Managing for a Higher Purpose

Your Leadership Role Assess local natural resource needs and issues Prioritize issues Set goals Coordinate human and financial resources to achieve goals Evaluate success Repeat

Make a list: How do you assess local natural resource needs and issues?

Your Leadership Role How do you assess local natural resource needs and issues?

Does your Board hold a strategic vision for the district? Vision Long range plan Strategic plan Annual plan Performance objectives What we want What we want in 3-5 years What we want in the next 12 months What our employees will accomplish in the next 12 months

Understand the mission and purpose of the district Vision: What we want “Sustained high quality of life for our counties’ residents” Mission: What our organization does “We conserve soil and water”

Monitor and evaluate performance of district manager Organizational goals Annual performance objectives Annual performance review Reward performance both ongoing and at intervals

Traditional Agenda 1.Approval of Minutes 2.Financial Report 3.Partners’ Reports -NRCS -CSCB -Cooperative Extension -others 4.District Report 5.Old Business 6.New Business

Strategic Agenda 1.Critical Issue One: Loss of prime farmland 2.Critical Issue Two: E.coli levels in Big Creek 3.Critical Issue Three: Increased volume of stormwater severely eroding banks of Little Creek 4.Approval of Minutes and Financial Report

Are we knowledgeable about our programs? What do we offer? Why do we offer each program and service? How are they used? Who participates? How do they fulfill our mission?

How do we regularly assess our own work? Did we achieve our goals? If not, what do we need to do differently? Are we fulfilling our mission? Are we serving our customers? Are our processes and procedures appropriate?

Do we hold an appropriate range of expertise and diversity? Age Type of work Gender Skills Experiences Other?

Developing the appropriate range of expertise and diversity What are three ways to improve variety of expertise, skills, experiences, and knowledge on your board? What are three ways partner organizations can help you with director recruitment?

Do we understand roles of board & staff? Envision future Manage present Take risks Approve budget Prepare budget Write annual plan Raise funds Manage employees Assess district manager performance Evaluate program effectiveness

A Board’s Job Big picture, not minutia Direction, not management Coaching Develop leadership partnership with staff Message Responsible for success or failure

Summary Your time is expensive, so make the most of the time you give to the district. If it is worth it to have an employee (which it is!), it is worth it to let them know the plan for them; to follow through; and reward their performance. Know your district’s priorities and the causes for which you work!

Summary Have fun! Take it seriously (but not too seriously)! Interact with others about district priorities. Communicate with other districts. Get active in your watershed!