to move forward. But remember, any steps forward is worth celebrating.
Why is it hard to move forward in your growing edge? You may be really committed to progressing your growing edge but you are still feeling like there is still something weighing you down preventing you from moving forward. There are theorists out of Harvard University that uses the metaphor of immunity to describe this feeling.
Your programs are invaluable to our society. We need you. But these days are uncertain. The pandemic has changed everything. Whoever first said, “Never let a good crisis go to waste” was spot on. And yet many of us will.
We are going to redesign your strategy for that program. We are going to take a thoughtful, robust, disciplined approach. And in the process of redesigning strategy, we will accomplish three other critical objectives to make the most of the opportunity.
In this session, we will be looking at what you don’t know about yourself. You can only see what you can see from your own vantage point. When thinking about your growing edge, what would it be like to see things from a new or different perspective? Might you be able to see things about yourself you can’t see right now? Marty Linsky and Ronald Heifetz from the Harvard Kennedy School uses the metaphor, get on the balcony. Our lives are on the dance floor and we “dance” through the day without taking time to get on the balcony and observe your life and your dance. What would it be like to get off the dance floor and get on the balcony to observe yourself? The balcony perspective can give you insight into how you are progressing in your growing edge and what you can be doing differently.
In this session, we will be looking at how to use holding environments to develop your growing edge. When you step into change or a new challenge, you may be creating discomfort for yourself which typically makes us want to run, disengage and ultimately stop working. How do we keep moving ourselves into the challenge of developing our growing edges while experiencing discomfort?
The sixth vlog of this series is with Kate Hodgson and Sukh Shergill.
We often marvel at how fortunate we are to work with incredible leaders and organizations like you. Your work inspires us. We know that this is a stressful time because of COVID-19, and we want to encourage you with some inspiring insights, examples, and resources.
In this session, we will be looking at how to continue to move forward and develop in your growing edge. We will be starting in an unlikely place: resistance. As much as you need encouragement and the right environment, you also need resistance to help you progress and develop your growing edge.
Join The Nonprofit Association of Oregon’s free offering for members! This is an opportunity to consider how we might adjust strategy to not just survive this crisis, but to thrive.
Your programs are invaluable to our society. We need you. But these days are uncertain. The pandemic has changed everything. Whoever first said, “Never let a good crisis go to waste” was spot on. And yet many of us will.
We are going to redesign your strategy for that program. We are going to take a thoughtful, robust, disciplined approach. And in the process of redesigning strategy, we will accomplish three other critical objectives to make the most of the opportunity.
We’ve heard from some of you that it’s a struggle to keep your evaluation alive during this time of so much change and uncertainty. We’ve also been inspired by some great examples from some of you who have figured out new ways to use evaluation to stay focused on what really matters during these unprecedented times. This gave us the perfect topic to kick off our quarterly community webinar series! Join us on Thursday, May 28, 2020 at 9:30 AM Pacific Time to learn more.
The fourth vlog of this series is with Nancy Farries, Vice President of RDC with YMCA of Greater Vancouver, and Margo Byrne, President & CEO of the Channel Islands YMCA.
Now that you have identified your growing edge, it's time to explore how to move forward and develop your ability to evolve in this area. How do we pursue the things we want to pursue in life? How do you become the person you want to be in life? How do we let go of the things that no longer serves a purpose for us? And finally, how do we show up in new kinds of ways that can help us be the best we can be? These are the kinds of thoughts we need to have in order to work on our growing edge and ourselves.
The third vlog of this series is with Jennifer Gray-Grant, Executive Director of Collingwood Neighbourhood House, and Kahir Lalji, Provincial Director of Population Health with United Way of the Lower Mainland.
Characteristics of a Growing Edge:
It’s about you, not your team or organization
It’s not a technical skill to get better, but rather a personal capacity to develop
It’s oriented towards having an impact or in service to something significant
It pushes you into a zone of “stretch” or “productive discomfort”
If you could make progress on your growing edge it would have implications in many areas of your life and/or work
The second vlog of this series is with Kim Winchell, Director of Social Impact, Community Impact & Investment with United Way of the Lower Mainland, and Simon Adams, Vice President of Membership Growth Initiative with YMCA Regional Development Centre - Canada West.
In partnership with the YMCA of Canada, Dr. Steve Patty is producing a Leadership and Personal Development Series, taking viewers through seven parts on how to grow and nurture your personal leadership. How do you maximize your ability to move forward on the things that really matter in your life? How do you lead yourself? In each of the seven episodes, Dr. Patty will walk you through one key idea and invite you to try an action step.
The first vlog of this series is Janet Kafkas, Senior Director of Service Delivery of YMCA of the USA, an original visionary of the Fellowship in Developmental Leadership.
Dialogues in Action is launching another Project Impact cohort in 2021. Project Impact consists of seven virtual half-day graduate-level sessions over the course of seven months, individualized coaching for each organization, resulting in qualitative and quantitative findings to demonstrate and improve impact. There are openings for up to 12 teams to participate in the 2021 virtual cohort. Apply now!