We recently had the chance to connect with Nancy Batterman and have shared our conversation below.
Nancy, it’s always a pleasure to learn from you and your journey. Let’s start with a bit of a warmup: What do the first 90 minutes of your day look like?
Every morning I complete the Miracle Morning practice which includes Silence/Meditation, affirmations, visualization, exercise, reading and scripting/journaling. The Miracle Morning practice comes from Hal Elrod and his Book the Miracle Morning! I have been completing this practice for 2790 days.
Can you briefly introduce yourself and share what makes you or your brand unique?
I’m an executive coach and nonprofit strategist for nonprofit CEOs and their leadership teams. I am also the author of the Nonprofit Manifesto published in June of this year. I am passionate about nonprofits and supporting them to be as successful as possible. I worked in the nonprofit sector for over 40 years with over 30 of them as a CEO.
My superpower is strategic planning with nonprofits. I use a One Page Strategic Planning process that is highly effective and helps organizations operationalize their strategic plan and aligns the organization with their BHAG…Big Hairy Audacious Goal.
Great, so let’s dive into your journey a bit more. Who taught you the most about work?
Two people come to mind. First my father. He was a very hard worker as a salesman. He did sacrifice his career so that we didn’t have to move. He was an excellent salesman because he loved people. He was always smiling and teasing everyone. He knew how to work hard but also how to have fun.
The second person is my mentor Garland Peed. I met him early in my career and he really shaped me as a person and as a leader. He was patient and understanding. Yet he challenged me to be better, work hard and to follow my dreams. He also encouraged me to do what I enjoyed.
If you could say one kind thing to your younger self, what would it be?
Work is not everything. Each of us has to separate who we are personally and professionally. My younger self dedicated my life to my job, my career and my employees. I didn’t know where my job ended and my personal life began. I realized late in my career that most people didn’t think like I did. They knew how to separate themselves from their job. It’s a lesson I share with others especially young leaders.
So a lot of these questions go deep, but if you are open to it, we’ve got a few more questions that we’d love to get your take on. What are the biggest lies your industry tells itself?
Unfortunately many nonprofits do not think of themselves as businesses. They forget that “nonprofit” is just a tax status and that to be viable nonprofits should spend time focusing on where their money comes from. It is a primary reason I wrote my book, The Nonprofit Manifesto: A Strategic Roadmap to the Business of Nonprofits.
My book focuses on strategic planning and offering different ways for nonprofits to operate more like business. I include examples of exercises they can do to better understand the environment they operate in. There is also a chapter on diversifying funding. This is especially important when there is funding uncertainty at both the state and federal level.
Okay, so let’s keep going with one more question that means a lot to us: Are you tap dancing to work? Have you been that level of excited at any point in your career? If so, please tell us about those days.
Yes, I am experiencing that excitement right now with my executive coaching business. Supporting nonprofits through the strategic planning process and advising them on how to succeed allows them to have a greater impact in the community. I have a variety of nonprofit clients both large and small. Watching them grow successfully and following their strategic plan is wonderfully exhilarating.
Here’s an example, I have a small client, the Mt Helix Park Foundation, which is a a membership organization. We are finishing up our 3rd year together. They have a Big Hairy Audacious Goal to have an endowment of $5 million and a 3 Year Highly Achievable Goal to complete several large infrastructure projects which they will accomplish. They have established their endowment fund and their membership has consistently grown each year and so has their fundraising. It’s impressive to see them move forward with focus and alignment.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://www.TheNonprofitManifesto.com
- Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/nancybatterman
