Nonprofit HR’s Blog

Left to right: Desirée Knight; Rick Burt, and Patty Hampton

by Patty Hampton, CSP

By the time you read this, many of you would have already moved passed the excitement from the 2018 ASAE Annual Meeting & Exposition. I am always excited to spend time with my long-time colleagues, peers and friends at ASAE, and love it when I connect with association leaders such as Desirée Knight, CMP, CAE with the American Railway Engineering and Maintenance-of-Way Association (AREMA) and Rick Burt, MAEL, CAE with the National Association of Home Builders (NAHB).

ASAE Annual Meetings always inspire me to remain entrepreneurial, creative and strategic, as that is in the DNA of nonprofit leaders. For me, I also tend to hang on to unforgettable moments that leave me inspired to act or try new challenges or ideas. As leaders of organizations, perhaps you not only live these competencies daily, but for whatever reason, like me, you can’t seem to get enough of how critical it is to be continuous learners and networkers. It’s like identifying several passions that help shape the communities we serve, but more importantly how we GET FOCUSED hence the ASAE2018 conference theme.

Here are my five “get focused” takeaways:

1. Yancey Strickler, former CEO and cofounder of Kickstarter unknowingly tapped into my authentic way of being and I could hear him basically sharing how important it is to have and build an inclusive culture. Little did he know, I started searching my memory about what has Nonprofit HR done as a leader in this space. Nonprofit HR has a wonderful webinar: “The Missing Piece in Nonprofit Sustainability” As leaders, we must continue to push the boundaries of our thinking and strategies for how our organizations will grow. One year ago, Nonprofit HR made a conscious and intentional decision to scale. We are far ahead of where we need to be and in a unique space to help our clients stay focused on mission and talent.
2. Another session I attended was The Leverage Competitive Intelligence for Business Success presented by Jeff Mansfield, senior vice president at Proactive Worldwide. This is a great way for many of us to get focused and be DISRUPTIVE. As many of you know, the nonprofit sector is the third largest workforce in the U.S. With that said, our voice as leaders, particularly in the association world need to be disruptive, but we also need to understand how to gather competitive intelligence that changes our way of thinking. This was probably one of my favorite sessions and I can’t wait to take a closer look at how Nonprofit HR can be a disruptor.
3. One of my colleagues, Sidney Abrams, managing director of consulting services and two of our clients shared some wonderful nuggets during a panel discussion titled: Secure Your View from the Corner Office: A Playbook. This jammed packed session was for those that aspire to be in the C-Suite. This session reminded me of a moment in time when I was looking at the Wizard of Oz and Dorothy clicks her heals three times. If the C-Suite is your journey, then just know that you already have several competencies that you need in your quest to be a leader.
4. I caught up with Amy Waninger, founder of Lead at Any Level, LLC during her session titled: Network Beyond Bias: Break Out, Break In, and Break Through. Wow. This session pushed me over the edge. I thought I had it together when it comes to networking, but little did I know, my networking savviness needed a makeover! Amy walked session participants through an exercise that made you take a double take in recognizing your own bias and the ineffective networking strategies that don’t necessarily add up to being inclusive. After hearing Amy’s approach, I realized that I had a lot of work to do to expand the diversity of my network. I’ve already started working on this one and it is very inspiring.
5. Finally, I ended my learning and inspiring moments in awe of Siri Lindley. She is a world champion triathlete, coach and author that threw out a challenge to “focus on potential” through her amazing story and journey. Many of us don’t necessarily hire on potential, because we are too busy focusing on the requirements for an opportunity versus the strengths and performance of an individual. For Nonprofit HR, it’s about high performers when we look at hiring the best talent. That said, I accept this challenge!

Please let me know how Nonprofit HR can help you GET FOCUSED. See you in Columbus, Ohio next year!

Patty Hampton, CSP
Vice President and Managing Partner
Nonprofit HR

Connect with Patty on LinkedIn