On January 2, 1997, I showed up for my first day of work as the Executive Director of the Oregon League of Conservation Voters (Oregon LCV).

The Board shouldn't have hired me.

I was only 30.  I had zero fundraising experience, virtually no personnel supervision experience, and had only been involved previously with one other nonprofit organization.

A few weeks into the job, I had the good fortune of attending a four-day boot camp designed for nonprofit Executive Directors.   The boot camp was very valuable - almost a lifesaver as I struggled to learn new skills.  The boot camp covered traditional areas of responsibility for an Executive Director, such as fundraising, financial management, personnel management, strategic planning, and board development.

But even with its value, there was something missing from that boot camp and from other nonprofit trainings I attended over the years.

What I rarely encountered was training that identified the patterns of behavior that separate Executive Directors who make their organizations thrive from those that merely do well.

Of course, part of what separates thriving nonprofits from others will always be better performance at the discrete skills that go into being an Executive Director.  All things being equal, the better fundraiser will raise more money.  More money allows organizations to do more good.

But in my own experience over a dozen years as Oregon LCV Executive Director, and in collaborating with, volunteering with, and consulting for dozens of nonprofits, I've come away convinced it's not primarily about the skill set.

It's about how those skills are applied, with what emphasis, and with what mind-set.

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