Tom Kaiden

Background

About Tom Kaiden

I love the challenge of turning around an underperforming non-profit into a thriving one. My goal is always to discern the unique assets of an organization, discard non-productive activities and launch new programs that deliver on mission, markets and members. How? Mission focus. Great people. Narrow priorities. Sound finances. Ultimately, we want to build an organization that delivers value for the community, and a team that delivers value for the organization. Mission I believe that turnaround begins with a refocus on mission. What is the intersection of current market need and our exceptional ability fulfill it? Where those two meet, we have unique purpose and value. In all of my roles, I have sought first to clarify the mission as the foundation for everything that follows. People I seek to recruit smart, undervalued, people with diverse skill sets, a team mindset and upside potential. In return for their commitment, I aim to offer an environment that sets direction, clears impediments, offers career growth, celebrates wins, and learns from losses. At some point, we know that every employee will leave (with our blessing) for a new challenge. But in the meantime, we have built a learning-oriented team of contributors who trust each other’s competence, energy, motives, and support. Priority Setting The hardest part of leadership is deciding what not to do. Non-profits are in the service business and attract people with a service mindset. There is always a temptation and rationale to say “yes”. But effective non-profits must focus on their highest rate of social return. In guiding organizations, I work with staff and board to set strategic priorities based on the tradeoffs between resource demand (time, money, people) and mission impact. Finances Non-profit work is vital and fulfilling. For the people who do the work to focus on the mission, the organization must be financially stable. In my work at every organization, I have grown revenues and gained efficiencies to ensure annual balanced budgets and growing reserves. With that financial foundation in place, staff can focus on priorities and boards can sleep at night.