Leaping and Playing Big for Executive Directors

What comes up when you think about breaking out of your comfort zone and achieving a goal that’s big for you?

For me, I can come up with the very best ideas and goals, get all stoked up, make some progress, and fall flat.

I might tell myself I’m in over my head or I need to learn more before venturing into x,y or z, or the easiest excuse – I’m just too busy.

As nonprofit leaders, if we’re afraid that we can’t pull it off, it can be easier to simply not start.

Then we don’t need to face it.

Tara Mohr, author of Playing Big created a method for leaping that has changed the way I go about getting from point A to point B.

Here’s how it works.

A leap must fit these 6 criteria:

• It gets you playing bigger now, not some day, according to what playing bigger means to you.
• It can be started and finished in 1-2 weeks. (I love this)
• It’s simple. An action you can describe in a short phrase. (I really love this. No stalling)
• It gets your adrenaline flowing.
• It puts you in contact with those you want to reach or influence. Yes!
• It’s setting an intention to learn – answering a question you can only answer by taking the leap.

A leap is never:

• A decision. It’s the decision + action. Not, I’ve decided that I’m going to target xxx person to chair the major gifts campaign. Rather, I’m going learn more about her interests and pick up the phone and schedule a coffee date.
• About sharing your work with family or friends. Rather, it’s about sharing your work with the intended audience, the people you want to impact and serve. 
• Taking a training course or enrolling in an educational experience. Even though I offer training, don’t enroll yet. Get some skin in the game first.

Leaping for nonprofit executives and board members

Here are 2 examples of leaps and how you might go about approaching them.

1. Let’s say your leap is to invite a prospective board member to join your board.

Your learning goal might be “is my pitch to board members working?”

The action that you can take in 1-2 weeks is to ask a friend that is on a board of another organization to brainstorm with you how to go about it.

Then make the call to invite the prospective board member to coffee.

You might say, “I heard about you from my colleague xxx and I read about you on your linked in page.

I’d love to get together with you and share more about how you might get involved at the board level.

You’re qualifications are impressive and exactly what XXX organization needs to xxx (something inspiring). Would you be up for a coffee date to learn more?”

When you go into it with a question, it’s not about failure, or you. It’s about finding the right pitch for prospective board members.

What will appeal to them? What won’t. If your pitch didn’t work, how might you approach the pitch differently next time?

You got your question answered.

Then identify your next leap. It’s creates a feeling and charges you up. You’re playing bigger now.

2. Another leap may be re-thinking your enews (that has a poor open rate and doesn’t raise money)

Your learning question “Is the material engaging the donors I want to engage?”

Your action might be to call up a donor that you trust and invite them to coffee and ask them their thoughts. Be honest about the open rate.

What are their impressions and what suggestions do they have for improving it?

This is a fun, exhilarating and scary process. You’re identifying leaps that are playing bigger for you.

For one person it might be the enews leap and another attending a toastmaster group to improve their public speaking skills so they can speak to community groups about their organization’s mission.

Take a walk and give it some thought.

What’s your first leap?