Creating Safe And Nurturing Spaces In Organizations
Within my capacity of leading youth organizations as well as training boards and executive teams of nonprofit organizations, it is clear that organizations and leaders need to play a significant role in creating safe and nurturing spaces, as well as protecting the mental, emotional and physical safety of youth.
Predators come in many shapes, sizes and forms and must be vilified and stopped! Protecting our Youth from them is a collective responsibility that’s a million times more important than the reputation of a predator or an organization. Leaders that are reluctant and fear organizational repercussions of taking action when evidence has been thoroughly examined need to live up to their responsibility courageously or step away. Inaction in such cases should never be tolerated.
Here are my quick thoughts on some of the actionable preventative measures that we recommend in our trainings:
Screen: Regardless of pressure to expedite the recruiting process in many nonprofits, carefully screen potential candidates prior to hiring them as paid staff and/or volunteers who work directly with youth.
Compliance: Abide by the latest laws and regulations to protect their safety and wellbeing.
Policies: Set and communicate clear policies about appropriate and inappropriate interactions, guidelines, and boundaries to staff and youth alike. Ensure that staff clearly understand the consequences of violating laws and regulations as well as organizational policies, and have them sign agreements if need be. In addition, ensure that youth clearly identify healthy interactions as well as appropriate reporting mechanisms and actions that they and their caregivers can take if their rights are violated.
Training: Regardless of limited resources for many nonprofits, provide ongoing training as well as educational materials on creating safe and healthy environments and relationships to both staff and youth. One completely overlooked training subject to protect our youth is to develop their emotional intelligence skills so they’re less likely to be abused, manipulated, or groomed, especially when they are vulnerable due one circumstance or another.
Practices: Provide checks and balances in the design and implementation of youth programs and visible youth spaces, limit potentially problematic interactions and communications, supervise and monitor relationships closely to minimize potential exploitations, and survey the pulse formally and informally, anonymously and otherwise.
Some of the actionable interventions include:
Act:
Beware of overreacting or under reacting and take every allegation seriously. Suspend the program and alleged offender immediately after report of abuse! Comply and partner with youth government agencies as well as law enforcement authorities to investigate and take the responsible, even if difficult, actions necessary to mitigate and hold predators accountable. If verified and substantiated, leaders have to go beyond just termination, and that’s what we signed up for when we took the leadership roles. We signed up to serve and protect the youth and the community regardless of the discomfort or difficulty of the decisions.
Communicate:
Beware of over communicating or under communicating, and ensure the right stakeholders are on the same page and up to date with the most accurate and transparent information.
Resources:
Provide or at least facilitate the referral to mental health counseling, legal and financial assistance to reduce deterrents of proceeding with full action, and other needed support to assist the victims of abuse with recovery.
Culture:
learn from the incident and improve the selection process, programs, policies, and practices in order to minimize recurrence and make that the DNA of the organization.
Share:
It is our duty to help other youth organizations and communities by sharing with them references as well as best practices so that predators who slip through the cracks don’t find new grounds and opportunities to prey on.
May we live up to our responsibilities of protecting, developing and supporting the youth by any means necessary.
Best regards,
Dr. Mohammed Almathil
10 Tips For Students
I want to take this opportunity to remind you of my top 10 tips for students that will help you lead a successful semester.
INTENTION
Set an intention that you want to make a positive impact and help others through the education that you are pursuing.
VISION
Give serious attention to identifying your purpose and to find your calling then declare your major accordingly. It requires effort from research, to results of aptitude tests, experiments, and counseling, etc.
ORGANIZATION
Organize your papers, notes, and presentations on Google Drive so that you can access them easily and conveniently. Also place all of the important exam dates and deadlines that you have on your syllabus on Google calendar and synchronize it on your electronic devices so you can receive automatic reminders.
RELATIONSHIPS
Nurture relationships with professors by sitting in the front of the class, being proactive in participation, utilizing their office hours and networking with them through other settings. This will ultimately help you with letters of recommendation, internship opportunities, etc.
PRIORITIZATION
Avoid distractions and set a checklist and a clear schedule of tasks and make sure that you manage your time based on first things first. At the end of the day, your purpose is acquiring your education, developing your skills and graduating with excellence.
PREPERATION
Study in advance alone or with a study group of serious students. Believe me from experience that cramming the night before will not bring much benefit. You might retain the information in short term memory for the exam, but you will find difficulty maintaining it for the long term.
CAPITALIZATION
Take advantage of the numerous resources on campus to grow, learn, and benefit, whether by going to the career center, tutoring center, scholarship office, or attending professional training workshops, etc. Many students are too busy running in and out of classes that they lose out on these opportunities.
OBLIGATION
Remember to fulfill other personal, spiritual, or social obligations so that you remain balanced. Block time in your schedule to attend to such obligations.
RECREATION
Maintain a healthy lifestyle of sleep, food and exercise as well as a decent dose of fun time. Take breaks and reward yourself when you get an A on a paper, etc.
CONTRIBUTION
Join student clubs and volunteer some time to help as long as you don’t drown yourself in volunteering at the expense of your education. Make sure to add that experience to your resume if it is of value.
Best regards,
Dr. Mohammed Almathil
10 Tips for College Graduates
Dear college graduates,
First, congratulations on your achievement. Second, I know it can be difficult to celebrate and at the same time grapple with a state of confusion, loneliness, uncertainty, and fear of how life changes after graduation. Such overwhelming feelings can be compounded further with living through crises. On top of that, the expectation and constant pressure of family members for us to get jobs can make it weigh even heavier on the shoulders. I know this is a tough time for many, but here are some tips that I hope you find helpful:
SELF-CARE
Take care of yourself by striving to maintain a healthy lifestyle, both mentally and physically. Even simple joys and self-care activities such as reading, talking to a dear and supportive family member or friend, short walks, and journaling can go a long way.
COMMUNICATE
Have an honest and open conversation with family members and set realistic expectations to not bombard you with constant communication about getting a job, to offer you some sort of support as you’re going through this challenging transition, or at least to give you some space (if that’s what you need).
RESOURCES
Even though you just graduated, you can still utilize your resources from college such as the career center, advisors, professors, and even former classmates. Tap your network for help, advice and potential referrals.
PLAN
Have a clear plan of what positions you want to apply for, which organizations, how many jobs will you apply for daily, and when. Research and organize all potential roles that align with your passion and strengths into a document or a spreadsheet, then prepare and refresh various alterations of your resume, cover letter, and social media profiles. Make sure to log and track your application submissions.
SKILLS
Keep developing and growing your skills by taking online courses and applying them. Not only can learning skills potentially give you an edge in your job application process, but it can potentially help you personally to be your best self during this difficult time, and professionally to be well prepared to perform when you land a job. Even if you have to invest some money to take courses and enhance your skills, it will most likely be worth it. If you are unable to financially, then try as much as you can with free resources.
PERSIST
Most likely, you will not hear back from many companies and you might even get many rejections. Prime yourself emotionally from now so it doesn’t affect you as much. More importantly, keep on modifying your application materials, and approach to interviews. Be resilient and persist regardless of rejections, and make applying for jobs your full time job until you land a job!
FLEXIBLE
Without a doubt, be ambitious in applying to your dream company, role, salary, benefits, etc but at the same time, crisis behoves us to adapt and compromise on some negotiable matters while never compromising on the non-negotiable matters. If it works for you depending on your situation, be flexible to even consider a lower role or salary, to further your education with a higher degree, or to get an internship as a way to build experience, gain skills and as a pathway to a role within the same organization or another.
PRODUCTIVE
No matter how broke we are, or how “free” we are since we don’t have jobs yet, they are never excuses for us to “kill” our time on social media or on things and activities that don’t reap us much benefit. Having a schedule, staying productive and busying ourselves with things that help us make progress are of the utmost importance during this stage. Not doing so can inhibit us from transitioning to a career smoothly and reaching our goals. Even more seriously, it can possibly lead us to self-doubt, and a dangerous vicious cycle of negative thoughts, risk behaviors, and unpleasant emotions.
HOPE
I know that things might seem dark at the moment especially when we read about companies filing for bankruptcy, or laying off employees, or freezing their hiring, or slowing down their recruitment process. However, we must stay hopeful and optimistic that things will get better as long as we keep doing everything we can from your end.
INNOVATE
If you have a vision, and an inspiring idea that you’re passionate about and skill sets to back them up, then consider starting your own organization or business especially if you are not inclined to a traditional career route. Starting an organization is not necessarily easy and requires time, effort, resources, patience, etc. However, while we are experiencing a time of difficulty, it can be a time of opportunity if we think creatively and lead accordingly.
Best regards,
Dr. Mohammed Almathil
Emotional Intelligence & Everyday Leadership
Imagine the following situation. You and your wife are extremely exhausted due to lack of sleep, hungry since you didn’t have much time to grab something to eat, and anxious to catch your flight back to your hometown. You are not in the best physical or psychological state. You finally sit and fasten your seatbelt as the pilot says with a voice that doesn’t make you feel any better; “Welcome aboard”. What would you want to do then? Eat? Sleep? Both?
My wife and I were in such a situation when returning from a trip to Texas. But what happened next quickly changed our mood and even made our day. We experienced a heartwarming gesture. A mother sitting behind us said; “Excuse me, please accept this gift from my son.” She handed us a bag of candy as you can see in this original picture with a note inside that had the following message:
“Good afternoon! My name is Liam and I am 2 years old. This is my first time on an airplane! My parents are not sure what to expect. I’ll try to be on my best behavior, but here is a sweet treat and an apology in advance for any disturbances. Happy traveling!’
Despite traveling excessively, we had never experienced such an encounter. In fact, we have experienced situations of kids yelling, crying, and disturbing us while their parents didn’t do much to mitigate the situation. In this case however, it was as if our exhaustion and hunger suddenly melted away. We smiled, thanked her, and complimented her creativity and generosity.
My wife and I spoke about our encounter with Liam’s mother the entire week, and we reflected on the lessons we learned from her. I thought about the striking association between the mother and what I had learned from Daniel Goleman’s book on Emotional Intelligence. Even though I didn’t know the mother, I can confidently say that she has a heightened sense of sympathy and a high level of soft skills. She exemplified emotional intelligence in practice, not in theory. In an interview with Forbes, Goleman says that “leaders need an inner focus to be aware of their own feelings, values and intuitions, and to manage themselves well. A focus on others allows a leader to read people well, which is key to managing relationships, the art of leading itself. And an outer focus lets a leader understand the larger forces and systems that she must navigate and to determine the best strategy going forward.”
Some other lessons we learned from the mother were:
We have to think about potential risks of what we do. In this case, she projected in advance the possible scenarios of her child crying or screaming and disturbing other passengers.
Second, we have to consider the impact of those risks on people around us. She could have easily disregarded other people’s emotions but instead, she tried to place herself in other people’s shoes.
Third, we have to plan and strategize a way to minimize the negative impact if we can’t control it completely. The mother in this case was intelligent enough to turn such potential risk into an opportunity of doing something positive.
We have to apply leadership practices in our daily lives. From this situation alone, she leveraged self awareness, communication, creativity, sympathy, strategy and many more leadership qualities.
Even though my wife and I don’t have kids yet, we thought about traveling with our child in the future inshaAllah. We thought of incorporating the same idea but changing the content of the gift and the message. Here is what we came up with:
“Hi! My name is Aladdin and I am 3 years old. I will try my best to be less fussy than I usually am. It’s the first time my parents take me on a plane ride with them so I’ll try to cut them some slack. Please bare with us. Also, enjoy some treats on me. I hope this will be as smooth as my magic carpet ride. May the odds be in our favor.”
So if you are traveling with your children this summer, consider other passengers on board. If you are traveling alone, then consider parents and the challenges they go through while traveling with their children. In addition, Keep in mind that we also need to apply these skills of everyday leadership and emotional intelligence in other scenarios as well, not just while traveling. It starts by looking at the world through other people’s eyes.
Best regards,
Dr. Mohammed Almathil
His/her behavior is toxic but I can't fire him/her!
“Even though s/he puts up a front as if s/he is an angel to our clients, we know s/he is a pathological liar, toxic, manipulative, abusive, passive-aggressive individual who undermines and sabotages the work of others while thriving on gossip and spreading rumors, but we just can’t fire him/her!”
I have seen and heard various iterations of the above repeatedly from leaders and board members who face challenges of dealing with employees who exhibit toxic behaviors.They not only underperform, which is harmful in and of itself, but also negatively impact the morale, retention, and performance of others through their toxic behaviors. Even if they perform and excel in their assigned tasks, their negative impact on team synergy and organizational performance cannot be ignored. Based on my experience training leaders and board members, I have identified some reasons they may hesitate to terminate such employees, as well as some suggestions for overcoming these hesitations:
Belief in Potential Change: Some leaders hesitate to fire employees who exhibit toxic behaviors because they believe in their potential to change for the better despite persisting behavior. While denying an employee's potential for change isn’t realistic, remaining somewhat delusional is problematic. Such a belief isn’t necessarily rooted in observing tangible positive changes and an improved pattern of behavior due to performance improvement plans and coaching opportunities. Rather, leaders have convinced themselves of it as a scapegoat for lacking the courage to prioritize the overall health and effectiveness of the organization by making the difficult decision of termination. To mitigate this, leaders who conduct a thorough performance evaluation and don’t see progress within a specific timeframe, and are still indecisive, should step down from their leadership role at least to safeguard their professional credibility and moral conscience.
Knowledge Transfer Concerns: If the employee has been with the organization for a long time and possesses unique administrative knowledge, such as method and cadence to contact specific donors or vendors, it can be daunting to find someone who can handle their tasks smoothly. In this case, providing training to other staff members and creating comprehensive documentation of databases, processes and procedures can help facilitate a smooth transition.
Service Disruption Concerns: Firing a toxic employee may disrupt ongoing projects or programs, affecting the organization's ability to fulfill its mission. To mitigate this, board members can develop contingency plans of temporary disruption, redistribute responsibilities among existing team members, or explore temporary support options until a suitable replacement is found.
Replacement Challenges: Board members may worry about the challenges of finding a competent and suitable replacement for the employee. This can be addressed by conducting a thorough recruitment process, leveraging professional networks, and considering the potential for cross-training existing staff members to fill the role.
Compassion for Personal Circumstances: In cases where the employee is a widower, single mother, or facing other financial challenges, and relies solely on their nonprofit role for their livelihood, board members may feel hesitant to terminate their employment out of concern about adding further burdens. This hesitance of deeply compassionate leaders, while not mandatory or theologically and logically sound, can be redirected through termination in conjunction with the exploration of offering financial counseling, referring them to job placement services, and connecting them with community resources that can help alleviate the impact of termination.
Personal Relationship and Attachment: Board members may be relatives of the individual who exhibit toxic behaviors or may develop personal connections or emotional attachments to them, making it difficult to separate their personal feelings from their duty to the team, organization and the community. Encouraging open discussions around conflicts of interests, and reminding board members of their moral and fiduciary responsibilities to separate personal feelings from organizational duties can help them make objective decisions in the best interest of the organization.
Emotional Instability: Dealing with an emotionally unstable employee who exhibits toxic behaviors can be challenging. Board members should prioritize the safety and well-being of the organization's staff, taking necessary precautions to mitigate potential harm and seeking support from law enforcement authorities and mental health professionals if needed.
Fear of Retaliation: Retaliation from the employee who consistently exhibits toxic behaviors can be intimidating. Board members may be reluctant to take action due to concerns that the toxic individual will spread false damaging rumors about the organization or members in it. To overcome this, it's important to establish a culture of transparency and clear communication, ensuring that accurate information is readily available to stakeholders to refute inaccurate rumors and alleviate doubts. Additionally, It's essential to have measures in place to protect the organization and its members, such as legal measures and documenting/acting on instances of retaliation/misconduct/harassment, etc.
Legal Concerns: Board members might be concerned about potential legal consequences or wrongful termination lawsuits if they do not have sufficient evidence or documentation to support their decision to fire the employee. This fear of violating employment laws can make them cautious about taking action. To mitigate this, board members should consult with HR or legal advisors for guidance and support to ensure compliance with all relevant regulations, document performance and behavior issues accurately, follow established policies and procedures, and enroll in training on employment laws and termination best practices.
Fear of Community Backlash: Front-line and client-facing employees who exhibit toxic behaviors often present a deceptive and heavily filtered version of themselves to community members in order to gain their trust and loyalty. Therefore, board members might fear negative reactions and drama (such as rallies, boycotts, withdrawing from services and withholding donations) from certain community members if they decide to fire the employee. It's crucial to be prepared to communicate the facts and the organization's response to stakeholders, donors, and the public in a proactive manner by addressing the reasons behind the decision and emphasizing the organization's commitment to its mission and values.
By acknowledging and addressing these hesitations and concerns, leaders and board members can navigate the challenges associated with terminating employees who exhibit toxic behaviors, thereby fostering a healthier and more productive organizational environment.
Best regards,
Dr. Mohammed Almathil
7 Responsibilities of Effective Nonprofit Boards
Without a doubt, no one denies the fact that many boards of nonprofit organizations seem sincere, dedicated and service oriented. Some sacrifice tremendous amount of time and money, and perform an excellent job in establishing, growing and sustaining their nonprofit organizations. They deserve our appreciation, and need to be recognized for their effectiveness. With that in mind, we also have to acknowledge that there are many dysfunctional boards who despite having sincere intentions and dedicating financial resources, are deemed ineffective. This is due to many reasons which include; vagueness of the organization’s purpose, lack of clarity of roles and positions, imbalanced powers and authorities, lack of clarity on expectations from the board members and executive team, micromanagement style of board members who involve themselves excessively in short terms tactics and execution, distractions internally and externally with organizational politics and tensions, incompetent members, and more...
Nonetheless, one solution that enables board members to become more effective is defining and understanding their role and responsibilities. Regardless of the stage and size of the organization, it will assist them in improving their performance. Here are the 7 responsibilities of effective nonprofit boards:
Focus on long term planning and direction of the organization in regards to the vision, mission, values, scope, and strategic objectives.
Develop criteria, select, orient, and align new, competent, committed, and diverse board members, and evaluate their performance and contribution to the organization since accountability goes both ways.
Diversify revenue for long term financial sustainability, and work on generating funds through board members, donors, grants, and other avenues in order to secure sufficient financial resources for the organization to fulfill it’s mission.
Ensure adherence to legal, financial and ethical standards, and provide proper financial controls and oversight based on generally accepted accounting principles.
Promote and bring exposure to the organization, and increase visibility and support from the community.
Recruit, support, and evaluate the performance of the Executive Director who leads the executive team.
Set realistic expectations depending on the resources allocated to the Executive Director, and monitor the execution of the operational plans on an annual basis, and ensure alignment with the organization’s mission.
I hope that the above helps clarify the responsibilities of your board moving forward. If you have any questions, please leave them in the comment section below, and I will do my best to answer them. I wish you and your organization the best of success.
Best Regards,
Dr. Mohammed Almathil
Are you a lifelong learner?
Our degrees or formal education that we have acquired thus far are not the end of our education, but rather the beginning of our lifelong learning journey.
You might ask what constitutes a lifelong learner? Here are the primary qualities of lifelong learners:
Have a purpose and goal for learning.
Grow their knowledge and skills continuously as a habit.
Set time in their calendar dedicated to learning
Invest financially in the most important asset, themselves.
Humble and curious about discovering what they don’t know.
Join and participate in a community of learners and mentors.
Motivated to engage in various learning experiences (courses, conferences, etc) autonomously.
Stretch themselves with difficulty and risk beyond their comfort zone.
Practice deliberately in pursuit of excellence and mastery.
Recognize and enjoy the return on investment from such a lifestyle.
Regardless of where you are today, realize that you can become more competent, confident, and more capable but it will require you to put in the work. It doesn't happen by chance. Put in some time today and learn to become a better version of yourself.
Regards,
Dr. Mohammed Almathil
10X3 Tips for More Effective Delegation
Delegation is an essential skill that every leader and manager needs to master in order to enhance performance and output. It is the process of assigning tasks, projects and responsibilities to individuals while providing them with the direction, authority, resources, and support necessary to achieve the expected results.
Delegation has several benefits, which include but are not limited to:
It can allow leaders and managers to focus on more complex and demanding issues.
It can reduce stress and burnout from overwhelming workload by redistributing tasks to others.
It can foster trust with team members as it demonstrates the leader's faith and confidence in their team's abilities.
It can maximize the use of resources, which improve productivity and efficiency.
It can improve job satisfaction, commitment, and motivation if team members are granted both psychological safety and autonomy to determine how to accomplish assigned tasks
It can result in better decision-making when members, who mitigate blind spots, are closer to a problem and have more timely information about it, are empowered to act. Moreover, making decisions can be mentally taxing, leading to decision fatigue. This may cause decision-making quality to decrease over time. Delegating decisions can help leaders avoid this fatigue and maintain high-quality decision-making.
It provides professional growth opportunities for team members, thereby enhancing their competencies and value to the organization.
To maximize the benefits, allow me to share with you some actionable tips that can make a difference in your delegation process. Moving forward, please consider the following 10x3 tips of before, during and after delegating.
BEFORE:
Overcome hesitations to delegate and accept that you have limited capacity that prevents you from doing everything as a leader. If not, at least recognize your preferences for delegation as a leader, and identify low-risk, repetitive, and time-consuming tasks that you can delegate with minimal fears and hesitations.
Reflect on previous delegation experiences, and examine what went well and what you could have done differently as a leader.
Develop a delegation framework or process that can be used as a reference point to guide you and other leaders within your organization on when and how to delegate.
Define the goals, expected quality, and desired results of the task or project.
Determine the timeline and resources (tools, budget, staff, information, etc.) to be allocated to the successful completion of the task or project.
Recognize the interdependencies of the decisions around the task and project you aim to delegate in order to inform your expectations, decision, and delegation strategy.
Set boundaries and limits regarding responsibility and accountability:
What level of autonomy and authority will the team member be granted?
What resources at their disposal must they adhere to?
What is the feedback mechanism and cadence?
When can he/she ask for guidance and direction?
When can he/she take initiative and immediate decisions and actions without explicit instructions?
How often should he/she update on progress? What type of report is expected?
What cultural nuances must be considered in communication or otherwise?
If possible, include the team members in the decision-making process of what tasks and projects are delegated to them.
Evaluate the potential team member’s knowledge, strengths, weaknesses, interests, skills, work style, preferences, current workload and attitude to determine if they match the task and project.
Does the team member have the capacity to take on more responsibilities, tasks and projects?
Will the new task or project require reorganizing their ongoing responsibilities and tasks in a beneficial or detrimental manner?
Does the delegated task align with the team member’s short term or long-term career aspirations and interests?
Does the team member prefer self-reliance and independence or highly involved prescriptive guidance?
Does the person have the competencies necessary or would they need training to better perform the task?
If they are less skilled, do they prefer more structured assignments? If they are more skilled, do they prefer less structured assignments?
Is this the right time to delegate the task or project to the team member, or are there potential schedule conflicts due to personal (vacation) and professional reasons (an expected client delivery)?
Is the team member too close to the trenches of similar tasks or projects to avoid blind spots or too far removed to avoid inefficiencies?
Does the team member typically find meaning and motivation in tedious tasks or projects?
What degree of ease and difficulty is ideal for the team member’s comfort and capability?
Consider a short trial period to gauge a team member’s ability and dependability, and prepare your backup plan accordingly.
DURING:
Communicate the assigned task or project and ensure the team member understands what is expected and why it is important. Articulate the goals, deadlines, expected quality standard, resources, constraints and measures of success in a clear manner.
If necessary, train the team member on how to successfully execute on the task or project.
Be patient if the team member is new to the task or project and hence takes longer to complete it at first until he/she gets in a rhythm and learns to become more efficient with it.
If applicable depending on the team member, encourage independent thinking, innovative problem solving, and decision making autonomy within appropriate parameters.
Ensure resources are available to the team member and major roadblock are removed to enable success. Even though lack of resources and abundance of problems can encourage and challenge some to be more resourceful; it can demotivate and frustrate others.
Monitor and track the progress of the task and project. Even though you delegated it, the overall responsibility still lies with you as manager. Maintain oversight to ensure that the decisions and execution align with the project objectives and broader strategy of the department and organization, and adjust plans and tactics as needed depending on performance.
Acknowledge mistakes as part of the learning process, and remind and reinforce boundaries if forgotten, misunderstood, or violated.
Provide adequate support, feedback, and answer questions as needed or agreed upon to cultivate trust and demonstrate faith in the abilities of the team member.
Avoid the trap of upward delegation by not allowing the person to pass the task back to you when problems arise. Instead, encourage them or coach them to come up with potential solutions. In rare cases when you have to consider alternatives, re-delegate to another team member.
Prioritize the result over the process by concentrating on what needs to be achieved and allowing the team member to figure out his/her own method and use his/her own approach, instead of insisting on a particular method of task completion. There are exceptions of course depending on the type of tasks, projects and team members.
AFTER:
After task or project completion, refrain from re-doing or over-correcting the work unless absolutely necessary, then coach the assignee.
Ensure proper documentation of the completed task and project that will serve as a repository of organizational knowledge.
Assess and compare the final results and outcomes with the initial expectations and goals to identify the gaps in the delegation process, allocation of resources, communication and feedback mechanism, and/or execution of the task or project.
Encourage self-evaluation by allowing the team member to reflect on the experience, understand what went well, and identify areas of improvement.
Provide constructive feedback whether the task or project was completed successfully or not, and consider investing in training programs to bridge the skill gaps.
Ask for feedback yourself from your team members, and determine what you could do better as a leader to improve future delegations. Identify patterns in the tasks that are frequently delegated to forecast and plan for future delegation, and adjust based on the ever-evolving team and organizational dynamics.
Reward your team member’s efforts by celebrating even the small wins and milestones reached, and recognize and give credit where it’s due.
Depending on the case, empower the team member with more responsibility and authority by delegating more important and complex tasks and projects in the future.
Refine your delegation framework or process for a more streamlined, flexible, efficient, and improved experience.
Encourage a team culture where team members also feel empowered to delegate tasks within their purview.
I hope that applying the above tips will help you lead and delegate more effectively.
Best Regards,
Dr. Mohammed Almathil
Forming An Organization
After traveling to many communities around the country and working with boards of organizations as well as meeting many college students, I have noticed a positive trend. While this conclusion isn’t backed by research, rather by observation, it seems that many start their own businesses and organizations. I have seen a variety of different approaches such as those who start their modest clothing lines. sell products on Amazon, provide coaching services, establish organic markets, develop mobile apps for the medical industry, offer wedding planning services, and many more Halal business ventures. This spirit of ethical and socially conscious entrepreneurship is a positive sign of leadership.
There are many reasons as to why some people attempt to start their own businesses. Some do so for the following reasons:
To emulate and follow role models who were successful businessmen and women.
To repel poverty.
Turn an idea they are passionate about into reality.
To support their families and pay off their debts.
To enjoy a certain quality of life and gain financial freedom.
To be able to spend more family time due to their stability.
To spend more time in volunteering and giving back to the community.
To have autonomy and flexibility in managing their own schedules.
To provide better alternatives to what exists in the market.
To become producers and not just consumers.
I constantly get bombarded by many questions, and some revolve around identifying a business model and others revolved around the differences amongst forms of organizations. As for the business model, several years ago I learned about developing one which helped me in my own HR consulting business. This model enables you to brainstorm and to have a broader picture of the internal and external elements of your business operation. We have to do our part and ultimately as Allah says: “In the heaven is your provision and whatever you are promised.” (51:22)
Business Model
Value proposition
What value (products and services) are you offering?
What problem are you eliminating or reducing for your customers?
What is unique about your products and services?
Customer segment
Who are your target customers?
Channels
How do your competitors reach your customers?
What are the most efficient and cost efficient ways to reach your customers?
Customer relationships
What is your customer acquisition price?
How do you attract and retain your customers?
Revenue streams
What is your pricing strategy?
Key resources
What and how much resources do you need to fulfill your value proposition, distribution channels, customer relationships, and revenue streams?
Key activities
What do you have to do in order to fulfill your value proposition, distribution channels, customer relationships, and revenue streams?
Key partners
Who are your partners and suppliers?
Which resources and activities are you receiving from your partners?
Cost structure
What are the costs associated with your business model?
What are the most expensive key resources and activities?
I wish you the best of success in building your business.
Best regards,
Dr. Mohammed Almathil
Different Forms of Organizations
While many aspire to start their own businesses, most are confused about the legal entity of their business. For those who have asked me about the differences between various forms of businesses, here is a quick, basic, and high level breakdown of the most common legal forms. Please note that in this blog, I avoided listing another form which is non-profit organizations since it is not tied to the previous blog in terms of increasing your personal revenue.
Sole Proprietorship: This form of business is owned by a single person.
Advantages:
Very easy to form.
It is the least regulated legally.
Revenue is taxed only once as personal income.
All profits gained are kept by a single owner.
Disadvantages:
The business is limited to the life of the owner. So if he/she dies, the business dissolves.
The owner has unlimited liability which means creditors can go after his/her personal assets.
It is limited in capital as the owner can use mainly his/her personal wealth or borrow money, which limits many business opportunities due to insufficient funds.
Partnership: This form of business is owned by two or more individuals or even entities.
Advantages:
Relatively easy to form.
Risk is minimized and shared between multiple individuals.
More capital can be raised since there is two or more owners.
Revenue is taxed only once as personal income.
Disadvantages:
The partnership ends when a partner dies.
Relatively more difficult to transfer the ownership of the business.
Corporation: Intends to make an impact and maximize profits for the owner, whether it be one or more individuals or entities.
Advantages:
There is limited liability in the sense that creditors cannot necessarily go after the personal assets of the owners.
A corporation has an unlimited lifespan and transferring ownership is relatively easy.
In general, there is a separation of ownership and management. Owners are usually members of the boards, and if feasible, they hire a CEO and a management staff. Startups are different in the sense that the role of the owners is to manage the organization until it becomes financially feasible for them to hire and recruit a management team.
It is easier to raise capital.
Disadvantages:
There is an agency problem from separation of ownership and management.
Double taxation. Income is taxed at the corporate rate and then dividends are taxed at the personal rate.
There are more but decide between the above as you see fit and depending on your situation. You might also want to consider delegating this task and spending money in order to save yourself valuable time. While this is not meant as an endorsement, but rather to give you a sense of direction, there are many companies that offer online services to register and form your business. One such service that I have used to register two of my businesses is: LegalZoom.com.
Best Regards,
Dr. Mohammed Almathil