Many times, when people consider compensation, they think hourly wages or salary. Money is an important part of compensation, but it is not the only measure of performance and experience, nor should it be the only reward. I specifically mention performance and experience because these are two important factors in determining compensation (and rewards!) for employees at any level in your organization.

Yesterday, I was on the Morning Coffee Chat (supported by Mighty Citizen and hosted by Nicole Araujo) where you never know what will happen or what will be discussed! A new member of the group brought up the question, “How do you collect customer feedback from a dispersed staff and call center comments?”

Most days I’m a positive person because I know from experience things are never as bad as they seem. Even on those “nothing is going right” days I tend to think, “Okay, this too shall pass. Like a bad kidney stone, but it will pass.”

On May 24, 2022, the ASAE Component Relations and Volunteer Management Council held its monthly “Crunch & Munch” discussion focused on the topic of modernizing and updating the current association chapter model. I was excited to be invited to the discussion which was inspired by several Rogue Speak articles I wrote on this topic. The Council leadership was well-represented by Cheryl Goldsby, Steve Idzikowski, and Jessica Irizarry.

Podcasts are all the rage! From individuals to organizations, podcasts are everywhere. Whether you are a global podcaster like Joe Rogan, or you have a small niche audience, options are available for recording, sharing, and promoting your podcast to the world. You don’t need to be a celebrity to have a podcast, but you do need interesting guests. Whether you are doing a daily, weekly, or monthly podcast, having someone to interview or converse with is key to an interesting episode.

As the CAE Candidates near the end of the May exam period, they are wondering if they passed, or nervous about taking it by May 15. No matter how many times a Candidate has seen the exam, the consistent comment I hear is: “I will be so happy to be done with all this studying!”

In my last article, “Is Your Chapter System from another Century?”, I outlined the argument that the “mini-me” structure of chapters needs to be done away with in favor of a more agile, modern system based on the way we live now.

If you are a membership association, you are familiar with chapters even if you don’t have them as part of your organization. Chapters can be great ways to offer regular engagement for your members locally or regionally, and it keeps the association “top of mind” in between national conferences.

We are well into 2022 now, but if we think back to the overwhelming uncertainty of the lockdown in 2020, we remember that many of our nonprofit management colleagues lost their jobs. This was the result of panicked Boards of Directors thinking they needed to save money due to the loss of income from in-person events.

We all talk about it. We say we believe in it. We claim to practice it. But in reality, a majority of people do not participate in conversations as active listeners.

It’s April Fools’ Day, a time when we play tricks and pranks on each other. In the 21st Century, I believe that we need even more skepticism on this day considering misinformation, propaganda, and the ability of rumors to spread in the speed of thought.

Due to the pandemic lockdown and other restrictions/regulations related to managing a virus over the last two years, people reassessed their lives. They were working from home, or maybe not working at all, and were influenced to make changes in their job that might make their life better or more fulfilling.

In last week’s edition of Rogue Speak, I wrote about the dangers of outdated thinking in reference to the ongoing invasion of Ukraine by Russia. In that article, I outlined what I saw as the problems with Vladimir Putin’s thought process. In my opinion, he has a lot of them.

In 2012, I had the opportunity to present a virtual session to the Ukrainian Taxpayers Organization on nonprofit management. While I couldn’t be there in person, I felt a great deal of warmth and appreciation from the hosts and the conference attendees. They sent me this lovely speaker gift, a music box in the shape of an iconic Ukrainian image. Every day I see this in my office and think of how I connected with people far away.

Years ago, my husband gave me a sign that says, “Surely as cometh the Winter, I know there are spring violets under the snow.” This quote is by Robert Henry Newell from his 1871 book of poetry, Versatilities.

By this point, we’ve all heard the term “The Great Resignation.” The influence of the lockdown on lifestyle and mindsets brought people to a place where they re-evaluated their personal happiness index. [Learn more about The World Happiness Report here] This led to many individuals in 2021 leaving their current positions – and at times leaving their employer in a lurch – to pursue other options.

Living in a world where bigger, more, and “lots” seem to be the only indicators of success, it can be hard to stay focused on our personal definitions of success. We are measured by followers, income, organization size, expansion, and the length of our title.

Having once been young, and now being a person of a “Certain Age” as the French say, I can decisively say I will take the wisdom and experience I have earned at this point in life over the uninformed years of my earlier life. As Maurice Chevalier sang, “I’m so glad I’m not young anymore.”

In the fall of 2018, I had an idea. To be completely transparent, I had TWO ideas.

The Academy of Medical-Surgical Nurses (AMSN) has created a corporate partnership relationship with Medtronic that provides significant value for members and AMSN, as well as Medtronic.