Your Lighthouse

By Susan D. Rostkoski, Principal Consultant

Lighthouses are often emblematic of what’s solid, important, and unchanging. They represent hope, security, guidance, and protection. One of my favorite stories (no doubt apocryphal) follows and is illustrative of the permanence of lighthouses:

Two radio operators, one of them aboard a U.S. Navy ship, had the following exchange: 

Radio 1: Please divert your course 15 degrees to the north to avoid a collision.

Radio 2: Recommend you divert YOUR course 15 degrees.

Radio 1: This is the captain of a U.S. Navy ship. I say again, divert your course.

Radio 2: No, I say again, divert YOUR course.

Radio 1: This is an aircraft carrier of the U.S. Navy. We are a large warship. Divert your course now!

Radio 2: This is a lighthouse. Your call.

Although sometimes lighthouses identify themselves by using colored light, most make use of a flash of light, followed by a period of darkness. This pattern is called the lighthouse's "characteristic."

It is critical in this period of reduced funding, increased demand, programming changes, and staff shortages to assess your organization’s “characteristic.”

a. If you were to ask your donors (large, small, governmental, institutional) what they believe are your best characteristics, what would the top three be? Have you asked them recently?

b. Maybe you got pulled into unfamiliar territory during the pandemic and now you are wondering “How did we get here and do we need to stay?” Worthy questions that require serious consideration.

c. What attracted your best employees in the first place and what makes them stay? Have you asked them what is “characteristic”?

d. Do people associate your organization with a focused, passionate cause? Can they say it in a few words?

e. Lighthouses stand at the edge of two worlds: land and sea. Has your organization defined where you are in the world you inhabit?

f. Lighthouses can be a symbol for steadfastness and trust. What is your organization’s trust level in the community with your donors and staff and those who are willing to tell hard truths?

g. What in your organization lights you up, gives you meaning and purpose, and a reason to go to work each day?

h. Are you known for your absolute focus on your mission?

I have a small replica of a lighthouse that was gifted to me by a friend. It is on my desk on a shelf at eye level and reminds me daily of the need to focus, to help others find their way, and to strive to embody all that we understand lighthouses to represent.

As always, please contact us if we can help you accomplish your mission (www.strategic-cc.com).