Tuesday Thoughts | 22 October 2024 | My Curated List of Commitments

A few weeks ago, when I sat down to reflect on my October calendar, I found myself facing down some very busy weeks; this week draws to a close those commitments. Although, I’ll also be sprinting into a November that promises to be full of activity, next week.

Tomorrow afternoon after a full day at my desk, I’ll be heading to a hotel so that I can be onsite bright and early Thursday morning for the Spinal Cord Injury Ontario Board Retreat. On Friday, I’ll be checking out early to be back at my desk for another full day. Aside from running a wee bit tight on vacation days for the rest of the year, I’ve just simply been OOO enough this month, that the ole to-do list is looking a bit long in the tooth.

I recently had someone ask me how I find the energy to do everything I do. In truth while it does look like a lot on paper – Executive Director, Author, Speaker, Consultant, Multi-Board Member, etc. It’s a highly curated list of commitments, made possible by being careful with what I say “yes” to, and when.

One of the most important criteria that drives my response to ‘asks’ both big and small, is how much I care about the issue or cause I’m being asked to support. I actually say “no” very frequently, but I find the idea of broadcasting those instances to be distasteful; just because something isn’t the right opportunity for me, at the right time in my life, doesn’t mean its not the perfect challenge for someone else to take on.

Let’s run a couple of these down, shall we?

Executive Director, Canadian Defence Lawyers (Association). Ok for starters, someone who I deeply respected for their perspective remarked to me about 2 years ago, that I am someone who practices the ‘craft’ of Association Management – I get deep satisfaction from being a Chief Staff Officer. I also find the law, and insurance more interesting than the average person.

Author, the #TuesdayThoughts Newsletter and soon to be Trilogy of ‘The Tuesday Thoughts Companion: A Year of Small Actions for Big Impact ’. I’m on a mission: “To Change the World, By Inspiring Actions, That Amplify My Impact”; and Tuesday Thoughts is a huge component of how I chip away at that work each week.

Multi-Board Member: if you’re keeping score, I’m currently on the Board of Directors of the Wilfrid Laurier University Alumni Association (my Alma Mater), and Spinal Cord Injury Ontario, an organization whose peer support and outreach workers made a world of difference to my dad when he acquired an SCI in 2018. I’m also a member of the Board of Advisors of the Women's Nonprofit Network , a role that requires considerably less of me than if I was a Director.

I’ve really pulled back on the speaking and consulting this year, because, despite appearances, I do actually have a finite amount of energy and time; I’m still open to doing work that fills my cup, allows me to make meaningful contributions, and make an impact, but I’m also careful not to stretch myself too thin.

Finally, I am in my final days, 33 to be exact, of my time on the City of Markham Race Relations Committee, where I’ve also served for the last year or so as the Chair. While my appointment expires on November 24th, I will remain in my role until December 2nd when the committee will select my replacement.

In July, I published an edition of this newsletter entitled: Who Are You at The Board Table? ; and it strikes me that I did not actually answer the question myself.

In much the same way that I seek out likeminded organizations to consult for , I seek out likeminded boards and organizations to be a director of. I’ll let you in on a little secret, I don’t sit on any “working” boards, I simply would not be able to be involved in as many organizations if I wasn’t focused in on my strengths in good governance.

That’s not to say I don’t DO any work, to the contrary, I’m on three committees spread across the two organizations where I’m a director; and yes, I am on at least one ‘governance’ committee. I simply recognize that my highest and best contribution is strategic, most of the time.

Today is ‘smart is cool’ day, so it seems as fitting a time as ever, to explain how I put “work smarter, not harder” into practice to make maximum impact with my available, time, talents and resources. Spoiler, this is also the theme of that book I’ve been working on for forever (the one I really need a better workflow for, to be honest).

A couple of weeks ago, I got to celebrate a big win – when I joined the Race Relations Committee it was almost immediately apparent to me that the committee lacked a focus on purpose; when I became Chair my goal was ‘to establish a common understanding amongst the committee and city on the purpose of the committee’; on October 8, 2024 I got to stand in front of General Committee and thank all those who worked alongside me on renewed Terms of Reference.

This week, I get to sit for a day alongside many in the Spinal Cord Injury Community, and think strategically about how to maximize the impact of SCIO; I am thankful to many of my fellow Directors who selflessly share their daily lived experiences with SCI, and who allow me to bring my own skills and experiences to the table with equal weight.

This week’s call to action, is to identify your available time, talents and resources, and apply them to work smarter, not harder, for the issues and causes you care about.

New and Noteworthy is a collection of things readers of #TuesdayThoughts might find interesting, important, or informative; This week New and Noteworthy is on hiatus, because I worked smarter, not harder, by scheduling this post on Thanksgiving Monday when I had the time to do it right.

I am a Certified Association Executive with over a dozen years of experience in leadership positions across Canada’s Not-for-Profit Sector, with deep ties in the Meetings and Events Industry. I use the art of storytelling in speech and writing to explain ideas, and to inform audiences and readers on a variety of topics. Learn more about how we can collaborate;

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