Leadership Lenses: Why NFP Leaders Have to be Twice as Good

It seems to me that everyone has a different view on leadership.  There are too many books to count, each with their own view on the characteristics and habits of leaders, and what makes a truly great leader so hard to come by.

I’ve been thinking a lot about ‘lenses’ lately, particularly in the context of NFP leadership. So much so that I’ve decided to develop a series of posts here that look at this elusive topic through the lenses of different members of the NFP community who have contributed to leadership in different ways.

Here is why I think this will be interesting:

You would think that good leaders would be even harder to find in the not-for-profit sector, where so many are vastly overworked, underpaid, under-resourced and in many cases under-appreciated for the work they are trying to do. 

In fact, I think the opposite is true. The more I work with non-profits, the more outstanding leaders I see...in all kinds of different places. 

So what is it that I think makes not-for-profit leaders so great? 

I think that in many cases, the challenging NFP environment itself is what breeds a growing number of great leaders across the sector.  If their associations or causes are to survive, you better believe that these people need to have clarity of vision and a commitment to creativity in order to achieve that vision despite the many obstacles in their path.

Even more important, in my opinion, is passion. 

In the private sector, leaders have a hand-up when it comes to getting people on-board with whatever it is they are trying to accomplish because they are usually being paid or otherwise stand to benefit financially for their contribution.

But non-profit leaders don’t usually have the advantage of this particular carrot-and-stick.  As a result, they not only have to care about what they are doing, but their energy has to be contagious enough to convince others to roll up their sleeves to help them achieve their mandate...in many cases by volunteering their time or donating their hard-earned dollars.

So I guess it all comes down to survival – leaders in our sector have to be pretty darn good at what they do, because the very existence of their organizations are all too often at stake.

So if you or someone you know has an interesting perspective on NFP leadership, let me know – I’d love to take a look through your ‘leadership lense.’

Photo: Milivoj Sherrington

Listen Up! Series on Member Needs & Satisfaction #3: Effective Communication a Bellwether for Member Satisfaction

"What We Have Here is a Failure to Communicate" If you take a minute to think about it, communication is at the root of so many of the world’s problems. Over time, lack of communication and miscommunication has led to many a sore back from sleeping on the couch. It has made people miss appointments and has left them waiting awkwardly in the wrong restaurants. It has battered and broken up the most iron-clad of relationships and caused people to lose their jobs. It has created civil and social strife and it has even led to and exacerbated wars. Well, communication issues are also a major challenge for a lot of not-for-profits.

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Effective Volunteer Relations and Member Empowerment

I've brought over a couple of articles from our corporate website that I think have some good nuggets of wisdom in them.  They were written a few years back but both outline some timeless 'rules-of-thumb' around the issues of volunteer relations and member empowerment.

• Focus on Volunteers: Ten Steps for Effective Volunteer Relations
• Achieving Your Association's Potential: Involving and Empowering Your Members

I think most associations run into challenges of one kind or another with one, if not both, of these issues.  I'd love to hear your thoughts on how your association has (or hasn't) implemented some of the ideas raised here.  If not, how does your organization maximize its potential in these two key areas?

Also some food for thought:  How do you think implementing effective volunteer relations is changing given the rise in social media?