Author: Dave Edwards
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Taking Notes Will Make You More Productive
Taking notes became an essential part of my personal and professional life. Unless I’m writing something down, I have a difficult time remembering important developments.
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Should Your Workers Stay Home Permanently?
Twitter has announced that its employees may work from home permanently. Is that something you are considering?
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Increasing Your Productivity By Writing Things Down
“Every idea you have and everything you need to do should be written down.”
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Keeping Millennials Happy Working For Your Organization
What percentage of your workers were born between 1980 and 1995? By 2025, Millennials will represent 75% of the working population. How are you planning to keep them engaged and with your organization? Or, are you resigned to the fact that they will move on if they can find a job that pays more than…
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Showing Appreciation During These Difficult Times
“Gratitude can have such a powerful impact on your life because it engages your brain in a virtuous cycle.”
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How To Take And Organize Your “Smart Notes”
As a “recovering” journalist I’ve always been a note taker. Prior to discovering Evernote, my notes were largely jammed into file folders that were unsearchable and largely unmanageable. In “How To Take Smart Notes”, Sonke Ahrens walks us through a comprehensive organizational system that works on paper as well as digitally.
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Another Take On The Importance of Cash Flow
“If the station is facing cash flow issues, they go from appearing manageable to bad very quickly.”
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Aligning Fundraising Values With Your Audience
“Aligning both the organization and the audience around the idea that journalism is essential infrastructure for democracy and that it has to be supported by the small-d democratic public that it serves makes it all feel like it’s all pulling in the same direction.”
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Only The Paranoid Survive
“The more successful you are, the more people want a chunk of your business and then another chunk and then another until there is nothing left.”
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Why I Don’t Like Text Messages
“I have found that texting is counterproductive to my workplace efficiency.”
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Take Care of Your Best Employees Before They Leave
The best players on your team may be recruited away or seek bigger opportunities.
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How to Prepare Your Public Media Station to Operate Under the “New Normal”
“While you had very little time to prepare your staff for remote work, it’s important to start planning how you’ll get your station operating at a “new normal” once restrictions are lifted and people begin working from your offices, studios and newsrooms.”
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How To Raise Money During The Pandemic
I’ve long argued that managers should always be building relationships with your largest donors. I would recommend that you begin calling them today.
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How KPBS Is Adapting To The New Normal
“As a manager the best thing I can do is to let my staff know they’re appreciated and connected.”
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Should Nonprofits Have Cash Reserves?
While some struggle with the concept of cash reserves, nonprofit leadership always appreciates forward thinking during a time of crisis.
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Leading Like A Boss
“Becoming a leader takes time and practice. It takes focus. It starts with a realization of the behaviors you need to embrace.”
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How One Midwest Station Is Facing the Pandemic
“On any given day, the delicacy of addressing the substitution of personnel who require self-isolation due to a variety of factors and the matter of having “next up” personnel to take their place is the largest challenge”
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Don’t Let Your Cybersecurity Guard Down During Covid-19
“its a good idea to spend a little time thinking about whether your work at home strategies have unknowingly created opportunities for the bad guys who want to steal your data….or worse.”
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Show Leadership Through Your Words and Actions
On this edition of LEADERSHIP PLUS, being an effective leader is not about writing memos, it is about showing your leadership through what you say and what you do. Consider the behaviors you want to exhibit to your team.
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Creating A Virtual Radio Station In A Week
In the last couple of weeks, I’ve been reaching out to managers of public radio stations around the country to get a sense of the challenges that they have faced because of ‘stay-at-home’ orders during the Covid-19 pandemic. Besides the staffing and technology challenges, I’m hearing that internal communication structures have needed to adjust. Mike…
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Managing Inputs That Distract Us
“I realized that I don’t need more inputs that provide easy access to me. That’s because easy access is also an easy distraction.”
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Running Effective Online Meetings
How do you engage participants in an online meeting who are not paying attention?
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“The Vision Driven Leader"
“…practical advice on how to develop a vision that will move you and your organization forward.”
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How Safe Are Your Reporters?
We see reports of reporters being shouted at and attacked. Should we be thinking about the safety of our journalists? One University has embarked on a training program.
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Fundraising During A Pandemic
We are going through an incredible period of disruption. But we will get through it. Yet, we will all need to adapt. We’ve started by “social distancing” and having our employees work from home. But more changes will need to be made. For example, every nonprofit and public media organization is going have to deal…
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Tips For Managing A Staff That Works Remotely
The phenomena of remote workers is neither new or unusual. An emergency like Covid 19 is an excellent opportunity to see how it might work for your organization on a more permanent basis.
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Leadership In Times Of A Pandemic
The chances are good that you and your team have developed the basic plans for how your organization moves forward should cases be diagnosed in your community or even in your workplace. Now it is time for you to show your leadership.
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Too Sick To Work?
Does your organization have a policy that states when an employee is too sick they should stay home?
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Successful Grant Writing With Limited Resources
Tips for nonprofits on how they can succeed with grant writing despite having a small staff.
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I Have Enough Coffee Mugs
“What if nonprofits focused on a unique experience related to their niche?”
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How a 3×5″ Card Helps Me Get Things Done
How a little 3″ x 5″ card holds me accountable like a long list of tasks never would.
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How Your Board Can Assist With Fundraising
Even board members who are not comfortable with fundraising can still do their part.
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Practical Advice for Self Improvement (A Book Review)
“We blame others for things that happened in the past, making our case look as plausible and sympathetic as possible.”
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Fundraising Tips For Managers
“There is an old adage that people give money to people they like. Yes, they want to support the good work of an organization, but if they are not comfortable with the leaders and the vision of the group, they are less likely to make a major gift.”
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What If There Is No One To Delegate To?
It is easy to say that managers should delegate projects to other staff members. But what if there is no one else available?
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Working in a Government or University Setting
… it’s complicated (and if the institution is dysfunctional) you can easily learn the wrong lessons.”
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There’s Nothing Mickey Mouse About Leadership
“…a delicate balance is required between management being responsible for the financial performance of any creative work and, in exercising that responsibility, being careful not to encroach on the creative processes in harmful and counterproductive ways.”
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Your First Day On The Job
Where do you start? Your first day on the job will be hectic. How do you begin setting a good impression. Here are some ideas.
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Tips For Being On Time
I’m meticulous about not missing meetings. Someone once told me that ‘your calendar is a proxy for your priorities.’ If I commit to meeting you, I will be there.
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Even Tiger Woods Had A Coach
Since I launched this new venture, I’ve had several conversations with individuals who want to be better managers, but other than learning from their own mistakes, they are unclear about where or how to start.
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Why Bother With Performance Evaluations?
No organization should conduct performance reviews if they have no meaningful outcome.
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Leaders Learn To Listen
By listening, you will learn about things that you couldn’t know. Front line workers have a unique perspective. Plus, by engaging your staff in an open discussion, you will get more buy-in on the outcome of the discussion.
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Thanks for the Kind Words
In the first few weeks since I launched this blog and my consulting business, I’ve received many kind words. It is deeply appreciated.
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Making Faster and Better Decisions
Making smart decisions can be difficult but quality internal discussions and strategic planning can help.
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Motivating the Unmotivated
Do you have an employee who seems to lack focus, takes a lot of time off, or regularly disappears from their desk? Have they become distant from their peers or make comments that are not appropriate for the office? Effective leaders cannot ignore such behavior.
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Managing In Times Of Trauma
When tragedy strikes your organization, your MBA won’t help you unless you rely on your instincts as a leader as well as a compassionate human being.
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Why I Won’t Ever “Retire”
I decided that what I wanted to use the knowledge I gained by making my own mistakes to help the next generation of leaders in public media – and in other non-profits – prepare for the tasks they face
Dave Edwards Media 