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Getting Winter's Cussedness Out
Written by Benjamin Webb | Monday, February 14, 2011
ShareThisDear Friends,
It’s been a cold winter, with harsh wind chills, the snow deep and drifted, and many overcast days, though this day is clear, warm and bright - almost as if spring offers its first greeting.
But until a day like this one, winter in the Midwest can be long, and whether light sensitive or not, people so easily get cabin cramps this time of year, with a little grumpiness seeping into our organizations. What’s a leader to do when he or she feels short-tempered or blue themselves? How does one get the cussedness out, whether your own or others?
That phrase, “getting the cussedness out”, belongs to Arnold Webster, a nurseryman who was a dear friend of Daryl Smith, one of Iowa’s foremost prairie restorationists. After one of their regular walks in the prairie together, Arnold turned to Daryl and said, “An hour in the prairie will take the cussedness out of any man.”
Reflecting and Opening
Written by Hannah McCargar | Tuesday, January 11, 2011
Light comes, a little more each day now. Opening hands release the old year, opening space to reflect anew.
Dear Friends,
From deep winter here in the upper Midwest, a reflection to share with you:
Renewing Leaders As They Face a Perfect Storm
Written by Benjamin Webb | Tuesday, July 13, 2010
This has been a year of great blessings for the Center for Regenerative Society that few startup nonprofits experience. From Day #1, the confidence and generosity we received from the W.K. Kellogg Foundation has allowed us to do all the necessary spadework involved in planning, organizational development, and pilot programming. Because of their strong commitment we are now well positioned to deliver solid leadership renewal programs for those on the frontlines of creating a healthy, just and sustainable society in our region.
The challenging “upstream” work of the leaders we serve, and the public resistance they often meet, make their road a tough and lonely one under the best of circumstances. In the “new normal,” more and more services are now expected to be delivered with fewer and fewer resources (the “nonprofit starvation cycle”). Add all of these stressors together, and we have a perfect storm that threatens the social sector’s ability to retain its leaders, deliver on promises and sustain cultural change, and therefore secure funders’ long-term program investments at the community level.
