What is it about some nonprofit organizations that just have a magnetic attraction drawing people and resources to them? Whether it’s attracting volunteers, board or committee members, or funders supporting their work, some organizations just seem to have a magical mojo about them.
What is it?
How did they get?
And most importantly, how can you get some for your organization?
Sometimes it’s hard to quantify exactly what it is that attracts people and resources to organizations. More often than not, it’s not just one thing, but a combination of factors involved that may seem like magical mojo to outsiders.
Here are 5 elements that contribute to creating attraction for organizations. I’m confident that you have one, or more, of these already working to your advantage.
1. Vision obviously tops the list as one of the most compelling draws to an organization or an idea. Think back in your personal life, how many times have you been moved to take some kind of action because you heard someone articulate a vision that resonated deep within you?
What motivated 250,000 people to join Dr. King for the March on Washington in August 1963? As Simon Sinek noted, the dream (or vision) was not just Dr. King’s dream, it was shared by everyone gathered at the Lincoln Memorial along with millions of other Americans. Dr. King was just its most vocal advocate.
George Bernard Shaw summarized one characteristic that distinguishes visionaries from critics, “Some men see things as they are and say why - I dream things that never were and say why not.” Vision is compelling because it points the way to a better, brighter future and draws others who share that vision to join the journey and invest their time, talent, and treasures to see it become a reality.
Does your organization's vision attract people to it?
2. Values have a huge magnetic pull among people who happen to share them. Think of organizations that are clear about their values and how those values draw others into their sphere. While every organization benefits from thoughtfully considering and declaring their values, certain organizations have a unique set of values that are extremely effective at drawing others to them. This works at any point on the spectrum and across a wide range of issues. Values attract people to environmental organizations like Greenpeace or The Nature Conservancy as well as religiously affiliated organizations like the Salvation Army, Jewish Federations, or Catholic Charities.
What values does your organization embrace that might resonate and attract people to your organization?
3. Your Mission or Cause also has a strong pull attracting others to your organization. Individuals, and increasingly companies, have identified missions or causes they want to connect with and adopt as their own. Whether it’s issues like senior hunger, education, housing, homelessness, the environment, youth development, or the commercial sexual exploitation of children, there are individuals and organizations who are passionate about these and may join your team at the drop of a hat.
Consider Habitat for Humanity which was a pioneer in mobilizing civic groups and corporations to collectively support their mission by adopting or sponsoring the construction of a home. HfH now has national partnerships with organizations like The Home Depot, Major League Baseball, and the Citi Foundation and hundreds, perhaps even thousands of local partnerships across the nation.
Kiva is another example of a cause that has connected. In the span of 7 years, they have mobilized over 750,000 individuals to create economic opportunities for people around the world by lending as little as $25 to help individuals launch a business.
Causes attract and connect people and organizations.
How clearly do you communicate your cause and connect with individuals and organizations willing to make your cause their cause?
4. Success is rocket fuel for attracting people and resources to your organization. You’ve heard the saying, nothing breeds success like success. As you promote the successful outcomes of your work, people are naturally drawn to them to help you multiply those successes. Today’s technologies makes this easier than ever.
How are you showcasing your successes and sharing their stories?
5. The People on Your Team are perhaps the easiest way to reach others. Whether they are staff or board members, volunteers, or funders, they know other individuals or organizations who may also have interest in your work and results. As my mom used to say, “birds of a feather flock together”. Find organic ways to mobilize your current network to get others involved.
Who are your greatest fans and most faithful supporters that will readily connect you to others?
Which of these are already creating magnetic mojo for your organization? Are there tweaks you could make that would increase the magnetism of your organization to attract volunteers, board members, and funders?
What else have you found that you would add to this list?
This article by Kevin Monroe was originally published in Centerview, a monthly e-publication of the Georgia Center for Nonprofits providing sector insights, new & highlights, funding and grant opportunities and resources. Sign up for a complimentary subscription to Centerview here. Learn more about GCN at www.gcn.org.
Nonprofit organizations should operate more like a baseball team! That may be a new idea for you. I’m certain you’ve been told that “nonprofits should be run more like a business!” But a baseball team, seriously? Yup, and here's my pitch:
Over the last year, I’ve considered a few practices and patterns used by Major League Baseball (MLB) teams that provide our sector with some valuable lessons. Specifically, there are insights regarding developing tiers of leadership roles and adopting a dynamic approach to board member recruitment.
In my consulting practice, I’ve observed that many nonprofit boards don’t address their future need for board members in advance of an actual need. Rather, it’s the vacancy on the board that triggers the search.
This approach to board member recruitment, then, is often a “shot in the dark,” hoping that the new recruit is passionate about the cause, will faithfully fulfill their board duties, and ideally, will energetically leverage their relationships on behalf of the organization.
Is that how they do it in the big leagues? I don’t think so. Since a new MLB season has just begun, let’s explore three lessons on team building from the big leagues.
Lesson 1 - Recruit early, recruit often.
Don’t wait for an injury to begin recruiting, build a bench of talent now.
Recall last season when Chipper Jones, the All-Star third baseman for the Atlanta Braves went on the disabled list? Imagine if the Braves’ General Manager, Fredi Gonzalez led the Braves the way some folks lead their nonprofit boards.
The conversation might have gone like this:
One board member asks, “does anybody know where we can find a good third baseman?”
“Do they need experience?” chimes another.
“We can do without a third baseman for a few games, can’t we?” asks another.
“Do you think we can wait until next year when we have our annual elections to find a replacement?”
Sounds kind of silly, doesn’t it, when you apply that kind of thinking to a baseball team?
So what did the Braves do when an All-Star was suddenly sidelined? They activated a back-up, in this case, Brandon Hicks, from their Triple-A Gwinnett Braves to take Jones’ place on the roster.
You see, the Braves, like all MLB teams, know that the average career of a player is 5.6 years (according to a study by a research team from the University of Colorado at Boulder), so they recruit in advance of the actual need to ensure that they have a bench of talented players ready to step up and step in at a moment’s notice when players are injured, traded or retire.
What about nonprofits? 
According to BoardSource, in data collected for the 2010 Governance Index, the average tenure of a nonprofit board member is 7.2 years. Board members, like MLB players, will eventually move on to other pursuits and it’s wise to anticipate those transitions in advance and have replacements ready to fill both planned and unexpected vacancies.
MLB teams take their recruiting efforts so seriously that every team has a robust talent development process known as the "farm system," which leads to our second lesson.
Lesson 2 - Grow your own leaders by creating multiple paths for leadership development.
MLB uses a multi-tiered talent development system that serves as its feeder pool preparing those who make it to the big league. In fact, there are 5 distinct classes in the current farm system: Triple-A, Double-A, Single-A, Class A Short Season, and Rookie. The farm system operates like a funnel: many enter the system, but few ever make it to the big leagues.
There’s a lot here that can help nonprofit boards and organizations. Rather than having the board as the only place where volunteers can get involved and exercise leadership, consider creating various points of entry into your leadership development system.
Beginning levels may include those who volunteer at one of your programs, attend a community outreach event, or connect with you through a social media channel (Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, etc.). As they learn more about your organization, they may take steps toward greater involvement. Perhaps they become a regular funder or volunteer, or engage by actively recruiting their family and friends to get involved as well. As participation increases, they may join a committee, lead some type of service or outreach project for the organization, or introduce your organization to key decision-makers or supporters.
You get the chance to see their passion for the organization’s mission, assess their dedication for showing up and following through on the projects they lead, and gauge their willingness to leverage their influence with others to serve the organization. In other words, you can identify potential "big league" prospects by observing those who exhibit leadership qualities and characteristics and you know would make a great board member, when openings occur.
Having this type of robust leadership development system will create an abundance of potential organizational leaders across a broad spectrum, ensuring a rich pool of talent for the current and future needs. Invest in developing future leadership now, by considering all of the various ways to engage volunteer leaders for your organization. Then, when vacancies arise on the board, you will be prepared to score a home run with your choice.
There’s one more vital lesson that MLB offers nonprofits. It’s incredibly important and extremely powerful, especially when it’s combined with robust recruiting and leadership development programs and completes the leadership cycle.
Lesson 3 - Honor your heroes.
Cooperstown, New York is home to the National Baseball Hall of Fame. This is where the sport’s best are enshrined for their contributions to the game. However, every team also has their own Hall of Fame as a place to honor local heroes and legends for their contributions to the home team. Often, these Hall of Famers continue their involvement with the organization, but in a different capacity. They may participate in celebrity events to engage with fans, mentor new players, become a coach, or serve as a community liaison -- all of which are valuable ways to stay involved and contribute to the team.
Consider that every nonprofit organization would benefit from creating their own version of a Hall of Fame as a place to recognize and honor people who have provided legacy leadership. Rather than losing touch with past board members or “putting them out to pasture” after they retire from their season of service, induct them into your Hall of Fame and find ways to continue their involvement with your organization. Perhaps your Hall of Famers serve as a resource for the current board officers, connect with your major donors and community leaders, or provide counsel and advice on key decisions. Whatever their exact role, the key is finding ways to keep them connected and meaningfully engaged beyond their season of service and to honor them for their leadership and service.
Your Hall of Fame, when coupled with your leadership farm system and big league board, provide a continuum of leadership spanning a lifetime of involvement with your organization and enables you to more fully engage leaders by preparing for service, engaging them in service, and rewarding them for their service.
Implementing these ideas from MLB will guide your organization to building an All-Star board and help you develop your championship team of leaders. No longer will board member recruitment be a shot in the dark, rather it will be tapping the right person on the bench for their time in the big league.
Photo of red bench provided by © Chrishg | Stock Free Images & Dreamstime Stock Photos
“Why can’t we do this here?” was the question posed in a session of community and nonprofit leaders I was facilitating earlier this week. The questioner is someone that I’ve worked with for a couple of years now and consider a friend. So I was comfortable to gently suggest, “suppose we rephrase that question and instead consider how can we do this here?”
Was rephrasing the question just a matter of semantics in an attempt to use positive positioning and language? Not to me. Although it was a simple, subtle change, the philosophical reframing involved was enormous in its potential impact.
Research has proven that the questions we ask lead us in the direction we go and determine the answers we find.
If we begin a planning session or discussion with the question, “why can’t we ...” we’ve already launched our minds in the direction of what’s not possible. It’s amazing how quickly we can develop a seemingly endless list of obstacles and barriers when we begin with that as our focus.
However, rather than taking a deficit approach and looking at all of the reasons we can’t do something or why it won’t work, imagine how different both the process and outcomes could be if we adopted a mindset of possibility. In The Pollyanna Principles, Hildy Gottlieb states, “if it’s not physically impossible, it is possible.” That mindset opens the door to a world of possibilities we might not otherwise consider.
With possibility as our foundation and using powerful questions to launch our discussion, there’s no limit to what we might envision or accomplish. Here are a couple of powerful questions to stimulate thinking and discussion (I learned both of these from Hildy Gottlieb of Creating the Future last week in their Consultant Immersion Course --thanks Hildy!).
“As we consider the mission of our organization, what would 100% success look like in our community?”
“What is the highest potential outcome of this situation?”
Consider that where we begin a discussion or planning session has huge implications on where it ends. If we begin with a deficit mentality, we’ll most likely end up in a hole or a pit. The common starting point for many discussions is the present problem and limited resources to deal with it. Little wonder we don’t get far when we begin by asking, where can we go from here?
Imagine the difference when we begin by envisioning a better, brighter future on a distant horizon, and asking, how can we get there? Or what would need to happen for that to become our reality? This approach frees our minds and opens us up to a wider range of options. While we may not reach the ultimate destination we envisioned, we’ll get much closer to it adopting this approach.
Back to the meeting earlier this week. Why is it easier for so many to ask “why can’t we?” rather than “how can we?” As my friend put it, “it’s the way we’re trained” or how we’re conditioned. We’re frequently shot down by others who have also been shot down and discover it’s safer to avoid the risk and embarrassment of being shot down.
There’s a story told by Gary Hamel in Competing for the Future (1996) that illustrates this phenomenon. In the story, four monkeys are in a room with a bunch of bananas perched atop a pole in the middle of the room. Every time a monkey attempts to climb the pole it is doused with cold water. The monkeys gradually learn to resist the temptation of the bananas and no longer attempt the climb.
Shortly, a new monkey is substituted into the room. As it begins to climb the pole to reach the bananas, the other monkeys pull him down. After repeated attempts with the same result, he’s soon conditioned to accept that the bananas aren’t worth the effort.
Over time, the researchers kept swapping out one monkey at a time and each new monkey received the same treatment and gave up the climb. Eventually all the original monkeys were removed and although, none of the current crew of monkeys was ever hosed down, none of them would attempt the climb.
There’s some doubt over whether this experiment ever happened or not, but you’ve all seen some variation of these principles at play in the workplace.
If you’re one of those that struggles to break out of the constraints of limited thinking and somehow feels you need permission to dream big, well...here's your
You can skip that boring class where the culture of can’t plays on a continuous loop, beats you down, and leaves you empty. Consider this your permission slip to dream big and break free.
Remember, if it’s not impossible, it is possible.
What's the greatest risk facing nonprofit organizations today? Risk management professionals realize that many "do-gooders" are often oblivious to the various risks associated with their work. While I agree that these risks are valid and must be addressed, I'm concerned many organizations miss the silent killer lurking in the shadows.
Click here to read the rest of the article that is published as the lead article in the April edition of VIS Connections, a newsletter for nonprofit risk managers published by Volunteers Insurance Services.
The back story...regular readers probably know that I'm an active user and huge fan of LinkedIn. About a year ago I met William Henry, Executive Director, Volunteers Insurance Service through LinkedIn. We exchanged emails, had a couple of phone calls, shared resources that we thought the other might find useful. In January, William approached me about writing an article for their newsletter, I did, and it was published last week.
I invite you to read the article on their site and hope you will share your comments here. I also encourage you to take advantage of the power of LinkedIn to expand your professional network and connect with like-minded leaders around the world. If we're not yet connected on LinkedIn, please send me an invitation to connect. Here's my profile.
“What’s your favorite TED Talk?,” I inquired of a friend over lunch recently. “Who’s Ted and what’s he talking about?” Hopefully you’re more familiar with TED than my friend was, but maybe not.
If you don’t know TED, please let me introduce you. TED (Technology, Entertainment, and Design) is a global set of conferences designed to communicate ideas worth spreading. TED began in 1984 and now has over 1,100 TED Talks online at www.TED.com. TED talks are informative, entertaining, enlightening and short. Speakers at TED conferences have 18 minutes to share their message and it’s amazing what gets packed into an 18-minute TED Talk.
Here are 3 TED Talks that I’ve found incredibly insightful over the last month. I’ve found myself recommending these to several friends and decided to share them with you because these are ideas worth spreading.
Simon Sinek: How great leaders inspire action. I had read Simon’s book and then listened to his TED Talk; it’s a great summary of ideas in the book and I highly recommend this to every nonprofit leader.
Shawn Achor: The happy secret to better work. Wow! Fasten your seat belt for this fast-paced and fun TED Talk chock full of great insights on data, average, and outliers.
Sherry Turkle: Connected, but alone? This TED Talk challenges us to consider our use of technology and how it’s not only changing what we do, but who we are.
I hope you enjoy these TED Talks and invite you to share your favorite TED Talks so others can enjoy as we keep the ideas flowing.
Ever had a boss like Michael Scott from The Office or Dilbert’s Pointy-haired Boss? While these are caricatures of bad bosses, massive numbers of people associate these fictional characters with bad leaders, bad bosses, or bad board chairs they’ve experienced in real life.
Is bad leadership a total loss?
Can there be an upside to having experienced the downside of poor leadership?
For years, I thought it was just me; I thought I was the only one whose first lessons of leadership came through seeing it done wrong. Maybe "done wrong" rubs you the wrong way and a better way to state this would to describe doing it wrong as learning by observing a negative example. A negative example occurs when you learn a trait or a skill by observing it’s absence or malpractice rather than seeing and experiencing it in action.
A few years ago I enrolled in a graduate program studying Organizational Leadership at Gonzaga University. Over the two years of the program one thing that constantly amazed me was the sheer number of my classmates who when asked how they first formed their leadership philosophy cited learning from negative examples.
In other words, many people first form their understanding of what it is that makes a good leader by seeing bad leadership in action. I thought I was the only one who experienced this on my leadership journey. Instead, I found that for many, their firsthand experiences of bad leadership was actually the catalyst that inspired them to become a different kind of leader, a servant-leader.
Rather than being someone who grabs power so they can exert it over others or seek a position simply for the privileges it affords; there are a multitude of leaders who deliberately and consciously choose to become servant-leaders. Servant-leaders are people who view leadership as an avenue for serving others rather than an opportunity to be served. They are people who view power as a force to be harnessed to accomplish great things for those that are powerless, rather than manipulating powerless people to serve their own desires and purposes.
Last week in correspondence with a new friend, “Hazel” from Australia, I began considering that many nonprofit board chairs, or aspiring board chairs, like other leaders, form their impressions of what it means to be a board chair from observing ineffective, or bad, board chairs. Again, it’s the negative example at work. Seeing board leadership done poorly, or not done at all, and thinking, “If I were in their position, I’d do things differently”.
What about you and your leadership journey?
What’s your personal leadership philosophy and where did it come from?
Were you fortunate to have excellent role models of great leadership?
Or, did you observe or experience bad leadership in action and know there must be more effective ways to lead people and organizations?
Whatever your journey to leadership has been, we’re fortunate in the social sector to have a profound opportunity to affect the lives of literally millions of people around the world and do it in a positive way if leaders, regardless of their position, use their power and authority to serve others first.
Robert Greenleaf, the one who coined the term servant-leader, summarized it as follows: “The servant-leader is servant first. It begins with the natural feeling that one wants to serve, to serve first. Then conscious choice brings one to aspire to lead. The difference manifests itself in the care taken by the servant - first to make sure that other people's needs are being served. The best test, and difficult to administer is: Do those served grow as persons; do they, while being served, become healthier, wise, freer, more autonomous, more likely themselves to become servants? And what effect on the least privileged in society; will they benefit, or at least not be further deprived?”
It’s a shame that bad leaders, bad bosses, and bad board chairs exist. It’s an even greater shame if their bad leadership is perpetuated to the next generation of leaders. Whatever your experiences have been that led you to your current leadership position, you can consiously choose to be a good steward of the leadership entrusted to you and use your leadership role to serve others. That wise decision will benefit both you and your community. What's your story?
Ever had a bad boss?
Odds are, you probably have. In fact, research suggests that millions of American workers have had, or do have, bad bosses. The arrival of a bad boss can suck the pleasure out of what once was a great job. Perhaps you’ve experienced it.
You had a job you liked, maybe even loved,
you liked the organization,
your peers, and your work;
at least you did until...
the new boss, Atilla the Hun, arrived.
The presence of a bad boss sours everything about a great job.
What was once a dream job became a nightmare and you left. The pay was no longer enough compensation to endure suffering under a bad boss. If that’s your experience, you’re not alone.
Gallup research indicates that people don't quit jobs, they quit bad bosses.
Ever served on a board led by a bad board chair?
I hope not, but the odds are pretty good that you have. In a similar parallel to the workplace, people may actually love the organization and community that the board exists to serve, they love the ED, staff, and volunteers of the organization, but after a while they feel enough is enough.
The presence of a bad board chair sours everything about a great organization.
Left unchecked, the presence of an ineffective or toxic nonprofit board chair will ultimately exact its toll on your organization. Bad board chairs can cause an organization to lose great board members, excellent staff members, funders, partners, and even the trust of the community.
What makes a bad board chair bad? Here are 4 types I've encountered:
The power hungry - bad board chairs, like bad bosses tend to cluster at either end of the power spectrum. We’ve all seen the power mongers who equate position with power and grab the power of a position and use it for personal gain or satisfaction. Like a bully, they get a kick of being in charge, exercising power, and exerting control over others. However those at the opposite end are also ineffective, just for different reasons.
The persistently indecisive people pleasers - these board chairs are reluctant to exercise any authority, take any definitive action, or make decisions because they might do something wrong or offend someone. Rather than make a bad decision, they always find a reason to delay making any decision.
The self-promoter - these board chairs are all tuned to the same channel - WIFM - what’s in it for me? They seek to use the position of board chair for self promotion and personal advancement. They take credit for every good thing that happens and likewise pass the blame for anything that goes wrong or doesn’t happen.
The suck-up puppet - these board chairs ascend to the position through their persistent brown-nosing of the existing power structure. Or in extremely political organizations, they are placed in the position as a figurehead to operate as a puppet for those calling the shots and making the decisions behind the scenes.
But, why does bad leadership happen to good organizations?
Here's my short list:
- Valuing technical competence above leadership capabilities. Because someone has community connections or a set of technical abilities, i.e., financial management, fund raising, they are tapped to serve as board chair in spite of a lack of leadership abilities. This may happen because there is a...
- Misunderstanding of what makes a great chair - too many boards simply don’t understand the importance of the board chair position. Consequently, they don’t develop a set of criteria for who fills the position, which leads to,
- Filling the chair by default rather than decision. Rather than determining who is best equipped to serve as chair, some organizations appoint whoever is willing, whoever gets the most votes, or happens to be absent at the time of elections (you know it happens).
- Elevating politics over principles. Rather than ensuring the most capable person fills the position, some organizations see this as an opportunity to garner some goodwill with funders or stakeholders by politicizing the office.
What’s your take? Why does bad leadership happen to good organizations?
Encountering bad bosses and bad board chairs is unfortunate, especially when they remain unchecked and leave a path of destruction behind them. Fortunately, as most of us have learned, having a bad boss or bad board chair isn’t the end of the world. In fact, it can be the catalyst for great change. There is hope and I’ll explore that in Part 2 of this post.
Board service is a contact support! And among the best boards, members view board service as a full contact sport.
Now before you envision cage match board meetings with members in fist fights and going for take downs or knock outs that’s not the contact I had in mind. However, selling tickets to such an event might raise more money than your current fundraising campaign. Just saying...
Compare viewing board service as a contact sport with the often prevailing view of board service as a spectator sport. If board members are spectators, then many see their sole role as showing up for a meeting. For them, showing up equates participation. You see, they’ve obviously adopted the Woody Allen mantra that 80% of success is just showing up. Showing up is definitely important, it’s better than not showing up ...well there are some rare exceptions, but we won’t go there. Showing up is not the high water mark or pinnacle of board service; showing up is just getting to the game so you can engage in it.
Full contact board service means having board members fully engaged!
Having board members fully engaged begins by tapping into their passion both for your work and why you do the work you do. Mission is what you do; vision is why you do it.
Full contact board service involves engaging board members’ emotions, i.e., their heart and once you have their heart, you have a better chance of getting their head and hands as well. This is the full contact I’m talking about -- heart, head, and hands. If you engage board members at this point of passion and they form an emotional bond -- a heart connection-- to your organization’s vision and mission then their head and hands will follow.
When board members are captivated by the vision and mission of your organization, they will put their best thinking (head) and doing (hands) to work for the organization. Without first grabbing their hearts, they may occasionally think about the organization, occasionally connect others to it, or perform some other act of volunteer service. But when it’s in their hearts, their hands and heads will naturally follow.
Full contact board members naturally (and passionately) find ways to interject your organization into their conversations. It’s neither forced nor contrived. It just happens.
Consider this exchange that really happened in a session I was facilitating last summer in North Carolina with a youth mentoring organization. In the course of our discussion, a board member in her 20’s related a recent encounter she had with her hair stylist the week before our meeting. It went something like this:
“What’s new?”, asked the stylist.
“Lots, just last week my little sister graduated from high school with honors,” replied the board member.
“I didn’t know you had a sister,” chimed the stylist.
“She’s really my mentee, we call them little sisters and us mentors are big sisters or brothers. She was in remedial reading when I was paired with her in the 8th grade. I’m so proud that she stayed in school and graduated, and I’m totally impressed that she graduated with honors.”
“Wow, that’s awesome! Could I be a big sister too?”
“Sure, let me introduce you and get you started with our process.”
This really happened and it got even better. The hair stylist learned about an upcoming golf tournament to support the program and offered to recruit her male customers that were golfers as participants for the tournament.
You see this is just one way full contact board members engage. I’m not against elevator speeches if that works for you. But an elevator speech is a head gig and its real power comes when it’s delivered from the heart. There are lots of tools and techniques to empower board members, but making the heart connection is the key to them fully engaging with their head and hands.
Oh, by the way, when you get their hearts, as a bonus, you’ll also get some of their treasure. It’s just part of our wiring.
I’d love to engage in dialogue with you regarding ways your organization has fostered a high level of engagement among your board or steps you could take to increase their level of engagement.
Those discussions can occur by commenting below, on-line in a LinkedIn Group (Nonprofit Sustainability Strategies, Nonprofit Professionals Forum, and Non-Profit Executive Directors are some of my favs), on Twitter@kevin_monroe, or in-person with you and/or your board.
Here are some questions I’d love to hear your thoughts on:
What does a fully engaged board or board look like for your organization?
In what ways do you see board members taking heroic actions to serve your organization and community?
What series of conversations and actions led to greater levels of board engagement?
What do board meetings look like when your board members are fully engaged? I bet they show up for reasons other than the coffee and stale doughnuts.
Looking forward to some engaging dialogue and finding ways to win the hearts, hands, and heads of your board members.
Are you a leader? It’s not intended to be a trick question, yet, for many, it’s a very difficult question to answer. Technically, there’s an excellent reason why some have difficulty answering the seemingly simple question -- are you a leader?
For starters, there’s not one universally accepted definition of leadership. Not even the leadership experts (whoever they are) agree on the definition of leadership. I found this quite interesting, even a little amusing.
Let me illustrate by pulling an excerpt from of the classic textbooks used in graduate level studies on the topic of leadership.
“The term leadership is a word take from the common vocabulary and incorporated into the technical vocabulary of a scientific discipline without being precisely redefined. As a consequence, it carries extraneous connotations that create ambiguity of meaning (Janda, 1960). Additional confusion is caused by the use of other imprecise terms such as power, authority, management, administration, control, and supervision to describe similar phenomena.” (Taken from Leadership in Organizations, 6th Edition, Gary Yukl, 2006).
With that understanding firmly established, Yukl goes on to share 10 of the most common definitions of leadership. This was the first textbook I read in graduate school and thought, “oh my gosh, what have I gotten myself into?” This sounds like a lot of academic mumbo jumbo far removed from leadership in the trenches of those that just want to make their world a better place.
Then there’s another problem that arises as people seek to answer the question, “Am I a leader?”: the whole matter of titles and authority. For some people, when asked, are you a nonprofit leader, the first place they look is their business card to see what title is printed on it.
If your business card happens to be emblazoned with words like President, Vice President, or Executive Director or for those that lean more towards acronyms and any of these 3 letters combinations happen to grace your card -- CEO, CFO, or COO then you may be apt to confidently answer the leadership question by saying, “Yes I am a leader” for my title declares me to be one. But...who gave you the title and is a leader a leader just because their title says they’re a leader?
I must admit that at times I’ve had title envy when I hear certain people introduced or read their business cards or bios. Every once in a while someone has such a cool title that I’m reminded one of my favorite childhood cartoons, The Flintstones. You may recall that Fred Flintstone was quite impressed when he was anointed with the lofty title, Grand Poo-bah of the Loyal Order of the Water Buffaloes Lodge No. 26.
Now, that’s a title. But was he a leader? Well, that depends on your definitions. He definitely had an illustrious title. But...
What makes a leader a leader?
The ultimate test that determines whether or not a person is a leader comes down to one question -- is anyone following you? If they are, you’re a leader. If they’re not, then you’re just taking a walk. It doesn’t matter what the title on your business card says.
The true test of leadership is followership.
I love the contrast Simon Sinek makes in his book Start with Why, when he poses the question -- are you a leader or one who leads?
Maybe are you a leader is really a trick question. Perhaps the better way to pose the question is are you one who leads?
You see, real leaders don’t wait for someone to recognize their leadership qualities and bestow a title upon them before they start leading. They just do what they authentically do and others naturally follow their lead. Hopefully their leadership is recognized and encouraged by the powers that be, especially in those organizations that are beginning to seriously consider who their next generation leaders will be.
For the current leaders in those organizations, I offer this advice: look at those who already have followers, they are the leaders of tomorrow. Find ways to invest in them and help nurture their abilities. If there are others awaiting a business card with a title on it before they begin to lead, I’d have serious doubts about their true leadership abilities.
Exhilarating! Invigorating! Exciting! Would you use any of those words to describe your last strategic planning project? I hope so. However, I know that given a choice between writing a strategic plan and having a root canal, many would choose the root canal as the less painful process. Some would prefer the root canal even if it was performed without novacaine.
What does that say about strategic planning?
Must it be such a painful process? Or could it be that the way many have approached it makes it painful to endure?
Let me put it bluntly, if strategic planning is that painful you’re doing it wrong.
Furthermore, the plan that results from such a painful process will likely produce few, if any, positive effects for your organization.
Is there a better way? Absolutely!
Actually there are several. I don’t claim there’s only one right way to approach the subject, however I will share 5 keys I’ve seen that maximize the value of strategy development.
>> Focus on the process, not the plan. The plan is a product of the process, not the goal of the process. From my perspective, there’s a huge difference between strategy development and strategic planning. It’s not just semantics either. It’s the whole philosophical approach that underlies the process of strategy development.
Let the process direct the plan rather than having the plan direct the process.
If your goal is simply to develop a plan, then the planning process is robbed of its richness and may actually be held hostage to the plan. Planning meetings become rigid and inflexible because the focus is on completing the sections of the plan template. Any information, data, or dreams that are discovered in the process but don’t easily fit the categories of the plan are seen as extraneous and irrelevant distractions. When in fact, they might be the most insightful part of the process if you create the space for those discussions to occur.
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>> Design for diversity. Cast the net wide in your community and recruit a diverse team of community leaders and stakeholders.
For most nonprofits there’s a list of the usual suspects to include: government, business, education, healthcare, and philanthropy. Broaden the scope and include others that are directly, or indirectly, affected by the work your organization does. This may require inviting some of the unusual suspects and maybe even, unlikely participants: community residents, program graduates, faith communities, funders, volunteers, and other professions. Developing a diverse team will only enrich the process.
>> Begin with the end in mind. This was the second of Covey’s Seven Habits of Highly Effective People. I’d suggest it’s also a habit of highly effective planners as well.
In actuality, nonprofits are community benefit organizations. Perhaps, then, the best place to begin a strategy development conversation is exploring what kind of future the community desires for itself (rather than assuming we know best).. What are the end goals and ultimate objectives your community wants. In other words, what’s the vision you seek? Start in the future and work back to the present, and in many cases, it’s wise to spend a little bit of time in the past.
>> Revisit your roots. Invest time to explore the organization’s purpose. What was it that caused the founders to launch the organization? What was their overarching purpose?
It’s easy for traditional strategic plans to focus on what the organization does (or what team members feel it should do) and how it does it. Revisiting your roots provides an opportunity to ensure the organization’s vision, values, and mission are in sync and that the what and how of your programs are authentic expressions of your why. Revisiting your roots will serve to anchor both the process and the plan that results.
>> Engage in rich and robust dialogue on the important issues. What are the important issues you ask?
The team members will let you know that, if you ask them the right questions. This is perhaps the greatest advantage of using a skilled facilitator. Their role is to guide the process, engage the participants in healthy dialogue, and ensure all perspectives are heard and considered as you consider the options and elements of your strategy. Rich and robust dialogue will lead to increased understanding which leads to informed decisions, which leads to insightful actions.
Strategy development, when done well, is a process of dynamic engagement and provides the platform for effective strategic planning. Strategic planning leads to effective action and the wise investment of resources to accomplish a desired goal. Please don’t settle for less the next time you are tasked to develop a strategic plan.
What other ingredients do you see that maximize the value of strategy development leading to more effective strategic planning?
This is part two of a four-part series, read Part One here and stay tuned for Part Three -- first steps to successful strategy development.
Pain picture © Chrisharvey and courtesy of Stock Free Images http://www.stockfreeimages.com.