The Hospital Fundraising Summit. Free. Online. Check it out!

I’ve not ever heard of this event until just the other day.  I just happened to see a sidebar advertisement when I was reading an online article.  So I clicked.  And I have to admit it sounds like an amazing idea.

By all means, share this information!  Forward to at least 1 colleague!  Improving our industry is just good for philanthropy.

Job opportunities

There are 5 open positions posted on the APRA-GH Job Board.  Just saying.

Please refer a friend – these are all wonderful organizations that offer abundant opportunities to learn and contribute.

Building confidence – worth a watch

I attended an industry meeting a number of years ago and a female Chief Development Officer was the speaker. Her opening words shook me.  She wondered why, in an industry dominated by female staff members, were there so few female executives?

Why indeed?

Author Kitty Kay has a possible clue, although her research is not limited to the nonprofit sector.  Females are notorious at self-effacing behavior.  For no obvious reason.  Even successful females have a measurable confidence gap when compared with their male colleagues who have achieved similar success.  Here’s a discussion with Ms. Kay, who has conducted research on the topic and offers some valuable suggestions.

Click here for the accompanying article.

What lessons can we learn?  Ms. Kay shares some findings.  She says women often hyperfocus on failures or negative aspects of their performance, but in a way that is ridiculously out of context with their overall professional achievements.  She also indicates that women tend to have internal dialogues that can spin out of control, contributing to a lack of action.

The video and article are well worth a look.

Save the Date {3-6-2015} for APRA-GH’s Winter Workshop

Imagine this conversation, if you will.

A development officer stops by my office for a moment to say hello.  While he or she is there, they say something like, “Diane, what do you exactly do?”

Feeling self conscious, and assuming that this person doesn’t really want an in-depth explanation, I laugh and reply “Oh, I just crunch numbers.”

The development officer leaves without the answer to their question and I just did myself and my organization an incredible disservice.

 

True confession:  I’m not in touch with my personal brand.

 

And I’m not alone.  We mistakenly think that branding is for consultants. Or marketing people.  Or job seekers.  Everyone else but us.

Sadly, that’s just not true.  When we neglect to identify our specific talents and the way that we apply our talents to contribute to our organizations’ successes, we undermine our profession, our jobs and our own professional reputations.

 

It is time to speak the truth.  Not boastfully, but with matter-of-fact sincerity.  Even enthusiasm.

If you can relate to my story, you’ll want to join us for APRA-Greater Houston’s winter workshop where we’ll be spending the day discussing professional branding, networking and our presentation/image.  Registration will be opening this week.  Hope to see you there!

 

 

Reducing stress through mindfulness

I recently discovered this website as I was reading an article about overly busy professionals.  The concept of practicing mindful awareness of our emotions, thoughts and feelings while at work can help to interrupt stress cycles and increase feelings of well being.

The author, Dr. Elisha Goldstein, acknowledges how work demands increase our levels of job related stress, consequently interfering with renewal activities and contributing to exhaustion.  Through this article, Dr. Goldstein introduces ways to practice mindfulness.  Simple ways to notice whether your mind is racing without getting caught up in the racing thoughts.  And ways to bring conscious attention to breathing and walking.

He acknowledges that some refer to the practice as training for advanced living.  Click on the image above to read the article.

Tips for better professional networking

All of us are busy.  The next deadline, the big system upgrade, the important department meeting, converting the report to the new format, just the endless list of tasks.  They never stop.  Who has the time for professional networking?

Theoretically, all of us.  It’s part of being a professional.  Tending to the care and feeding of your own career.

image from pwnetwork.com

But seriously, the introvert side of me wants to retreat back into my shell.  When I think of attending a networking event with a room full of unfamiliar people, all that crazy noise starts shooting off in my head and my courage shuts down.

There’s another approach.  Smaller, less stressful but with the same outcomes.  This article by blogger Herbert Lui explains 4 ways to pursue professional networking in a more natural, less stressful way.

He has some good ideas.

1. Reach out to 1 person a week.  Having a personal conversation is the essence of relationship building; a requirement for professional networking.
2. Connect with internal colleagues.  There are so many mysteries about our organizations.  Someone in another group or department could probably shed some light on the questions that you have.  It’s ok to reach out and inquire.  Meet the team upstairs or in the other building.  Learn more about what they do.
3. Get to a preferred method of communicating as quickly as possible.  Specifically for contacts that originate from LinkedIn, there’s a more direct way to communicate and it’s a lot more personal.  So whether it’s email, IM, texting or something else, move the conversation.  It will immediately feel more personal.
4. Set up or join a Mastermind group.  Mr. Lui explains that it’s a meet-up group whose focus is exclusively on helping each other improve.  The concept sort of reminds me of the formal and informal mentoring teams I used to participate in when I worked at PricewaterhouseCoopers.  Even though we had an assigned mentor, I personally preferred the organic discussions that occurred when I met up with 2 or 3 people in the company that I admired.

APRA-GH is a great networking channel for all of us.  It can be the big event or it can be a single conversation.  Just so you know, if you are a member, you now have access to the member directory online with email and telephone contact info.  Hover your mouse over the About Us tab on the website to access the directory.  You’ll have to sign into the website, so if it’s your first time signing in, you’ll need to set your password by clicking the Forgot Password link, but it’s super easy!

Click on the image of the coffee cups to read Mr. Lui’s article.