Page 7 - Becom Your Own CEO

Become Your Own CEO
Introduction
Strategic Planning. I first heard these words about 20 years ago at a board meeting for Parent to Parent of Miami, a non-profit serving the needs of parents with special needs children. My older son, David, a toddler at the time, had been diagnosed with Sensory Integration Dysfunction (SID), a sensory processing disorder often confused with autism. Looking for answers, I stumbled across the organization. They needed a lawyer and I needed answers, so when asked to join
the board I jumped at the chance. Every board member had a child with special needs. The organization was small but scrappy, never turning away a parent looking for hope. It needed
to grow. It needed resources. It needed cash. Lots of cash. So the Executive Director, Isabel Garcia, who today, is President and CEO, realized we needed a strategic plan. She explained we needed to define who we were, why we existed and where we were going. There were too many unmet needs in the community, and we needed to do more. So we met as a board. A lot. From those late night meetings was born a strategic plan to chart the course for the organization. The plan worked. Fundraising exploded. Volunteers joined. Third parties offered free services. It was transformational. To this day, Parent to Parent of Miami is a beacon in South Florida. Its outsized role is due in no small part to strategic planning – it defined its purpose, developed a plan to achieve it and implemented the plan, tweaking it along the way.
Since that first foray as a board member, I have had the privilege and pleasure of serving on numerous boards of non profits and trade associations (Florida Defense Lawyers Association, Defense Research Institute, Dade County Defense Bar Association, Miami Legal Services of Greater Miami, Florida Christian School, the 11th Judicial Circuit Historical Society, Florida International University’s Alumni Association, Florida International University’s Honors College) and have assisted these organizations craft their strategic plans. I co-wrote a book on strategic planning for voluntary associations (A Guide to Strategic Planning for State and Local Defense Organizations) and have helped voluntary bar associations across the country develop and implement strategic plans. Our own law firm has engaged in strategic planning, and I have advised other law firms about the process. Along the way, I realized that strategic planning can help individuals as much as it helps companies, law firms, trade associations, non profits and charities. Each of us can benefit from personal strategic planning. Each of us can benefit in defining and pursuing our purpose and embracing our destiny.
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