Do Good / ZeroMils

Over the course of 60 years leading multiple, diverse and complex organizations in the public, nonprofit and private sectors, our leadership team identified 5 key factors that were critical to mission accomplishment and rapid growth.

By applying these key factors ZeroMils helps teams realize their full potential and achieve maximum impact on their stated goals and objectives.

Align

Strategic alignment of Mission, Vision, and Values.

When an organization “gets to ZeroMils” it is the result of every member of the team working together towards that end. In advising our clients on strategy alignment we encourage them to view their own organizations as a system with interdependent operations that need to work together in a unified and mutually beneficial way. With this systems approach, strategy alignment incorporates key business attributes, core competencies, strategic objectives, action plans, work systems, and workforce needs.

Connect

Partnership collaboration and management

When someone asks what ZeroMils does well– and what differentiates us from typical, run-of-the-mill consulting firms—we talk about enduring relationships, “connecting dots,” and our relentless commitment to making meaningful connections between the giving community and the causes we believe in. We visualize each of our relationships like a dot on the map, and we are starting to see those dots multiply and spread across the country.

In our first year as a business we saw the true power of connecting those dots—bringing together several of the biggest for profit and for impact organizations in the country. These opportunistic engagements are likely to impact millions of lives in the coming years.

The power of connection is something people not only fundamentally need as human beings, but something that represents the very core of what we do at ZeroMils. At ZeroMils we firmly believe that engagements drive outcomes, and no matter what the cause, building and strengthening communities is at the heart of positive change.

Build

Recruit and Retain an unstoppable team

The truth is: good people are hard to come by. Whether a company is classified as “for profit” or “nonprofit,” building a strong team is one of the hardest things leaders must do, because organizations (whatever their classification) share two things in common—revenue must exceed expenses, and growth and impact are strategic imperatives.

In our experience, the most important factor in building an unstoppable team comes down to one simple word – Autonomy. One of the things we loved most about leading Marines was watching them thrive in a mission-driven environment and seize the initiative at every opportunity. The same can be said for many of the talented men and women who we hired to lead programs at Hiring Our Heroes and Operation Gratitude, as well as the amazing team we are building at ZeroMils.

Finding autonomous people who are able to make judgments and take actions based on their own experiences, talents, and values isn’t always easy. But when you do, it’s time to sit back, relax, and enjoy the ride. But these principles can’t just be words on paper. Leaders must act with these basic tenets in mind to build an autonomous, unstoppable team. In leading purpose driven organizations ourselves, we very rarely (if ever) lost a person we valued and wanted to keep—because they lived by those principles, too.

Engage

Social Impact, community engagement, and give back strategies

At ZeroMils, we focus an abundance of our time engaging with clients and their teams to help drive outcomes. We also engage with new organizations and explore new relationships that can lead to greater impact for the causes we believe in.

Building a strong, connected network of “do-gooders” isn’t easy. It requires consistent, tireless, and repeat engagements with purpose-driven organizations and changemakers—some of whom we’ve known for years and many others who we’re meeting for the very first time. It asks us to help Americans from every walk of life realize their hopes and dreams as business owners; while developing social impact and “give back” strategies that enhance local communities and address their unique needs and societal challenges.

Amplify

Marketing and communications strategies: Creating a Voice, Storytelling; Building a Brand

At ZeroMils we spend what may seem like an inordinate amount of time telling the stories of organizations and everyday changemakers whose good deeds sometimes go unnoticed. Oftentimes this is because these organizations and their leaders humbly go about their business, making a difference in people’s lives without a lot of fanfare.

Over the past year we have advised and encouraged several of the most impactful for profit and nonprofit leaders in the country to spend more time creating a brand voice for (and with) the organizations they lead.

Storytelling and messaging through targeted and far reaching marketing campaigns played a critical role in the exponential growth our partner nonprofits achieved over the past decade and beyond. And it is one of five pillars that our team relentlessly continues to focus on at ZeroMils.