What does "scale" mean to you?
I am an avid podcast listener. My kids seem to think that's a Gen. X Mom thing. Maybe it is? All I can say is that knowing I can listen to a podcast while doing chores makes me look forward to driving carpool, folding laundry, and cleaning up dinner sometimes. One of my favorite podcasts is Armchair Expert with Dax Shepard. He recently interviewed Reid Hoffman, an entrepreneur who among other things was a co-founder of LinkedIn, who was on to promote his book and podcast Masters of Scale. (I haven't read the book or listened to the podcast, yet, but plan to.) On Armchair Expert Reid defined scale as number of people you impact x the depth of impact you have on them x persistent overtime.
As I listened to Reid's definition of scale what was compelling to me was that his definition of scale was about impact. To those of us in mission-driven work, it's always about the impact. In the nonprofit, K-12 education reform space impact drives us. We look at long-term impact like lifetime earning potential, mid-term impact like higher education graduation rates, and some shorter-term impact goals like high-school graduation rates and increased literacy fluency, for example. For all of the mission-driven sector, it makes me wonder if we broaden our definition of scale to include depth of impact and ongoing impact overs years, will it point us back to the root purpose of our work and remind us of our "Why"? This could be very powerful in our work.
How would your impact model shift if you applied Reid's definition of scale? What does it mean to you and your organization to consider the depth of impact? What about persistence over time?
For Jodi Akst Coaching (JAC) as I look towards 2022, I will certainly be paying attention to whether we're impacting more mission-driven leaders, increasing the depth of that impact, and are persistent overtime.
I wish you a very happy holiday season.
Jodi
It's been am amazing year for JAC. A very BIG thank you to our organizational clients. It's been an honor to support your work. THANK YOU ActBlue, Detroit Public Schools Community District, Georgia Charter Schools Association, Libraries Without Borders, The Danielson Group, and Urban Schools Human Capital Academy.
Another BIG thank you to the 24 individuals who engaged in executive coaching and/or who participated in one of our Women Leaders' Cohorts. You enriched our lives this year.
Two Spots Left
We have two spots open for cohort 3 of our Women Leaders' Cohort: Deliberate Impact. Cohort 2 had a 100% net promoter score. 10 out of 10 participants "would recommend this program to a friend or colleague". The cohort starts January 7.
Scale with us
We look forward to supporting you in 2022. Reach out to learn how we can work with you to create and implement a management and leadership cohort-based learning experience for your staff, provide growth modeling, help you with organizational design, partner with you on strategic planning, or provide executive coaching for your leaders.
