As some of you may have noticed, I recently was inducted into the Million Dollar Consultant® Hall of Fame by my own mentor and advisor, Alan Weiss, Ph.D. This honor was especially gratifying – not because of the fanfare but because, just like most people, I like to know that the work I’ve put into […]
From Well Done to What’s Next Read More »
In my first attempt to hire my own financial advisor in my late 20s, I turned to Morgan Stanley in San Francisco. I interviewed two people. One had a slide show presentation and overflowing binders of charts and graphs showing me how they informed his decisions, his track record, how this and that outperformed that
Don’t Believe the “Complexifiers” Read More »
You’ve landed your new job. Your vision is big, and so is your to-do list. You’ve got to deliver, and quick. Luckily for you, they’ve already hired a consultant to help you. Right? Maybe not. A good consultant is a trusted advisor with the experience and expertise to help you accomplish your goals. In many
Inherited Consultants: Blessing or Burden? Read More »
When meeting with potential new clients, I am occasionally struck by their “what can you do for me?” or “how much do you charge for an evaluation?” approach to hiring consultants. There is a fundamental flaw in this line of questioning that can doom a foundation-consultant relationship from the start. The approach is backwards, because
Beware the Off-The-Shelf Consultant Read More »
If your “to-do” list includes “increase the impact of our giving” read on! Below are five grantmaking mistakes you should avoid. 1) Jumping on the latest philanthropy craze. Every year a new set of tools and ideas emerge that become the hot trends (think infographics, collective impact, Ice Bucket Challenge, crowd funding, social media)
5 Grantmaking Mistakes to Avoid Read More »
I’m a stepparent and a stepchild. Apparently I am not alone. A staggering 42% of U.S. adults have a steprelationship–either a stepparent, a step or half sibling, or a stepchild. This translates to 95.5 million adults and doesn’t include all the stepkids under 18. This number is probably actually larger, when you count all the boyfriends,
4 Stepparenting Lessons for Grantmakers Read More »