Meeting the Job Challenges of Nonprofit Leaders: A Fieldbook on Strategies and Actions : A Fieldbook on Strategies and Action [1 ed.] 9781604915310, 9781604915303
Nonprofit organizations need to depend on mission-oriented, motivated, and committed leaders who have a mix of social aw
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- Mohan Sikka
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Community Resource Exchange In Cooperation with the Center for Creative Leadership
MEETING THE JOB CHALLENGES OF NONPROFIT LEADERS A Fieldbook on Strategies and Action Jean Lobell, Mohan Sikka, and Pavitra Menon
MEETING THE JOB CHALLENGES OF NONPROFIT LEADERS A Fieldbook on Strategies and Action
Copyright © 2014 Center for Creative Leadership. All Rights Reserved.
CCL Stock Number 1003 © 2014 Center for Creative Leadership All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise, without the prior written permission of the publisher. Printed in the United States of America. Published by CCL Press Sylvester Taylor, Director of Assessments, Tools, and Publications Peter Scisco, Manager, Publication Development Stephen Rush, Editor Shaun Martin, Associate Editor Design and layout by Joanne Ferguson Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data Lobell, Jean. Meeting the job challenges of nonprofit leaders : a fieldbook on strategies and action / Jean Lobell, Mohan Sikka, and Pavitra Menon — First Edition. pages cm Includes bibliographical references and index. ISBN 978-1-60491-530-3 (print : alk. paper) — ISBN 978-1-60491-531-0 (ebook) 1. Leadership. 2. Nonprofit organizations—Management. I. Sikka, Mohan, 1966II. Menon, Pavitra. III. Title. HD57.7.L6295 2014 658.4'092—dc23 2014031775
Copyright © 2014 Center for Creative Leadership. All Rights Reserved.
Community Resource Exchange In Cooperation with the Center for Creative Leadership
MEETING THE JOB CHALLENGES OF NONPROFIT LEADERS A Fieldbook on Strategies and Action Jean Lobell, Mohan Sikka, and Pavitra Menon
Copyright © 2014 Center for Creative Leadership. All Rights Reserved.
Community Resource Exchange provides strategic advice, management assistance, and capacity-building services to New York City nonprofits working to fight poverty and advance social justice. CRE’s services are designed to make nonprofits serving the poorest and most vulnerable New Yorkers stronger and more effective. CRE partners with clients in consulting, executive coaching, and leadership development engagements to help nonprofit leaders deliver impactful programs while managing complex organizations. With more than thirty-five years of experience, CRE helps nonprofits build the foundation for organizational health—effective programs, effective leadership, high-performing staff, and financial strength—so that they achieve excellent outcomes on the ground. The Center for Creative Leadership is an international, nonprofit educational institution founded in 1970 to advance the understanding, practice, and development of leadership for the benefit of society worldwide. As a part of this mission, it publishes books and reports that aim to contribute to a general process of inquiry and understanding in which ideas related to leadership are raised, exchanged, and evaluated. The ideas presented in its publications are those of the author or authors.
Copyright © 2014 Center for Creative Leadership. All Rights Reserved.
Contents 7
Acknowledgments
9
Preface
11
Introduction
13
Context: Nonprofit Leaders in the Nexus of Complex Issues
15
Chapter 1: On-the-Job Development Strategies
17
Chapter 2: The Circle-of-Challenge Framework: Five Key Challenges of Nonprofit Leaders
21
Chapter 3: CRE’s Approach to On-the-Job Development Strategies: Self-Coaching and Action Learning
23
Chapter 4: Supervision t3PMF$PNQMFYJUZ
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35
Chapter 5: Staffing t3FDSVJUNFOUBOE3FUFOUJPO
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Chapter 6: Scope and Scale t1SPHSBN$PNQMFYJUZ
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Copyright © 2014 Center for Creative Leadership. All Rights Reserved.
Contents
55
Chapter 7: Stakeholders tɨF%JMFNNBPG.VMUJQMF3PMFT
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Chapter 8: Self t6TFPG*OìVFODFBOE1PXFS
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77
Chapter 9: A Different Learning Avenue
79
Appendix A: Developmental Action Plan
81
Appendix B: Additional Resources
Copyright © 2014 Center for Creative Leadership. All Rights Reserved.
Meeting the Job Challenges of Nonprofit Leaders
Acknowledgments Gratitude goes first to Antoinette (Toni) La Belle, our trusted colleague, for suggesting the concept of a fieldbook for nonprofit leaders that addresses jobchallenge issues and for paving the way for a CRE-CCL collaboration. We BSFEFFQMZHSBUFGVMUP)PMMZ%FMBOZ$PMFBOE7BMZSJF-BFEMFJO GPSNFS$3& DPEJSFDUPST XIPDPOTJTUFOUMZDIBNQJPOFEUIJTXPSLBOEHBWFVTUIFJSVOìBHging support. To our new executive director, Katie Leonberger—we thank you for pitching right in with creative suggestions and full support. To Carolyn Sauvage-Mar and Fiona Kanagasingam, your content contributions were invaluable. Thanks to Peter Scisco, manager, publication development at CCL, who has been an invaluable partner in our maiden venture with CCL. We want to thank Karen Dyer, group director of the Education and Nonprofit Sector at CCL, for her thoughtful feedback on key aspects of this fieldbook. The work of Cynthia D. McCauley (Developmental Assignments, Center for Creative Leadership, 2006) and Michael M. Lombardo and Robert W. Eichinger (Eighty-Eight Assignments for Development in Place, Center for Creative Leadership, 1989) JOTQJSFEUIJTëFMECPPL0VSUIBOLTHPUPUIFN4UFWF3VTIBOEIJTFEJUPSJBM team at CCL have patiently moved this along. We appreciate the keen editorial eyes of Joanne Dillon and Deborah Dinkelacker and their attention to readability and clarity.There are many hands that made this book possible—Robbie Welch, Anna Nichole Gorman, Anna Qui, Jared Cohen, and Laura Kikuchi. Karen Erdos and Russell Feldman were our website and marketing eyes. We want to recognize our CRE consulting colleagues who in their own way have sharpened our observations and insights about leadership development. Finally, we would like to acknowledge all the nonprofit leaders who took part in focus groups or gave their comments and suggestions in other settings. Without them, the approaches presented here would not have come to life. We thank them for sharing their experiences with us in the course of providing vitally needed social value through their everyday work.
7 Copyright © 2014 Center for Creative Leadership. All Rights Reserved.
Meeting the Job Challenges of Nonprofit Leaders
Preface Successful nonprofit leaders, much like those occupying leadership positions in other sectors, possess some distinct but often interconnected abilities: leadership skills, managerial acumen, and technical or subject-matter expertise. In many ways these three components can serve as the “three-legged stool” of support for those leaders who are attempting to set directions, create alignment, and maintain commitment in their organizations and ultimately throughout the sector. Consistently mission-driven, nonprofit leaders come to their positions with a high degree of passion, creativity, and energy. While they are eager to achieve both organizational and personal goals, they are often taken aback by the complexity of the challenges that must be addressed. Managing multiple stakeholders (for example, funders, staff, volunteers, boards, and community and/or government personnel) and their accompanying expectations, as well as meeting demands, around fund-raising, finance and budgets, personnel management, and much more is essential to leadership success. Expectations around results usually involve a significant broad-scale change, accomplished at a rapid pace and with limited resources. While the metrics that define results may not necessarily be bottom-line profits, nonetheless they still must be delivered. Nonprofit leaders, with their laser-like focus on the work, may overlook or even dismiss as “nice but not necessary” the knowledge, skills, and even in some cases dispositions needed to effectively attend to some of the aforementioned issues. Unwilling (because of the perception that engaging in development detracts from the mission) and unable (usually because of budgetary constraints) to invest in themselves as leaders, managers, and technical experts, they tend to funnel all available resources (including their own time) into investing in others. This self-sacrificing approach, where leaders deny attention to their own leadership development, can impact individuals and organizations, with collateral damage ultimately being exacted on the work. The authors and contributors to this book have provided an abundance of options for leaders who want and need opportunities to foster their learning and development. Using foundational research and publications from the Center for Creative Leadership, the Community Resource Exchange has compiled a wealth of ideas, tools, strategies, and resources that leaders can engage that are designed to build their capacity as successful leaders and managers. Augmented by passion and determination, there is no limit to the contributions 9 Copyright © 2014 Center for Creative Leadership. All Rights Reserved.
Preface
these leaders will make to their own growth, the growth of their organizations, and eventually the growth and viability of the sector. So, take a seat and read, enjoy, learn, and apply! Karen Dyer Group director, Education and Nonprofit Sector Center for Creative Leadership
10 Copyright © 2014 Center for Creative Leadership. All Rights Reserved.
Meeting the Job Challenges of Nonprofit Leaders
Introduction We at Community Resource Exchange (CRE), together with our colleagues from the Center for Creative Leadership, are honored to present this book. We know that nonprofit leaders today wear many hats. They must fulfill their organizations’ missions, ensure the effectiveness of their programs, maximize production with limited financial and human resources, foster their staffs’ growth and development, and manage operations. The list of responsibilities can be daunting—all in the face of increasing need. Even the heartiest, most inspired leader can encounter moments of challenge. Meeting the Job Challenges of Nonprofit Leaders draws on CRE’s experience gathered from more than thirty-five years of working with nonprofit leaders through one-to-one consulting and cohort-based leadership and management development programs. The situations described in this book will be familiar to many readers, and we hope that the suggestions offered will prove to be useful tools while also providing new perspectives and practical guidance. Ultimately, we hope this book will deepen the skills of nonprofit leaders and help strengthen the impact of their organizations on the ground, now and in the future. Katie Leonberger Executive director Community Resource Exchange
11 Copyright © 2014 Center for Creative Leadership. All Rights Reserved.
Meeting the Job Challenges of Nonprofit Leaders
Context
Nonprofit Leaders in the Nexus of Complex Issues Nonprofits are trying to address some of the most complex issues facing society today. From hunger and homelessness to health-care access and immigration reform, a wide swath of social needs and priorities must be kept on the front burner for society to remain strong in the twenty-first century. As government has stepped away from the delivery of social services, nonprofits have stepped up to ensure not only that basic needs are met but also that our attention as a nation doesn’t slip away from our most pressing disparities and gaps. In this sense, the social sector is critical to both our conscience and our viability as a productive, inclusive society. If these societal demands weren’t challenging enough, nonprofits have to function and fulfill their missions with very limited resources while simultaneously demonstrating the impact of every dollar they raise. They are accountable to multiple sets of stakeholders: their governing boards, clients, staff, and funders. This creates a much more complex operating environment for nonprofit success than that of the corporate world, even for those organizations that are fortunate enough to have operating margins. And the funding for addressing social needs, as we all know, is getting tighter every year. To deliver results in such an environment, nonprofit organizations need to depend on mission-oriented, motivated, and committed leaders and staff who have a mix of social awareness, programmatic expertise, operational knowledge and skills, strong relationship capacities, and sound judgment. An engaged, well-trained staff is critical to achieving meaningful outcomes for those we serve and to fulfilling our mission to provide sustainable social value. Despite our small budgets, staff is the largest expense on most nonprofits’ financial statements. It is the key factor that determines our success in getting results and doing so efficiently. We all realize the value of high-performing leaders and staff but we are faced with the reality that our nonprofit budgets rarely allow for the investment necessary to train, develop, and mentor our people. We face the challenge of being constrained by resources from providing anything near the scope and scale of professional development familiar to corporations: tuition reimbursement, corporate training programs, individualized coaching, and managed career-pathing. Given our realities, nonprofit leaders need affordable alternative strategies and tools to develop ourselves and our staff for optimal 13 Copyright © 2014 Center for Creative Leadership. All Rights Reserved.
Context
performance, to foster new skills acquisition and growth, and to nourish our MFBEFSTIJQBOEUBMFOUQJQFMJOFT0OUIFKPCHSPXUITUSBUFHJFTBSFOFFEFEUP complement the limited time and resources available for training and development activities outside the workplace. This fieldbook is a response to that need. In our work with nonprofit leaders from organizations of all sizes, the consulting team at Community Resource Exchange (CRE) delivers an array of leadership and management programs designed to build the competencies of those who lead and manage nonprofits. With this fieldbook, we are looking to put many of the skills and insights gained by participants in our cohort learning programs into the hands of more nonprofit leaders. The authors, Jean Lobell and Mohan Sikka, who have spearheaded CRE’s initiatives in the area of leadership development, and Pavitra Menon, who is a key contributor to our leadership and management programs, draw upon the latest relevant literature and the real-world experiences of leaders with whom CRE has worked. The authors specifically gathered groups of nonprofit leaders and examined representative cases to inform this work, which resulted in a challenge framework and set of strategies that will be valuable for leaders of nonprofit organizations of all sizes and types. The chapters that follow capture an array of leadership challenges that are all too familiar to nonprofit leaders, using stories to illustrate real-world challenges, and share easy-to-grasp strategies that all of us can implement—starting now. We hope this fieldbook becomes a well-worn resource on your leadership bookshelf. We welcome your feedback and suggestions for how we can betUFSTVQQPSUZPV0VSPWFSBSDIJOHHPBMJTUPEFWFMPQBOENBSTIBMUIFUBMFOUT of those on the front lines of making our communities, and ultimately our society, stronger, more just, and sustainable. 7BMZSJF-BFEMFJOBOE)PMMZ%FMBOZ$PMF Former codirectors Community Resource Exchange
14 Copyright © 2014 Center for Creative Leadership. All Rights Reserved.
Meeting the Job Challenges of Nonprofit Leaders
Chapter 1
On-the-Job Development Strategies 0OUIFKPCEFWFMPQNFOUTUSBUFHJFTBSFBQQSPBDIFTUPMFBSOJOHUIBUQVUUIF nonprofit leader in control over the mix of practices, tactics, and tools that can be put to use to enhance the growth and effectiveness of both leaders and their staffs. Leaders lead but need to manage as well. In the nonprofit sector, this is particularly relevant given the lack of infrastructure depth. Without multiple levels of management, nonprofit leaders have to maintain a thoughtful and intentional balance between leading and managing. The challenges we address JOUIJTëFMECPPLSFìFDUUIJTEFMJDBUFCBMBODF 0OUIFKPCEFWFMPQNFOUTUSBUFHJFTQSPWJEFKVTUJOUJNFBQQSPBDIFTUP meeting nonprofit leaders’ day-to-day challenges. This fieldbook recognizes the conditions that affect development in the nonprofit sector: the scarcity of funding for formal training; leaders’ incredibly full plates; lack of backup support for leaders; and the need to address leadership and management challenges in timely, practical, and actionable ways. The strategies offered here will provide nonprofit leaders with approaches to their challenges that shift their perspective on things or stretch their current repertoire of practices and competencies. Applying these approaches are developmental experiences, enabling nonprofit leaders to supplement or deepen their leadership and management talent. By implementing the suggested approaches, nonprofit leaders will learn by doing, a key ingredient in adult learning. In preparing to write this fieldbook, we conducted several focus groups of nonprofit leaders. In addition to surfacing key challenges, one of the things we learned is how best to present the content. We learned that it would be more compelling and more conducive to learning if we illustrated the key challenges with stories. The stories are representative of the challenges we have seen nonprofit leaders encounter as we work with them in consulting, coaching, and training engagements. Given our combined experiences with hundreds of nonprofit leaders, we were able to draw from a deep reserve of situations, scenarios, and profiles. The approaches suggested here do not require significant time or resources. The steps and tools are relatively self-explanatory. The approaches are written from the point of view of leaders but can be applied by their staffs as well. Nonprofit leaders can call CRE (212-894-3394) or log on to http://www. 15 Copyright © 2014 Center for Creative Leadership. All Rights Reserved.
Chapter 1: On-the-Job Development Strategies
crenyc.org/leadership_offerings to explore consulting engagements on any of the suggested approaches. CCL’s Client Services Group (336-545-2810) also stands ready to assist. We expect that nonprofit leaders will find themselves in one or more of these stories, and will find the strategies practical and thought-provoking.
16 Copyright © 2014 Center for Creative Leadership. All Rights Reserved.
Meeting the Job Challenges of Nonprofit Leaders
Chapter 2
The Circle-of-Challenge Framework: Five Key Challenges of Nonprofit Leaders The leadership development literature has surfaced the layers and complexity of challenges that nonprofit leaders face on a day-to-day basis. CRE’s robust experience with leadership and organizational development supports these findings. We have witnessed the issues nonprofit leaders grapple with to remain effective and keep their organizations sustainable. These challenges are a combination of leadership and management issues. The leadership issues revolve around driving change, aligning programs with mission, thinking generatively, creating a desired culture, developing strategic partnerships, and understanding one’s impact on others. The management issues revolve around getting results, developing tactical solutions, supervising individuals and teams, and managing resources. We then grouped these leadership and management issues into five key challenges: 1. Supervision 2. Staffing 3. Scope and Scale 4. Stakeholders 5. Self CRE’s Circle-of-Challenge Framework, shown in Figure 1 (see next page), is a model for understanding the nexus of leadership and management issues that confront nonprofit leaders.
SUPERVISION 1. Role complexity – Nonprofit leaders are almost always also individual contributors to programs and other areas of work, such as program design, proposal writing, and revenue generation. Few, if any, have strictly leadership roles. They have people management roles, as well as individual contributor responsibilities. 2. Managing individual performance – Sustaining high performance standards so that staff members achieve program and organizational goals can be challenging in organizational cultures where there is a push and 17 Copyright © 2014 Center for Creative Leadership. All Rights Reserved.
Chapter 2: The Circle-of-Challenge Framework
Figure 1: The Circle-of-Challenge Framework
SUPERVISION
STAFFING t 3FDSVJUNFOU t 3PMFDPNQMFYJUZ BOESFUFOUJPO t .BOBHJOHJOEJWJEVBM t 8PSLEFNBOETWT QFSGPSNBODF TUBòDBQBDJUZ t 1SPGFTTJPOBM t 3FXBSETBOE CPVOEBSJFT SFDPHOJUJPO
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t 1SPHSBN DPNQMFYJUZ t 4VCPQUJNBM JOGSBTUSVDUVSF t .BOBHJOHQSPHSBN BOEPSHBOJ[BUJPOBM QFSGPSNBODF
SCOPE AND SCALE
STAKEHOLDERS
pull between getting to results and maintaining an engaged and supportive environment for staff. 3. Professional boundaries in an emotionally loaded work environment – Nonprofit leaders whose staff are engaged in emotionally loaded work must strike a fine balance between appropriately supporting their staffs and maintaining healthy boundaries with them.
STAFFING 4. Recruitment and retention – Attracting and retaining the best talent continues to be a challenge for nonprofit leaders, given heavy workloads and under-resourced environments. Developing strategies that competitively position the organization in recruiting talent is also one of the nonprofit leader’s challenges. 5. Work demands versus staff capacity – Demographic shifts have resulted JOBHSFBUFSJOìVYPGVOEFSTFSWFEQPQVMBUJPOT JODMVEJOHJNNJHSBOUT 18 Copyright © 2014 Center for Creative Leadership. All Rights Reserved.
Meeting the Job Challenges of Nonprofit Leaders
TFFLJOHTFSWJDFTɨJTJOìVYIBTMFEUPIFBWJFSXPSLMPBETGPSBMSFBEZ stretched staff. In addition, higher competency demands are placed on staff who may have less than the full range of experience required for the job. 6. Rewards and recognition – Financial rewards for success tend to be limited. Nonprofit leaders are challenged to find meaningful, nonmonetary rewards and recognition for high performers.
SCOPE AND SCALE 7. Program complexity – Nonprofit leaders have to plan, implement, and evaluate programs, often across multiple functions, sites, geographies, and populations. 8. Suboptimal infrastructure – Nonprofits often lack resources to invest in systems that improve efficiency in the long run, such as finance, human resources, information technology, and knowledge management; they have to manage these functions on an ad hoc basis. 9. Managing program and organizational performance – Nonprofit leaders must define, measure, and manage success for often ambitious and far-reaching goals such as improving educational opportunities for a community or expanding civil liberties.
STAKEHOLDERS 10. Dilemma of multiple roles – Nonprofit leaders experience the push-andpull of inhabiting multiple roles as they interact with different stakeholders—clients, staff, community leaders, different types of funders, board members, volunteers, partners, collaborators, and public officials. With some stakeholders, the balance of power is equal and with others it is not. The dynamics of these relationships are nuanced and require abundant sensitivity and emotional intelligence. 11. Managing diverse stakeholders – Nonprofit leaders partner regularly with the complex mix of stakeholders mentioned above. Each of these stakeholder groups has its own goals, concerns, and agendas. 12. Managing differences – Nonprofit leaders must be adept at working with individuals and groups with diverse personalities and work styles, above and beyond differing agendas, interests, and persuasions.
19 Copyright © 2014 Center for Creative Leadership. All Rights Reserved.
Chapter 2: The Circle-of-Challenge Framework
SELF 13. Use of influence and power – The degree of collaboration involved in program planning and implementation often requires getting work done through and with people over whom one may have no authority or formal QPXFS0SHBOJ[BUJPOBMDVMUVSFTUIBUQSJPSJUJ[FDPOTFOTVTCVJMEJOHDBOBMTP create hesitancy among nonprofit leaders to use their formal leadership positions to get things done. 14. Personal impact and effectiveness – Nonprofit leaders tend not to make UIFUJNFUPQBVTFBOESFìFDUPOUIFJSPXOMFBEFSTIJQBOENBOBHFNFOU style, and to consider how this impacts their relationships with clients, colleagues, partners, and other stakeholders. 15. Burnout – All the challenges that come with functioning in a highdemand, low-resource environment exacerbate the nonprofit leader’s level of stress. Additionally, lack of time for self-care impacts the ability to cope with stress. The Circle-of-Challenge Framework, with five key challenges and fifteen issues, constitutes CRE’s model of the most critical and universal challenges that nonprofit leaders face based on CRE’s interaction with hundreds of organizations and their leaders over more than thirty years. The model builds on research findings by authors referenced in Appendix B. Most importantly, the Circle-ofChallenge Framework underpins this fieldbook’s approach to helping nonprofit leaders navigate the complex, competitive, and resource-constrained environment in which they work.
20 Copyright © 2014 Center for Creative Leadership. All Rights Reserved.
Meeting the Job Challenges of Nonprofit Leaders
Chapter 3
CRE’s Approach to On-the-Job Development Strategies: Self-Coaching and Action Learning This fieldbook is designed to be a self-coaching and action-learning guide for leaders and their staffs to address the Circle-of-Challenge Framework described JO$IBQUFS0VSBQQSPBDIJTCBTFEPOUIFCFMJFG HBJOFEGSPNFYQFSJFODF that individuals can make significant changes on their own if equipped with the right tools, which include the following: t The right questions to ask of themselves t Some turnkey practices and tactics t Relevant application tools for specific issues 0VSBJNJTUPQSPWJEFOPOQSPëUMFBEFSTXJUIUPPMTJODPSQPSBUJOHUIFTFFMFments so they can self-coach and learn from actions they take while on the job. The approach to each of the challenges involves four things: 1. Reframing – The ability to shift one’s perspective or paradigm can unlock a fresh approach to a daunting challenge. Reframing is a common coaching methodology; a nonprofit leader can learn to develop the art of reframing situations and problems so that new solutions emerge. 2. “1-2-3” Steps – The idea of “low-hanging fruit” led us to the notion of identifying the first few relatively easy actions that one can take to address the challenge. These steps move a leader from understanding to action and change and are akin to application assignments that are used in coaching and action learning. Some steps contain self-training and self-learning components. 3. Off-the-job Resources – Steps that take nonprofit leaders outside the confines of their own organizations, and at times away from the realm of their DIBMMFOHFT QSPWJEFBOPUIFSXBZGPSUIFNUPHSPX0êUIFKPCSFTPVSDFT are self-learning opportunities that open up new horizons, different points of view, valuable insights, and support systems that exist parallel to the workplace.
21 Copyright © 2014 Center for Creative Leadership. All Rights Reserved.
Chapter 3: CRE’s Approach to On-the-Job Development Strategies
4. Competencies, Skills, Knowledge, and Tools – For each challenge discussed in this fieldbook, we identify the competencies, skills, and knowledge (CSK) needed to implement the suggested approach. And in support of those CSKs, we list articles, books, and other resources. The fifteen issues within the five challenges presented in chapters 4 to 8 are each illustrated with a story, which is then followed by suggested approaches for addressing the challenge. These approaches have been informed by our consulting, coaching, and training engagements, working closely with nonprofit leaders as they carry out their work.
22 Copyright © 2014 Center for Creative Leadership. All Rights Reserved.
Meeting the Job Challenges of Nonprofit Leaders
Chapter 4
Supervision Figure 2: Supervision
SUPERVISION
STAFFING t 3FDSVJUNFOU t 3PMFDPNQMFYJUZ BOESFUFOUJPO t .BOBHJOHJOEJWJEVBM t 8PSLEFNBOETWT QFSGPSNBODF TUBòDBQBDJUZ t 1SPGFTTJPOBM t 3FXBSETBOE CPVOEBSJFT SFDPHOJUJPO
SELF
t 6TFPGJOøVFODF BOEQPXFS t 1FSTPOBMJNQBDU BOEFòFDUJWFOFTT t #VSOPVU
t %JMFNNBPG NVMUJQMFSPMFT t .BOBHJOHEJWFSTF TUBLFIPMEFST t .BOBHJOH EJòFSFODFT
t 1SPHSBN DPNQMFYJUZ t 4VCPQUJNBM JOGSBTUSVDUVSF t .BOBHJOHQSPHSBN BOEPSHBOJ[BUJPOBM QFSGPSNBODF
SCOPE AND SCALE
STAKEHOLDERS
Role Complexity The issue: Nonprofit leaders are almost always also individual contributors to programs and other areas of work, such as program design, proposal writing, and revenue generation. Few if any nonprofit leaders have strictly leadership roles. They have people-management roles and individual contributor responsibilities as well. Why it matters: Finding the appropriate balance between supervising and doing means learning to allow others to grow into responsibility while sharpening one’s own personal effectiveness.
23 Copyright © 2014 Center for Creative Leadership. All Rights Reserved.
Chapter 4: Supervision
“Why don’t my client management skills work with managing staff?” Natalie is an experienced case manager and educator at a women’s health center who was promoted to a leadership role as program director. She still has a small client load, but her job description is heavily focused on program leadership, quality control, and supervision, as well as some contract reporting and management. Natalie finds herself “fixing” client issues for her direct reports in order to make sure monthly contract numbers and outcomes are on track. She believes this is the best course of action given her limited time and multiple priorities. Her direct reports, some of whom are new hires, have become used to coming to her with their problem cases, knowing that she has the experience and quick thinking to resolve sticky situations. Natalie thought that the informal system in place was serving everyone’s needs until she got a review in which her direct reports complained of not having her confidence and feeling micromanaged. “But they come to me!” she found herself saying to her own manager.
To address the challenge of role complexity, Natalie and her boss discussed some new strategies. Natalie tried the following approaches, with good results.
24 Copyright © 2014 Center for Creative Leadership. All Rights Reserved.
Meeting the Job Challenges of Nonprofit Leaders
Reframing Realize the difference between “being on the EBODFìPPSwBOEiTUBOEing on the balcony” Natalie realized that constantly being in the throes of direct client management wasn’t giving her the perspective she needed as a program leader. Make room for others to learn by trying (and failing) She saw that she had to allow for “learning by failure,” partly by managing the temporary loss of productivity that happens when a staff member or team begins to function in a new way. Pause for role and task clarity She realized that an upfront investment of time was needed to clarify expectations and put in context those tasks where she (and others) had multiple, sometimes overlapping roles.
“1-2-3” Steps Make time for staff observation Natalie began to make time in her calendar to discover and more proactively reflect on trends, enabling her to address common needs across client work. Sometimes this meant spot reviews of client notes and sometimes it meant direct observation of staffclient interactions. Change from a directive to a coaching orientation, with transparency She started to involve case managers in problem solving, rather than leading with her own suggestions. She also made the program funder aware that there may be a temporary deviation in contract numbers while she tried this new approach. Make time for proactive planning and role clarification
Off-the-job Resources Attend free or low-cost webinars on leadership and management best practices, with an emphasis on coaching She identified a series of webinars on the leader and manager as coach. Identify tools that can help one plan and manage more effectively She spoke to peers about what project- and taskmanagement tools they use and brought ideas back to her own team. Seek a trusted advisor She sought a professional colleague whom she respected and trusted to coach and support her in more fully owning the leadership and management part of her role and in making the necessary style and skills adjustments.
She worked with her own supervisor to create a new team habit of beginning each month with a planning moment, which always included a past month debrief, and an identification of key tasks and responsibilities for the weeks ahead.
25 Copyright © 2014 Center for Creative Leadership. All Rights Reserved.
Chapter 4: Supervision
ROLE COMPLEXITY TURNKEY COMPETENCIES, SKILLS, AND KNOWLEDGE t Coaching others to develop the skills they need to achieve goals t Managing project time and resources to ensure that work is completed effectively and efficiently t Delineating different levels of responsibilities and work involvement
RESOURCES Books: Kerzner, H. R. (2013). Project management: A systems approach to planning, scheduling, and controlling. Hoboken, NJ: Wiley. Naudé, J., & Plessier, F. (2014). Becoming a leader-coach: A step-by-step guide to developing your people. Greensboro, NC: Center for Creative Leadership. Riddle, D. (2008). Leadership coaching: When it’s right and when you’re ready. Greensboro, NC: Center for Creative Leadership. Wakefield, M. (2006). Brief solution-focused coaching. In S. Ting & P. Scisco (Eds.), The CCL handbook of coaching: A guide for the leader coach (pp. 286–311). San Francisco, CA: Jossey-Bass. Weisbord, M. R. (2004). Transforming teamwork: Working relationships in a fast-changing world. In M. R. Weisbord, Productive workplaces revisited: Dignity, meaning, and community in the 21st century (pp. 296–310). San Francisco, CA: Jossey-Bass. Wilson, J., & Gislason, M. (2010). Coaching skills for nonprofit managers and leaders: Developing people to achieve your mission. San Francisco, CA: Jossey-Bass. Programs: t Coaching for Greater Effectiveness (http://www.ccl.org/leadership/ QSPHSBNT$(&0WFSWJFXBTQY
t CRE’s Executive Coaching Programs (call 212-894-3394)
26 Copyright © 2014 Center for Creative Leadership. All Rights Reserved.
Meeting the Job Challenges of Nonprofit Leaders
Managing Individual Performance The issue: Sustaining high performance standards so that staff members achieve program and organizational goals can be challenging in organizational cultures where there is a push and pull between getting to results and maintaining an engaged and supportive environment for staff. Why it matters: Holding staff accountable for results is key to sustaining organizational effectiveness and achieving outcomes. In addition, it would be a disservice to the staff’s professional growth if the leader failed to do so.
“Deliver or else … ???” Sashi is the executive director of a women’s organization that helps Asian women who are victims of domestic abuse. With a small budget of $300,000, the organization has programs including a transitional home for displaced women and children, counseling services for battered women, a legal initiative that provides free legal clinics to women who cannot otherwise afford legal counsel, support groups to help women overcome abuse, and a public edification initiative that educates the broader community and law-enforcement personnel about how the cultural norms and social values unique to this community impact women facing domestic abuse. The organization does a lot with very little and relies heavily on its staff and volunteers to get the work done. In addition, staff members are not paid well in comparison to other larger nonprofits that do domestic violence work or government agencies that support this work on a statewide basis. Staff members and volunteers are from the community; some are themselves survivors of domestic abuse while others have difficult circumstances in their personal lives. Although dedicated to the mission, many staff members do not perform at the levels necessary to get all the work done. In addition, holding unpaid volunteers accountable is challenging. Sashi is acutely aware of this fact. But she feels ambivalent about holding her staff and volunteers to the required performance levels knowing their personal circumstances and their relatively low or nonexistent salaries.
To address the challenge of managing individual performance, Sashi tried the following approaches, with good results.
27 Copyright © 2014 Center for Creative Leadership. All Rights Reserved.
Chapter 4: Supervision
Reframing
“1-2-3” Steps
Broaden her perspective about staff engagement and support to include fostering high performance
Align mission with departmental goals that translate to individual goals and objectives
In her one-on-one supervisory meetings, Sashi shared her perspective and engaged the staff in exploring how to shore up their performance. She gave the same message in her discussions with volunteers. Redefine “holding staff accountable” as a responsibility she owes her staff Sashi began to see that she has been selling her staff short when she was demonstrating ambivalence about expecting them to perform against standards.
She worked with each staff member and volunteer to finalize their individual goals for every quarter and time line for achievement. She also established where they needed support and put the necessary systems in place. She discussed with volunteers mutually fulfilling ways in which they wanted to be leveraged. Be consistent about assessing progress toward goals and expectations Sashi consistently reviewed progress toward goals at oneon-one supervision meetings. She established clear criteria for success and consequences for not meeting goals.
Off-the-job Resources Meet with colleagues in organizations that employ former clients or participants as staff and volunteers Sashi established regular communication with a former colleague who runs a rape crisis and antiviolence support center to learn about the approaches she uses to hold staff and volunteers accountable for results. Read articles about managing performance and handling underperformers Sashi went to the websites of professional organizations focused on humanresource management to locate articles that might give her perspective and strategies to address her challenge.
28 Copyright © 2014 Center for Creative Leadership. All Rights Reserved.
Meeting the Job Challenges of Nonprofit Leaders
MANAGING INDIVIDUAL PERFORMANCE TURNKEY COMPETENCIES, SKILLS, AND KNOWLEDGE t Aligning mission, program strategies, and individual goals t Communicating feedback in a way that gets heard and motivates staff to perform better t Setting goals and planning a course of action to ensure that work is performed effectively and completed efficiently t Conducting effective performance discussions during supervisory meetings and the annual performance review t Engaging and managing volunteers
RESOURCES Books: Fleenor, J. W., Taylor, S., & Chappelow, C. (2008). Leveraging the impact of 360-degree feedback. San Francisco, CA: Pfeiffer. Hart, E. W. (2011). Feedback in performance reviews. Greensboro, NC: Center for Creative Leadership. Kaplan, R. E. (1996). Forceful leadership and enabling leadership: You can do both. Greensboro, NC: Center for Creative Leadership. McLagan, P., & Krembs, P. (1995). On-the-level: Performance communication that works. San Francisco, CA: Berrett-Koehler. 1IPFM $. (SBEZ 4 (BMMP " #JFMBT[LB%V7FSOBZ $ .BO[POJ + Butler, T., & Krattenmaker, T. (2011). Guide to giving effective feedback. Boston, MA: Harvard Business School Press. Rock, D. (2006). Using the six steps to give feedback. In D. Rock, Quiet leadership: Six steps to transforming performance at work (pp. 203–215). New York, NY: Harper Collins. Wittich, B. (2002). Keep those volunteers around: A dozen easy tips to excite, inspire, & retain your most valuable asset—volunteers. Fullerton, CA: Knowledge Transfer Pub. (continued)
29 Copyright © 2014 Center for Creative Leadership. All Rights Reserved.
Chapter 4: Supervision
Worksheets and Diagrams: t 0QUJPO1SFQBSJOHZPVSQSPGFTTJPOBMEFWFMPQNFOUHPBM OE *O Human Resources at MIT. Retrieved from http://hrweb.mit.edu/ system/files/all/other/pd_goal_templates.pdf t *EFB4BOECPY 0TCPSO$SFBUJWFQSPCMFNTPMWJOHQSPDFTT Retrieved from http://www.idea-sandbox.com/destination/2007/10/ osborn-creative-problem-solving-process/
30 Copyright © 2014 Center for Creative Leadership. All Rights Reserved.
Meeting the Job Challenges of Nonprofit Leaders
Professional Boundaries in an Emotionally Loaded Work Environment The issue: Nonprofit leaders whose staffs are engaged in emotionally loaded work must strike a fine balance between appropriately supporting their staff and maintaining healthy boundaries with them. Why it matters: Nonprofit employees often engage in work that is personally meaningful but emotionally demanding. Leaders must provide adequate support for employees to ensure that their mental health and personal life do not suffer. At the same time, each leader needs to clarify what his or her role as a leader is and isn’t, in order to anchor a professional and successful working relationship with staff and role model these behaviors for staff when they are working with clients.
“Managing that tightrope …” Phuong is the program director of an immigrant advocacy organization that helps new and vulnerable immigrants access critical legal, social, and healthcare services. The organization relies on a small budget, small team of full-time staff, and substantial volunteer support to provide public education and community outreach to immigrants on their rights and available support; counseling services for families struggling with intergenerational conflicts; support groups and other group-based activities; and free legal clinics to immigrants, many of whom have entered the system because of parenting practices influenced by their culture of origin, such as physical punishment. Many of the staff and volunteers are immigrants themselves and feel a strong personal commitment to the organizational mission. Many have experienced highly challenging personal situations in their own transition to U.S. citizenship. Although their personal experiences create an exceptional level of empathy and dedication to clients, some become frequently emotional when working with clients and struggle to draw professional boundaries with their clients and supervisors.
"GUFSTPNFDBSFGVMSFìFDUJPOPOIPXUPBEESFTTUIFDIBMMFOHFPGQSPGFTTJPOBM boundaries, Phuong tried the following approaches, with good results.
31 Copyright © 2014 Center for Creative Leadership. All Rights Reserved.
Chapter 4: Supervision
Reframing Shift from avoiding emotions to honoring the whole person Phuong recognized that being accessible and acknowledging his staff ’s emotional experience were the first steps to managing professional boundaries more effectively. Empower rather than rescue He began to see that being compassionate and supportive did not preclude a firm, directive, and consistent approach to managing staff. Believe that self-care is a starting point for service to others He saw that many staff felt guilty about taking personal time away from clients and work, and he sought to adopt self-care as an explicit organizational value.
“1-2-3” Steps
Off-the-job Resources
Establish clinical supervision as a protocol for staff and volunteers involved in client-intensive roles
Stay in touch with an anchor who can provide feedback on your emotional intelligence
By creating a structured space and framework for providing support with their emotions around client work, he found he spent less time coaching them reactively and was able to offer more focused and professionally relevant supervision.
He asked a trusted friend to provide direct feedback on his strengths and weaknesses in responding to others’ emotions.
Develop more effective managerial styles He initiated a 360-degree assessment for himself and other managers as a starting point for determining what type of support the staff needed at different points and areas of stretch for each of them as managers.
Create room for worklife balance He saw that to maintain healthy professional boundaries with staff, he needed to commit to and model self-care himself, and he started a daily reflection practice for his own balance and renewal.
Establish clear protocols and limitations around working hours and client contact He established program protocols on appropriate hours for in-person and phone-based client contact and relevant exceptions; initiated orientations and ongoing training on ethical and professional issues related to boundaries; and provided external resources, including therapy, that staff could seek out if needed for their well-being.
32 Copyright © 2014 Center for Creative Leadership. All Rights Reserved.
Meeting the Job Challenges of Nonprofit Leaders
PROFESSIONAL BOUNDARIES IN AN EMOTIONALLY LOADED WORK ENVIRONMENT TURNKEY COMPETENCIES, SKILLS, AND KNOWLEDGE t Exercising self-care for oneself and encouraging it for staff in order to sustain the energy and motivation to perform well t Adapting one’s leadership style to suit the ability of the direct report to get the job done t Using emotional intelligence skills as part of supervisory repertoire
RESOURCES Books: Goleman, D. (1998). Working with emotional intelligence. New York, NY: Bantam Dell. Kossek, E. E., Ruderman, M. N., Hannum, K. M., & Braddy, P. W. (2010). WorkStyle profile: Increasing your effectiveness on and off the job. Greensboro, NC: Center for Creative Leadership. Articles: Goleman, D. (2000, March–April). Leadership that gets results. Harvard Business Review, 78(2), 78–90. Hersey, P. (2001). Situational leadership: A summary. Escondido, CA: Center for Leadership Studies. Instruments and tools: t &YQFSJFODF&YQMPSFS IUUQTPMVUJPOTDDMPSHFYQFSJFODFFYQMPSFS facilitator-guide-set) t 7JTVBM&YQMPSFS IUUQTPMVUJPOTDDMPSH7JTVBM@&YQMPSFS@1PTU@$BSE@ Facilitator%27s_Set) t 8JTEPN&YQMPSFS IUUQTPMVUJPOTDDMPSH8JTEPN@ Explorer_%28beta%29) t 8PSL-JGF*OEJDBUPS IUUQXXXDDMPSHMFBEFSTIJQBTTFTTNFOUT 8-*0WFSWJFXBTQY
33 Copyright © 2014 Center for Creative Leadership. All Rights Reserved.
Meeting the Job Challenges of Nonprofit Leaders
Chapter 5
Staffing Figure 3: Staffing
SUPERVISION
STAFFING t 3FDSVJUNFOU t 3PMFDPNQMFYJUZ BOESFUFOUJPO t .BOBHJOHJOEJWJEVBM t 8PSLEFNBOETWT QFSGPSNBODF TUBòDBQBDJUZ t 1SPGFTTJPOBM t 3FXBSETBOE CPVOEBSJFT SFDPHOJUJPO
SELF
t 6TFPGJOøVFODF BOEQPXFS t 1FSTPOBMJNQBDU BOEFòFDUJWFOFTT t #VSOPVU
t %JMFNNBPG NVMUJQMFSPMFT t .BOBHJOHEJWFSTF TUBLFIPMEFST t .BOBHJOH EJòFSFODFT
t 1SPHSBN DPNQMFYJUZ t 4VCPQUJNBM JOGSBTUSVDUVSF t .BOBHJOHQSPHSBN BOEPSHBOJ[BUJPOBM QFSGPSNBODF
SCOPE AND SCALE
STAKEHOLDERS
Recruitment and Retention Issue: Attracting and retaining the best talent continues to be a challenge for nonprofit leaders, given their heavy workloads and under-resourced environments. Developing strategies that competitively position the organization to recruit talent is also one of the nonprofit leader’s challenges. Why it matters: Hiring and retaining the right people for the job is critical for achieving success. Poor fit or lack of motivation to get the work done can lead to underachievement of program outcomes and organizational goals.
35 Copyright © 2014 Center for Creative Leadership. All Rights Reserved.
Chapter 5: Staffing
“Having the best and brightest—is that a pipe dream?” Megan is a senior program director at a large youth-serving agency that manages after-school and community-based programs for young people ages 5 to 18. The programs are housed at six different sites and each site has a full-time director who supervises three or four site coordinators and six activity specialists. She visits her site directors at least once a week. The site directors struggle with supervising their own staffs and holding them accountable for results; they also deal with poor time management, lack of budget expertise, and meeting funder-reporting requirements. So Megan finds herself doing a lot of troubleshooting and hand-holding, which is exhausting, time-consuming, and results in friction between her and the site directors. With frequent turnover at the site-director level, Megan has to step in to fill vacant positions while actively recruiting replacements. Recruitment happens in an ad hoc manner in reaction to a sudden departure. Among the six current site directors, only two are functioning well and meeting targets. The other four are struggling, and Megan fears turnover again. In addition to providing support to site directors, Megan carries many other responsibilities. She really needs her site directors to step up and take ownership and responsibility for their sites.
Megan knew that recruiting and retaining the right talent is a sector-wide challenge. Determined to give it a try, she listed some ideas and then decided on the following approaches, with good results.
36 Copyright © 2014 Center for Creative Leadership. All Rights Reserved.
Meeting the Job Challenges of Nonprofit Leaders
Reframing Move from a reactive to a strategic stance
“1-2-3” Steps
Off-the-job Resources
Conduct a mini-strategic staffing assessment
Talk to job developers and hiring managers in Megan set aside some time to larger nonprofits and Instead of hiring under fire, Megan began thinking think about and discuss with other sectors about the systems and processes her team what skills mix about how to hire and build the team she needs to would best serve their organi- they follow to fill jobs meet organizational goals. zational goals and how they Megan connected with might improve their position her college roommate who specs when posting a job. Shift assessment criteria works in the talent acquisifor hiring tion division at a local Develop a more comuniversity, to reflect on and She tweaked her screening prehensive screening and learn about strategies to and selection criteria to interview protocol attract and retain talent. focus on both skills set and Megan began asking inculture fit. Research and attend terviewees for more specific webinars on competencyAppreciate that retention examples of how they demonstrated particular skills based hiring strategies start on Day or how they saw themselves 0OF She attended a webinar in situations that reflected hosted by the Society for Megan realized that the their organizational culture. Human Resource Manfirst few weeks of new hires She also posed real work agement (SHRM) on are critical in developing challenges to candidates competency-based selection. their commitment to the during the screening process. organization. Make sure onboarding (orientation) and ongoing support systems for new hires are in place to integrate them into the organization effectively Megan realized that orientation goes beyond the first day and she put in place routine check-in meetings and a buddy system for new staff members to get ongoing support.
37 Copyright © 2014 Center for Creative Leadership. All Rights Reserved. .
Chapter 5: Staffing
RECRUITMENT AND RETENTION TURNKEY COMPETENCIES, SKILLS, AND KNOWLEDGE t Ensuring alignment between mission and recruitment and retention strategies t Understanding and implementing competency-based selection— a recruitment process based on the ability of candidates to demonstrate their competence and professional experience for a given position t Designing an onboarding process that spans the first six months of an employee’s tenure in the organization
RESOURCES Articles: Baldwin, D., & Trovas, S. (2002). X marks the spot: Developing and retaining emerging leaders. Leadership in Action, 21(6), 14–18. Competency-based employee selection. (n.d.). In CPS Human Resource Services. Retrieved from http://www.cpshr.us/workforceplanning/ implementationcompetencymodel.htm PowerPoint: t Community Resource Exchange, Human Resource Team. Framework for an onboarding process [PowerPoint slides]. Community Resource Exchange. Retrieved from http://crenyc.org/fieldbook/resources.
38 Copyright © 2014 Center for Creative Leadership. All Rights Reserved.
Meeting the Job Challenges of Nonprofit Leaders
Work Demands Versus Staff Capacity Issue:%FNPHSBQIJDTIJGUTIBWFSFTVMUFEJOBHSFBUFSJOìVYPGVOEFSTFSWFEQPQVMBUJPOT JODMVEJOHJNNJHSBOUT XIPBSFTFFLJOHTFSWJDFTɨJTJOìVYIBTMFEUP heavier workloads for already stretched staffs. In addition, higher competency demands are placed on staff that may have less than the full range of experience required for the job. Why it matters: With competition for funding becoming increasingly tight, nonprofits need the ability to continuously improve their performance. To do this they need staffs that have broader and deeper skill sets and are highly motivated to deliver their best.
“How can I ask my staff to do more? Should I?” Derek is the executive director of a $10 million organization that serves children and young adults. The organization’s mission is to develop lifelong learners among the children and young adults in local, underserved communities. It provides early childhood and after-school programs, youth-development programs, mentoring, and college-admissions counseling. Considering the numerous programs that the organization offers, it has a very lean staff, just barely meeting best practices in child-teacher ratios. Hours tend to be long because some programs start early and end late, and some programs start after school and end late. The demographics in its geographic catchment are trending toward a greater influx of immigrants, who require specialized skills from staff. A poor economy has worsened the socioeconomic scenario in the communities the organization serves. These factors have resulted in greater demand for its services and have required expanded skill sets among staff. Staff members have been very dedicated but have expressed how stretched and stressed they feel. And if anyone gets sick or is on vacation, the situation gets worse. There is little room for financial rewards, funders expect more and better results, and funding is tight and competitive. Derek is frustrated with the organization’s limited ability to add new staff with broader skill sets.
To address the challenge of work demands versus staff capacity, Derek discussed the issues with a colleague and tried the following approaches, with good results. 39 Copyright © 2014 Center for Creative Leadership. All Rights Reserved.
Chapter 5: Staffing
Reframing Shift focus from staff expansion to work containment and skills enhancement Instead of thinking only about adding staff, Derek decided to look into the work of key staff to determine if they are doing extraneous work that can either be dropped or done by administrative staff or volunteers. In addition, he started to assess which staff members have the potential to learn new skills and take on more responsibilities. Recognize that impact of rewards differs from person to person Derek realized that staff members feel rewarded by different things. Some look for merit increases, others for career growth, and still others expanded responsibilities at work. This analysis helped him feel less frustrated about the organization’s limited ability to provide financial rewards.
“1-2-3” Steps Pilot the idea of work containment and skills enhancement Derek started to assess what specific activities staff members are doing that are nice to do but are not critical to getting results. He decided to do a pilot at two sites where those activities had been dropped from two programs. In six months, he will measure the difference the change made in the programs’ results. He also started discussions with three staff members about their interest in attending some skills training.
Off-the-job Resources Research low-cost skills training for staff Derek found some workshops that deal with cultural competency and enrolled three staff members in the workshop. Learn more about strategies for addressing employee value propositions Derek attended a free webinar on the topic.
Determine staff’s “employee value proposition” He asked staff members to complete a brief employee value proposition (EVP) questionnaire, which gave him a picture of the factors that keep staff motivated and attached to the organization. He plans to address staff’s EVPs in a more customized fashion.
40 Copyright © 2014 Center for Creative Leadership. All Rights Reserved.
Meeting the Job Challenges of Nonprofit Leaders
WORK DEMANDS VERSUS STAFF CAPACITY TURNKEY COMPETENCIES, SKILLS, AND KNOWLEDGE t Understanding what each employee values and finds rewarding in the workplace and thereby keeping them motivated toward performing well t Understanding how best to work with people of different cultural backgrounds
RESOURCES Books: Cartwright, T. (2007). Setting priorities: Personal values, organizational results. Greensboro, NC: Center for Creative Leadership. Douglas, C. A. (2003). Key events and lessons for managers in a diverse workforce: A report on research and findings. Greensboro, NC: Center for Creative Leadership. Sternbergh, B., & Weitzel, S. (2001). Setting your development goals: Start with your values. Greensboro, NC: Center for Creative Leadership. Articles: Hill, B., & Tande, C. (2006). Total rewards: The employment value propositions. Workspan Magazine. Retrieved from http://www.tandehill.com/ pdfs/Total-Rewards.pdf Satterwhite, F. J., Fernandopulle, A., & Teng, S. (2007). Cultural competency in capacity building (Publication). National Community Development Institute. Retrieved from http://www.compasspoint.org/sites/ default/files/docs/research/496_satterwhitefull.pdf Tool: t 7BMVFT&YQMPSFS IUUQTPMVUJPOTDDMPSH7BMVFT@ Explorer_%28beta%29)
41 Copyright © 2014 Center for Creative Leadership. All Rights Reserved.
Chapter 5: Staffing
Rewards and Recognition The issue: Financial rewards for success tend to be limited. Nonprofit leaders are challenged to find meaningful, nonmonetary rewards and recognition for high performers. Why it matters: Rewards and recognition are known to help motivate employees. A combination of both can push performance and productivity.
“I’m always scrambling for ways to reward my hardworking staff” Martha is the executive director of a $3 million nonprofit organization that serves seniors in her community. The organization’s mission is to improve quality of life for older adults by providing them access to a variety of programs housed at their conveniently located senior center. These programs range from money-management workshops to individual case management, food service, and a meals-on-wheels program for homebound elders in the community. Funding for the senior center and programs comes predominantly from a government agency. The organization holds an annual fund-raiser and gets some individual donations through the year but is mostly strapped for unrestricted funds. The funds from the government agency barely cover program costs and do not support salary increments. Martha has six long-tenured staff members who are hardworking and very dedicated to the seniors, but they are getting increasingly frustrated with the lack of pay increases and no promotions for several years. They act up frequently and often seem unmotivated. Martha feels guilty about not being able to reward her staff financially for their service.
To address the challenge of rewarding staff, Martha did some research and came up with the following approaches, with good results.
42 Copyright © 2014 Center for Creative Leadership. All Rights Reserved.
Meeting the Job Challenges of Nonprofit Leaders
Reframing Move from financial rewards to recognition Martha recognized that her people are motivated by more than money. Understand that sharing leadership is a form of recognition Martha started empowering staff members to be leaders and encouraged them to take ownership of decisions and actions in their areas of expertise.
“1-2-3” Steps Recognize what constitutes value for staff
Network with nonprofit managers to get ideas about how they recognize Martha focused her energies on treating her staff as valued their staff team members by first seeking She had dinner with a to understand what moticolleague she met at a vates them to come to work leadership-training every day and then tailoring seminar and who works developmental opportunities with a similarly sized nonto match their interests. profit to brainstorm ideas on recognizing staff. 0êFSBVUIFOUJD OPUBVUPmatic) praise and thanks for Look for low-cost or jobs well done no-cost interesting and challenging staffShe started to really watch development for standout moments to opportunities highlight work well done
7JFXTUBêEFWFMPQNFOU as a reward and an invest- and offered recognition in ment in the organization the moment, in context and, where appropriate, publicly. Martha let her staff know that an investment in them is being made because she wants them to be successful.
Off-the-job Resources
Maximize the team’s individual abilities She consciously started to recognize her team members’ strengths and allowed them to take the lead on projects that involved their expertise.
Martha started to think about conferences and speaking engagements that she attends to see whether it would be appropriate for different staff members to sometimes represent the organization.
Explore staff development beyond mandated technical training Martha was able to find different moments in the year to send her staff to seminars, conferences, and speaking engagements in addition to mandated training and workshops to help build their expertise in a variety of areas.
43 Copyright © 2014 Center for Creative Leadership. All Rights Reserved.
Chapter 5: Staffing
REWARDS AND RECOGNITION TURNKEY COMPETENCIES, SKILLS, AND KNOWLEDGE t "OBMZ[JOHFBDITUBêNFNCFSTBCJMJUZUPHFUUIFUBTLEPOFBOEIJTPSIFS motivation and confidence for the same t ɨJOLJOHDSFBUJWFMZBCPVUUBMFOUNBOBHFNFOU
RESOURCES Book: Smith, R., & Campbell, M. (2011). Talent conversations: What they are, why they’re crucial, and how to do them right. Greensboro, NC: Center for Creative Leadership. Articles: Hersey, P. (2001). Situational leadership: A summary. Escondido, CA: Center for Leadership Studies. Kanter, R. M. (2004, July). The middle manager as innovator. Harvard Business Review, 82(7/8), 150–161.
44 Copyright © 2014 Center for Creative Leadership. All Rights Reserved.
Meeting the Job Challenges of Nonprofit Leaders
Chapter 6
Scope and Scale Figure 4: Scope and Scale
STAFFING
SUPERVISION t 3FDSVJUNFOU t 3PMFDPNQMFYJUZ BOESFUFOUJPO t .BOBHJOHJOEJWJEVBM t 8PSLEFNBOETWT QFSGPSNBODF TUBòDBQBDJUZ t 1SPGFTTJPOBM t 3FXBSETBOE CPVOEBSJFT SFDPHOJUJPO
SELF
t 6TFPGJOøVFODF BOEQPXFS t 1FSTPOBMJNQBDU BOEFòFDUJWFOFTT t #VSOPVU
t %JMFNNBPG NVMUJQMFSPMFT t .BOBHJOHEJWFSTF TUBLFIPMEFST t .BOBHJOH EJòFSFODFT
t 1SPHSBN DPNQMFYJUZ t 4VCPQUJNBM JOGSBTUSVDUVSF t .BOBHJOHQSPHSBN BOEPSHBOJ[BUJPOBM QFSGPSNBODF
SCOPE AND SCALE
STAKEHOLDERS
Program Complexity Issue: Nonprofit leaders have to plan, implement, and evaluate programs, often across multiple functions, sites, geographies, and populations. Why it matters: Managing program complexity is critical to program effectiveness. It has the potential to distract leaders from high-priority issues and cause them to focus on urgent but not important ones.
45 Copyright © 2014 Center for Creative Leadership. All Rights Reserved.
Chapter 6: Scope and Scale
“I’m pulled in many directions” Monica is the associate executive director of a $15 million multiservice organization that serves new immigrants in her community. The organization’s mission is to support the new immigrants in gaining access to health services, affordable housing, and job opportunities so that they become active and contributing members of their communities. She has oversight responsibility for fifteen programs at seven sites serving immigrants from Latin American, Asia, the Caribbean, and Eastern Europe. With seven managers to supervise (five program directors and two site managers), Monica finds herself pulled in many directions. For both credibility and sustainability she and her staff need to ensure that their programs are achieving outcomes. Yet she finds that her attention is often drawn to day-today program issues and reactive problem solving. She finds herself thinking, “I wish we only did one or two things, and did them well.”
After discussing her challenges regarding program complexity with her executive director, Monica tried the following approaches, with good results.
46 Copyright © 2014 Center for Creative Leadership. All Rights Reserved.
Meeting the Job Challenges of Nonprofit Leaders
Reframing
“1-2-3” Steps
Move from complexity to Establish priorities priorities Her reframing of complexity Monica started to reframe led her to think about and commit to different levels of her thinking by moving priorities for organizational from a “complexity space” and programmatic goals. to a “prioritizing space.” Make room for confusion Make room for planning, not just execution and uncertainty She told herself that it was okay to have days when programmatic problems left her confused and uncertain.
She started to set aside proactive planning time on a regular basis for herself and her staff.
Embrace unexpected Shift from a builder to an opportunities with high potential payoff architect stance She began to see her role as someone who sketches the big picture for her team to implement, and she came to understand that she does not have to always be part of implementation or dayto-day problem solving.
When unexpected but high-impact opportunities arose, she was open to them but made sure she thought out the pros and cons with key staff before jumping to implementation. Identify tasks to delegate and staff who are ready to take on new or more responsibilities In support of her architect stance, she will analyze the demands of projects and then match staff leaders to them appropriately.
Off-the-job Resources Find and meet with an external colleague or peer whose capacity to manage complexity you admire She had lunch with a colleague who manages an international division in a corporation to compare notes on managing work complexities. Get support on time and task management She started to read case studies and articles on distinguishing importance from urgency while negotiating a busy work life. Participate in a new and challenging initiative for a community or professional organization She plans to serve as a participant in a volunteer organizing effort in her community so she can better understand the issue of program complexity from the point of view of a “follower.”
47 Copyright © 2014 Center for Creative Leadership. All Rights Reserved.
Chapter 6: Scope and Scale
PROGRAM COMPLEXITY TURNKEY COMPETENCIES, SKILLS, AND KNOWLEDGE t Analyzing each staff member’s ability to get the task done and his or her motivation and confidence to do the same t Differentiating between urgency and importance when prioritizing tasks
RESOURCES Book: Cartwright, T. (2007). Setting priorities: Personal values, organizational results. Greensboro, NC: Center for Creative Leadership. Covey, S. (2004). Principles of personal management. In S. Covey, The 7 habits of highly effective people: Powerful lessons in personal change (pp. 145–183). New York, NY: Free Press. Turregano, C. (2013). Delegating effectively: A leader’s guide to getting things done. Greensboro, NC: Center for Creative Leadership. Article: Hersey, P. (2001). Situational leadership: A summary. Escondido, CA: Center for Leadership Studies.
48 Copyright © 2014 Center for Creative Leadership. All Rights Reserved.
Meeting the Job Challenges of Nonprofit Leaders
Suboptimal Infrastructure Issue: Nonprofits often lack resources to invest in systems that improve efficiency in the long run, such as finance, human resources, information technology, and knowledge management; they have to manage these functions on an ad hoc basis. Why it matters: Nonprofits must get results and manage programs and operations even amid these gaps.
“Sometimes we hold it together with spit and baling wire” Hector is the relatively new program director of a small community-based preventive-services agency providing parent education, counseling, and casework to prevent foster-care placement among families in the neighborhood. As the organization is funded and subject to review by a government agency, employees are required to meet various protocols and standards, such as maintaining two contact sessions per week for each client, submitting case notes within twenty-four hours, and weekly clinical supervision. Hector found that his agency’s internal systems and processes, especially IT and HR, were not organized to support the government agency’s protocols, resulting in staff who sought to comply with these requirements feeling overwhelmed by the paperwork and sometimes resigning as a result. In a few cases, he also discovered the troubling practice of staff falsely indicating client contact simply to meet the reporting requirements. Without a full-time HR manager, dealing with personnel and disciplinary challenges became an ongoing headache. At the agency level, they were falling behind on timely and accurate contract deliverables and at risk of losing their contract.
To address the challenge of suboptimal infrastructure, Hector tried the following approaches, with good results.
49 Copyright © 2014 Center for Creative Leadership. All Rights Reserved.
Chapter 6: Scope and Scale
Reframing
“1-2-3” Steps
Shift from siloed roles to shared responsibilities
Establish a cross-functional team to determine a workable solution for the agency
Hector recognized that the absence of dedicated IT, fiscal, or HR staff meant that there needed to be shared responsibility within the agency for managing these functions. Move from sophisticated processes to “goodenough” protocols He realized that not being able to create perfect systems should not be a stumbling block to trying to improve processes. 7JFXUIFBCTFODFPG systems as a chance to innovate He began to see how a loosely regulated environment created opportunities for creativity and innovation.
After some problem analysis, the team was able to establish a basic level of critical protocols that supported adherence to government agency requirements while streamlining nonessential guidelines that created a burden on employees. Utilize professional services in the open marketplace or share back-office functions when it’s impractical to build internal capacity for support functions Because the agency was too small to hire full-time IT, fiscal, or HR personnel, Hector looked into sharing or outsourcing these functions and made decisions based on efficiency and ease of service delivery.
Off-the-job Resources Get external training on available tools and technology that can raise internal capacity He and his staff signed up for a short free webinar and learned some tools, such as using shared calendars and folders, to streamline communication systems. Explore how other organizations have developed client-centered innovative systems He met with leaders of other nonprofits who have initiated incentives for staff to create clientcentered systems.
50 Copyright © 2014 Center for Creative Leadership. All Rights Reserved.
Meeting the Job Challenges of Nonprofit Leaders
SUBOPTIMAL INFRASTRUCTURE TURNKEY COMPETENCIES, SKILLS, AND KNOWLEDGE t Creative problem solving t Supporting managers to think beyond a narrow role t Managing teams across functions and roles
RESOURCES Books: Gryskiewicz, S., & Taylor, S. (2003). Making creativity practical: Innovation that gets results. Greensboro, NC: Center for Creative Leadership. 0FDI 37 A whack on the side of the head: How you can be more creative. New York, NY: Warner Books. Rummler, G. A., & Brache, A. P. (1995). Improving performance: How to manage the white space on the organization chart. San Francisco, CA: Jossey-Bass. Articles: Kanter, R. M. (2004, July). The middle manager as innovator. Harvard Business Review, 82(7/8), 150–161. Maletz, M., & Nohria, N. (2001, February). Managing in the white space. Harvard Business Review, 79(2), 103–111. Program: t -FBEJOH5FBNTGPS*NQBDU IUUQXXXDDMPSHMFBEFSTIJQQSPHSBNT -5*0WFSWJFXBTQY
51 Copyright © 2014 Center for Creative Leadership. All Rights Reserved.
Chapter 6: Scope and Scale
Managing Program and Organizational Performance Issue: Nonprofit leaders must define, measure, and manage success for often ambitious and far-reaching goals like improving educational opportunity for a community or expanding civil liberties. Why it matters: Funders now view the grants they make as social investments for which the returns are demonstrable outcomes. Unless nonprofits can show that their programs achieve such outcomes, funders are likely to reduce grant size or simply defund programs.
“Am I chasing rainbows?” Sylvia is the executive director of a $47 million community development corporation that has four major program “buckets”—affordable housing, youthdevelopment programs focused on mentoring for college admissions, a workforce development program, and advocacy and community organizing. The organization has its central office in a major city with sites across five distinct neighborhoods. Two housing developments in one neighborhood serve low-income families of mostly people of color. One housing development in a second neighborhood and another in a third neighborhood have mostly immigrants, while another housing development in a fourth neighborhood serves seniors. The youth-development programs as well as the workforce development programs are conducted in the housing developments in three neighborhoods, while advocacy and community organizing initiatives emanate from the central office. Sylvia knows that affordable housing and the youth-development programs are in good shape and funders are satisfied that they have achieved the desired outcomes. The workforce development program, however, has had mixed results. The job-readiness workshops have been successful in preparing participants for job applications and interviews. However, funders are unhappy with the low rate of job placements. Funders are even less enamored with the advocacy and community-organizing work. They feel that the campaigns, rallies, and other advocacy initiatives the organization has mobilized have not had adequate, concrete results.
After consulting some colleagues about the challenge of managing program and organizational performance, Sylvia tried the following approaches, with good results. 52 Copyright © 2014 Center for Creative Leadership. All Rights Reserved.
Meeting the Job Challenges of Nonprofit Leaders
Reframing Distinguish outputs (products, services, or facilities that result from an organization’s or project’s activities) from outcomes (the changes, benefits, learning or other effects that occur as a result of the project or the organization’s services) Sylvia acknowledged that the two struggling programs were producing outputs but not outcomes. Outputs help clients but outcomes move them toward desired change. Embrace the notion that programs that don’t get to outcomes may need to change, relocate, or close She set a time frame for the organization to achieve the outcomes it has identified for the two struggling programs, after which she will make a decision about the future of the programs.
“1-2-3” Steps Connect the dots between program activities and outcomes Her new focus on outcomes led her to work with her program staff to identify their major long-term outcomes, work back to intermediate and short-term outcomes, and assess whether current program activities support those outcomes. Explore coalition-building Sylvia began talking to other organizations in their service communities to test the idea of forming issue-based coalitions where someone else may take the lead. Plan for the contingency of orderly divestment Knowing that she may have to close up shop for one or both of the struggling programs, Sylvia began thinking about how the organization might go about divesting from one or both programs in an orderly fashion. This included looking for a potential partner to take over one of the programs.
Off-the-job Resources Meet with professional colleagues to discuss strategies for coalitionbuilding She had breakfast with several colleagues who have been involved in successful coalition-building. Find and meet with executive directors or program directors of organizations that have outcome-producing programs Through a peer connection, Sylvia met with program leaders of two nonprofits who have had success with their workforcedevelopment programs. She learned that both organizations partnered with for-profit businesses that then absorbed the workforce program graduates.
53 Copyright © 2014 Center for Creative Leadership. All Rights Reserved.
Chapter 6: Scope and Scale
MANAGING PROGRAM AND ORGANIZATIONAL PERFORMANCE TURNKEY COMPETENCIES, SKILLS, AND KNOWLEDGE t Building coalitions that have shared purpose, clear roles, and productive interfaces t Planning for contingency circumstances and ensuring that required resources and materials are in place so that work can be done effectively t Understanding theory of change and the difference between program outcomes and outputs
RESOURCES Books: D’Amato, A., Henderson, S., & Florence, S. (2009). Corporate social responsibility and sustainable business: A guide to leadership tasks and functions. Greensboro, NC: Center for Creative Leadership. Ernst, C., & Martin, A. (2006). Critical reflections: How groups can learn from success and failure. Greensboro, NC: Center for Creative Leadership. Articles: Colby, S., Stone, N., & Carttar, P. (2004). Zeroing in on impact: In an era of declining resources, nonprofits need to clarify their intended impact. Stanford Social Innovation Review, 2(2), 24–33. Mizrahi, T., & Rosenthal, B. (1986). Some essential components of coalition building: The 4 C’s. Unpublished manuscript, Hunter College, New York, NY. Retrieved from http://www.hunter.cuny.edu/socwork/ecco/ coalition_project/c.htm 5VDL " )PXBSE % 'PTUFS 8 0VUSVOUIFSFDFTTJPOɨF seven healthy habits of nonprofits most likely to survive the economic downturn. Stanford Social Innovation Review, 8(1), 21–22. Tool: t Boundary Spanning Leadership Toolkit (http://solutions.ccl.org/ Boundary_Spanning_Leadership_Toolkit_%28beta%29) 54 Copyright © 2014 Center for Creative Leadership. All Rights Reserved.
Meeting the Job Challenges of Nonprofit Leaders
Chapter 7
Stakeholders Figure 5: Stakeholders
SUPERVISION
STAFFING t 3FDSVJUNFOU t 3PMFDPNQMFYJUZ BOESFUFOUJPO t .BOBHJOHJOEJWJEVBM t 8PSLEFNBOETWT QFSGPSNBODF TUBòDBQBDJUZ t 1SPGFTTJPOBM t 3FXBSETBOE CPVOEBSJFT SFDPHOJUJPO
SELF
t 6TFPGJOøVFODF BOEQPXFS t 1FSTPOBMJNQBDU BOEFòFDUJWFOFTT t #VSOPVU
t %JMFNNBPG NVMUJQMFSPMFT t .BOBHJOHEJWFSTF TUBLFIPMEFST t .BOBHJOH EJòFSFODFT
t 1SPHSBN DPNQMFYJUZ t 4VCPQUJNBM JOGSBTUSVDUVSF t .BOBHJOHQSPHSBN BOEPSHBOJ[BUJPOBM QFSGPSNBODF
SCOPE AND SCALE
STAKEHOLDERS
The Dilemma of Multiple Roles Issue: Nonprofit leaders experience the push and pull of inhabiting multiple roles as they interact with different stakeholders—clients, staff, community leaders, different types of funders, board members, volunteers, partners, collaborators, and public officials. With some stakeholders the balance of power is equal and with others it is not. The dynamics of these relationships are nuanced and therefore require abundant sensitivity and emotional intelligence. Why it matters: The quality of these relationships impact the organization’s ability to achieve its goals. So it is incumbent on leaders to manage and balance these relationships with care and wisdom. If the dynamics lean heavily toward
55 Copyright © 2014 Center for Creative Leadership. All Rights Reserved.
Chapter 7: Stakeholders
accommodating stakeholders, the organization’s capacity to do effective and quality work may be compromised. If the response leans heavily toward pushing back on stakeholders, relationships may suffer.
“How do we keep up?” Paolo is the program director of a $5 million organization that serves seniors. The organization’s mission is to support seniors with health services, nutrition education, and educational/recreational activities so that their sense of isolation is reduced and their quality of life is improved. The organization has two senior centers that offer programs, workshops, and social and recreational activities. With an increase in the neighborhood’s aging population, the demand for services at the two senior centers has increased dramatically. Community leaders and public officials have pressured Paolo to lengthen the centers’ hours and accommodate more seniors in their workshops and programs. Some board members who are members of the community have supported these requests. Funders would like to see an increase in the number of participants served by the senior centers. Yet funding has remained flat for the organization. Feeling pressure from all sides, Paolo increased the caseload of his staff and expanded the class size of workshops. After a few months, both-case management and workshop data showed a deterioration in client satisfaction and program effectiveness. Staff morale was also suffering.
To address the challenge of the dilemma of multiple roles, Paolo stepped back to analyze the situation, then tried the following approaches, with good results.
56 Copyright © 2014 Center for Creative Leadership. All Rights Reserved.
Meeting the Job Challenges of Nonprofit Leaders
Reframing Shift his definition of responsiveness from an “open door” stance to “having impact” Paolo realized that he was defining responsiveness as having an open-door policy to any senior with need rather than achieving the best results for those they were best positioned to serve. Accept that it’s okay to say “no”
“1-2-3” Steps
Off-the-job Resources
Establish partnerships
Find opportunities to engage various stakeholders
Paolo took steps to build referral partnerships with other quality programs serving seniors in the community. Communicate with stakeholders Paolo communicated the different strategies and steps he took to his various stakeholders.
Paolo knew he spoke with conviction about his work. He decided to meet with various external stakeholders to help them better understand the challenges his organization faces given limited resources. Learn more about volunteer management He decided to attend a workshop on this topic in preparation for managing the volunteers he intends to recruit.
Paolo and his staff discussed that at times it is better to turn away clients or help them find other options than to provide substandard services to both new and existing clients. They also discussed ways to support and challenge each other in not saying “yes” when they meant “no.” Recognize that there are other quality providers The agency’s commitment to seniors can be fulfilled by other nonprofits providing high-quality, high-impact services.
57 Copyright © 2014 Center for Creative Leadership. All Rights Reserved.
Chapter 7: Stakeholders
THE DILEMMA OF MULTIPLE ROLES TURNKEY COMPETENCIES, SKILLS, AND KNOWLEDGE t Building partnerships to gain support for vision and goals t Analyzing and tailoring strategies to strengthen stakeholder relationships t Managing volunteers effectively
RESOURCES Books: Block, P. (1987). Building support for your vision: Negotiating with allies and adversaries. In P. Block, The empowered manager: Positive political skills at work (pp. 130–151). San Francisco, CA: Jossey-Bass. Moxley, R. S., & Alexander, J. R. (2003). Leadership as partnership. In L. Segil, M. Goldsmith, & J. Belasco (Eds.), Partnering: The new face of leadership QQo /FX:PSL /:"."$0.Ή 1ZOFT +& 7PMVOUFFSTJOUIFQVCMJDBOEOPOQSPëUTFDUPST*O+& Pynes, Human resource management for public and nonprofit organizations: A strategic approach (pp. 255–278). San Francisco, CA: JosseyBass. Article: McCurley, S. (1998, Nov.-Dec.). Why good volunteers do bad things: A look at the subtleties of volunteer motivation. Grapevine.
58 Copyright © 2014 Center for Creative Leadership. All Rights Reserved.
Meeting the Job Challenges of Nonprofit Leaders
Managing Diverse Stakeholders Issue: Nonprofit leaders partner regularly with a complex mix of stakeholders. Each of these stakeholder groups has its own goals, concerns, and agendas. Why it matters: Nonprofit agendas often apply across sectors, requiring collaboration with multiple partners for success. A focus on one set of stakeholder interests over others has the potential to distract leaders from mission-critical activities or from the fundamental goal of client impact.
“One size doesn’t fit all” Charlene is the executive director of a $15 million direct-service organization focused on helping disadvantaged children and their families permanently break the cycles of abuse, neglect, sickness, and homelessness. The organization pilots, delivers, and seeks the replication of innovative programs focused on early-childhood education, housing assistance, mental health services, and family support and preservation. The organization also has a modest advocacy division that works to change legislative and policy approaches toward the most vulnerable children. The following set of conditions makes Charlene’s job challenging: t Serving a diverse group of children and families who have an equally diverse need for services t Managing a wide range of funding and program partners, from schools to funders to government agencies t Balancing a heavy reliance on government funding with advocacy on behalf of the target population at the city and state level Not surprisingly, she struggles to prioritize her time and focus and to effectively address the needs of clients, community partners, and funders.
To address the challenge of managing diverse stakeholders, Charlene tried the following approaches, with good results.
59 Copyright © 2014 Center for Creative Leadership. All Rights Reserved.
Chapter 7: Stakeholders
Reframing Reconnect multiple and even competing program goals to a shared mission Charlene recognized that diverse programming was in fact necessary to get to impact for their population, as long as there was a connection of program outcomes to mission. Move from tension to creativity in diversity She recognized that she and her team learned and generated more ideas from the multiple perspectives they engaged.
“1-2-3” Steps Clarify the mission and basic, long-term goals of the organization and stay on mission and message Once she was able to clearly articulate her organizational mission and lens, she was better placed to steer and justify its strategic focus and adjust its message to partners. It also gave her insight into “off mission” programs that might be relocated or closed. Develop culture and platforms to widen consensus and harness diversity
She influenced the reshaping of her board and the creation 7JFXNVMUJQMFJOUFSFTUTBT of a project-focused coalition opportunities rather than that brought multiple views threats together. She also recruited and developed staff with She realized that having diverse stakeholders meant relationship- and consensusthat a wide range of part- building strengths, qualities vital to building agreement ners potentially took an among diverse constituencies interest in her organization’s work, bringing with with competing agendas. them greater potential for Build the organization’s attention and influence. capacity for outreach, marketing, and public relations
Off-the-job Resources Study best practices from the nonprofit and corporate sectors in building coherent organizational brands She started to read journal articles and case studies on organizations with successful brand engagement practices. Practice facilitating discussions in which DPOìJDUJOHQPJOUTPGWJFX are heard and respected She started to be more sensitive to differences in opinion in her relationships outside work and practiced the skill of managing difference in these relationships. Participate in a nonwork-related speaker’s bureau She gradually gained more confidence and skill in effective communication by offering to speak at community or professional events that interested her.
She hired a communications director and began to cultivate partnerships more strategically. She worked on clarifying each stakeholder group’s agenda and their value to the organization’s goals.
60 Copyright © 2014 Center for Creative Leadership. All Rights Reserved.
Meeting the Job Challenges of Nonprofit Leaders
MANAGING DIVERSE STAKEHOLDERS TURNKEY COMPETENCIES, SKILLS, AND KNOWLEDGE t Effectively using appropriate interpersonal styles and techniques and FYQMPSJOHBMUFSOBUJWFTBOEQPTJUJPOTUPJOìVFODFBOEOFHPUJBUFUPXBSEB common purpose t Analyzing stakeholder interests and contributions toward achieving goals t Effectively facilitating discussions and conversations
RESOURCES Books: Barnes, B. K. (2007). Exercising influence: A guide for making things happen at work, at home, and in your community. San Francisco, CA: Pfeiffer. Block, P. (2008). The possibility, ownership, dissent, commitment, and gifts conversations. In P. Block, Community: The structure of belonging (pp. 123–144). San Francisco, CA: Berrett-Koehler. Drath, W. H., & Palus, C. J. (1994). Making common sense: Leadership as meaning-making in a community of practice. Greensboro, NC: Center for Creative Leadership. Friedman, D. (2013). Influence for nonprofit leaders. Greensboro, NC: Center for Creative Leadership. (FOUSZ # Ή)BOOVN , Ή-JWFST " Ή7BO4UJDIFM ) Ή8JMTPO . Ή;IBP S. (2013). Interpersonal savvy: Building and maintaining solid working relationships. Greensboro, NC: Center for Creative Leadership. Article: Conger, J. A. (1998, May-June). The necessary art of persuasion. Harvard Business Review, 76(3), 84–95.
61 Copyright © 2014 Center for Creative Leadership. All Rights Reserved.
Chapter 7: Stakeholders
Managing Differences Issue: Nonprofit leaders must be adept at working with individuals and groups that have diverse personalities and work styles, above and beyond differing agendas, interests, and persuasions. Why it matters: Although managing these personality and style differences may be a challenge, such diversity can also be a rich source of stimulating perspectives and creativity. If one can harness this wealth of diverse ideas and approaches, then so much the better for the sector.
“What a cast of characters!” Clara is the executive director of a large community center based in a major city. The center is known for housing and advising various start-up groups that are trying to establish themselves and then move on to their own offices, as well as for its generous meeting and program facilities. More recently, the center began to develop an advocacy agenda to support immigration reform. Then other interest groups—specifically the environmental-justice community and the lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) community—voiced their desire to be part of the center’s advocacy agenda. As Clara began meeting with the leaders of these groups, their passion and determination for their specific issues became evident. And as discussions progressed, a clash of personalities and styles surfaced. In addition, these leaders represent a range of generations including Millennials, Gen-X’ers and Baby Boomers, and the members of each are influenced by their period’s economic, political, and social events, resulting in divergent opinions on almost all issues. Their preferred approaches to advocacy and community organizing for immigration reform, LGBT issues, and environmental justice differ; their perspectives about what might work are not always compatible; and their interpersonal styles vary. “What a cast of characters!” Clara thought at first. However, she realized that these leaders care deeply about issues that matter to their constituencies. And one thing they have in common is their sense of urgency about the issues they care about. If she and her small management team can facilitate those meetings in a way that minimizes unproductive exchanges and leverages the strengths of each leader, then they can find ways to support these advocacy concerns. After some discussions with her management team about the challenge of managing differences, Clara tried the following approaches, with good results. 62 Copyright © 2014 Center for Creative Leadership. All Rights Reserved.
Meeting the Job Challenges of Nonprofit Leaders
Reframing
“1-2-3” Steps
Shift from a “hodgepodge perspective” to finding common ground
Convene all relevant parties
Clara and her management team convened the key leaders of the three loosely Rather than focus on the different personalities and structured advocacy groups. The all-day session resulted styles, Clara looked at what they had in common. in an initial plan on how to approach the development of In addition to a sense of urgency, they all wanted to the center’s advocacy agenda. There is a lot more work to have a voice in decisions do, but it was a good start. that affect their cause, they all wanted channels Make time to learn more to impact public opinion, about strategies for and they all wanted managing differences effective ways to mobilize the community. She and her team read a Move from efforts for uniformity to mining the richness of diversity She discovered that the different perspectives, approaches, and styles complement and supplement each other. It was a safeguard against groupthink.
couple of books on the topic and had two discussion sessions to share lessons and insights. They then discussed how they might apply those strategies in their future interactions with the advocacy groups.
Off-the-job Resources Meet with the heads of two coalition organizations that work with different groups She had lunch with two colleagues who lead advocacy coalitions to learn from their experiences in managing different personalities and hear how they manage conflicts when they arise. Do some research on how different styles work Clara realized she needed a handle on how different interpersonal and communication styles work. She did some research and read articles on how each style prefers to work and how they complement each other.
63 Copyright © 2014 Center for Creative Leadership. All Rights Reserved.
Chapter 7: Stakeholders
MANAGING DIFFERENCES TURNKEY COMPETENCIES, SKILLS, AND KNOWLEDGE t Finding common ground among different personalities and work styles t Managing and conducting difficult conversations
RESOURCES Books: Cartwright, T. (2003). Managing conflict with peers. Greensboro, NC: Center for Creative Leadership. Deal, J. (2007). Retiring the generation gap: How employees young and old can find common ground. Greensboro, NC: Center for Creative Leadership. Runde, C. E., & Flanagan, T. A. (2013). Becoming a conflict competent manager: How you and your organization can manage conflict effectively. San Francisco, CA: Jossey-Bass. Stone, D., Heen, S., & Patton, B. (1999). Difficult conversations: How to discuss what matters most. New York, NY: Penguin Books. Weisbord, M. R. (1992). Discovering common ground: How future search conferences bring people together to achieve breakthrough innovation, empowerment, shared vision, and collaborative action. San Francisco, CA: Berrett-Koehler. Article: Dinwoodie, D. L. (2005). Solving the dilemma: A leader’s guide to managing diversity. Leadership in Action, 25(2), 3–6.
64 Copyright © 2014 Center for Creative Leadership. All Rights Reserved.
Meeting the Job Challenges of Nonprofit Leaders
Chapter 8
Self Figure 6: Self
SUPERVISION
STAFFING t 3FDSVJUNFOU t 3PMFDPNQMFYJUZ BOESFUFOUJPO t .BOBHJOHJOEJWJEVBM t 8PSLEFNBOETWT QFSGPSNBODF TUBòDBQBDJUZ t 1SPGFTTJPOBM t 3FXBSETBOE CPVOEBSJFT SFDPHOJUJPO
SELF
t 6TFPGJOøVFODF BOEQPXFS t 1FSTPOBMJNQBDU BOEFòFDUJWFOFTT t #VSOPVU
t %JMFNNBPG NVMUJQMFSPMFT t .BOBHJOHEJWFSTF TUBLFIPMEFST t .BOBHJOH EJòFSFODFT
t 1SPHSBN DPNQMFYJUZ t 4VCPQUJNBM JOGSBTUSVDUVSF t .BOBHJOHQSPHSBN BOEPSHBOJ[BUJPOBM QFSGPSNBODF
SCOPE AND SCALE
STAKEHOLDERS
Use of Influence and Power Issue: The degree of collaboration involved in program planning and implementation often requires getting work done through and with people over XIPNPOFNBZIBWFOPBVUIPSJUZPSGPSNBMQPXFS0SHBOJ[BUJPOBMDVMUVSFT that prioritize consensus-building can also create hesitancy among nonprofit leaders to use their formal leadership positions to get things done. Why it matters: Increasingly, collaboration and partnerships are becoming staples in the nonprofit world. Cross-functional and cross-program teams within organizations are commonly used. These approaches to work mean getting things done through people who may not be direct reports or who are not within the same line of authority. 65 Copyright © 2014 Center for Creative Leadership. All Rights Reserved.
Chapter 8: Self
“I hate to be the parent, especially when ‘the kids’ don’t listen” Reena is a director in an after-school program where she has to negotiate with school staff for participants, time, and space. The school staff are supervised by the principal and vice-principal, which means she has no formal authority over individuals whose actions and decisions directly impact the success of her program. Seeing her struggle with getting compliance and support from the school staff, Reena’s own direct reports have begun to disregard her authority. Reena is challenged with how to best deal with each group. 3FFOBNVTUFSFEIFSSFTFSWFTUPBEESFTTUIFJOìVFODFBOEQPXFSJTTVFTGBDJOH her. Using the following approaches, she made some effective changes.
Reframing
“1-2-3” Steps
Acknowledge that even collaborating programs or teams are different and will compete in certain ways
Build support for your approach from key stakeholders, starting with those closest to you
Go to a group-relations conference or other experience on power and authority
Using examples and data, Reena advocated with her own supervisors for joint program visioning with the school staff, prior to the start of the school year. In the planning she made it a personal priority to find win-win goals and strategies for both the school and her program.
Reena sought out a grouprelations conference where the experience of inhabiting a leadership role was dealt with in an experiential way.
In conversation with her supervisor, it struck Reena that some competition between school and program priorities was inevitable and had to be tolerated or managed.
Off-the-job Resources
Get support when you feel you are on shaky ground with the use of authority She started to read articles on influence and negotiation and the effective use of power. She also more frequently solicited the support of her peers when dealing with sticky situations.
66 Copyright © 2014 Center for Creative Leadership. All Rights Reserved.
Meeting the Job Challenges of Nonprofit Leaders
Reframing
“1-2-3” Steps
Build upstream support for shared goals instead of focusing on downstream or crisis-based problem solving
Make room for frank conversation about what’s possible in any relationship, including areas of agreement and disagreement
Reena realized that the school and the program sometimes appeared to have competing goals and that shared goal-setting would remove many impediments to resource sharing.
In the joint planning she made it a priority to differentiate in a dispassionate way between areas of competition and areas of common goalsetting for the school and her program, along with strategies to deal with both.
Make room for trust building
Prioritize relationship and team-building activities to increase trust
She told herself that it was okay to have days when she got less than optimal participation as long as there were opportunities for constructive engagement with school staff.
Off-the-job Resources
She stayed open to ideas for shared activities between the school and program staff, including work and recreation activities. Her staff began to join a weekly shared meal with the school staff.
Shift from a popularity to a consistency stance Use supervision and team meetings to set a consistent She began to see that tone she needed to model consistency in asking for accountability from her own staff.
She became more transparent with her staff about the different authority relationship she had with them as compared with the school staff. She also began to set clear and consistent performance-based expectations in supervision, and created an ongoing agenda item in team meetings around school-based issues.
67 Copyright © 2014 Center for Creative Leadership. All Rights Reserved.
Chapter 8: Self
USE OF INFLUENCE AND POWER TURNKEY COMPETENCIES, SKILLS, AND KNOWLEDGE t Using interpersonal styles and behaviors appropriate to the person and the situation t &YFSDJTJOHJOìVFODFBOEQFSTVBTJPOTLJMMT t Managing teams across functions and roles t Negotiating with a range of stakeholders
RESOURCES Books: Barnes, B. K. (2007). Exercising influence: A guide for making things happen at work, at home, and in your community. San Francisco, CA: Pfeiffer. Friedman, D. (2013). Influence for nonprofit leaders. Greensboro, NC: Center for Creative Leadership. Goleman, D., Boyatzis, R., & McKee, A. (2004). Primal leadership: Learning to lead with emotional intelligence. Boston, MA: Harvard Business School Press. Kanaga, K., & Browning, H. (2003). Maintaining team performance. Greensboro, NC: Center for Creative Leadership. Articles: Conger, J. A. (1998, May-June). The necessary art of persuasion. Harvard Business Review, 76(3), 84–95. )JMM -" &YFSDJTJOHJOìVFODFHarvard Business School Cases, 1–13. Program: t Leading Teams for Impact (http://www.ccl.org/leadership/programs/ -5*0WFSWJFXBTQY
68 Copyright © 2014 Center for Creative Leadership. All Rights Reserved.
Meeting the Job Challenges of Nonprofit Leaders
Personal Impact and Effectiveness Issue:/POQSPëUMFBEFSTUFOEOPUUPNBLFUIFUJNFUPQBVTFBOESFìFDUPO their own leadership and management style, and to consider how this impacts their relationships with clients, colleagues, partners, and other stakeholders. Why it matters: Experience as well as research show that leaders who are more “behaviorally complex”—that is, who have greater self-awareness of their own behavior and have built an adaptive style—are more effective in leading others to decisions, sustaining long-term relationships, and getting to results.
“Take me or leave me” Bill was hired to be the turnaround artist at a settlement house that was losing programs and revenue under a popular but ineffective outgoing leader. He spent a year leading the board and executive team in identifying the agency’s core lines of business, consolidating programs, and rebuilding funder relationships. Clear performance benchmarks were set for staff at all levels, and those who did not meet expectations were transitioned to different roles or let go. While performance and revenue began to rebound after a year, morale took a nosedive. When interviewed by a consultant, even high-performing staff complained of Bill’s authoritarian and overly directive style and of not being listened to when they had good ideas to share. Staff said they were staying because they had a commitment to the mission, but several were actively engaged in a job search or updating their resumés. When the consultant shared these results with Bill, his first response was annoyance. “Do they realize what it took to turn this ship around? If they don’t like strong leadership they are free to work elsewhere.”
0OGVSUIFSSFìFDUJPO BOEBGUFSTFWFSBMEJTDVTTJPOTXJUIUIFDPOTVMUBOUBOEIJT board chair, Bill decided to address the challenge of personal impact and effectiveness. He tried the following approaches, with good results.
69 Copyright © 2014 Center for Creative Leadership. All Rights Reserved.
Chapter 8: Self
Reframing
“1-2-3” Steps
Make room for a variety of styles depending on the performer and situation
Use “situational leadership”
Bill realized that some staff needed task direction, while others needed affirmation and support, while still others needed largely to be left alone. A moment of diagnosis could smooth the way forward. Accept shared responsibility for low morale He acknowledged that his own behavior had a role in creating the current situation and that he himself had room to grow as a leader and human being. Realize that assessment and pause are important precursors to moving strongly ahead He began to see that rapid and relentless change leaves people depleted and that moments of recharge and reflection are needed for both personal regrouping and clarifying the best way forward.
Bill began to assess, often with his staff’s input, what level of support performers needed for which tasks. This investment in diagnosis, with some check-in moments during supervision, allowed him to modulate his approach from his fallback directive style. Make room for openness and direct feedback Bill took the lead in showing vulnerability by publicly admitting his blind spots and areas of growth and inviting “feedback without retaliation.” He instituted an “office hours” policy through which people could express concerns in private. He took part in a 360-degree assessment of his leadership skills and invited other managers to do the same.
Off-the-job Resources Find an executive coach experienced with relationship skills Bill engaged a change consultant in an ongoing coaching relationship, with a focus on social-emotional and personal-impact skills. Create room for personal SFìFDUJPOBOESFOFXBM He started to schedule “appointments with himself ” to assess his own perspective on things. Read about effective interpersonal behaviors Bill, who likes to read, worked with his coach to identify books and articles related to emotional intelligence and the value of using relationshipbuilding skills at work.
Create structure for pause and for team-building Bill supported the executive team in developing a quarterly reflection retreat for as long as the agency was in transition. The mandate for the retreat was both strategic assessment and team-building.
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PERSONAL IMPACT AND EFFECTIVENESS TURNKEY COMPETENCIES, SKILLS, AND KNOWLEDGE t Adapting to staff member’s strengths, motivation, and readiness t Using emotional intelligence to constructively negotiate one’s own and other people’s emotional state t Using interpersonal styles and behaviors appropriate to the person and the situation
RESOURCES Books: Altman, D. G., Lee, R. J., & King, S. N. (2011). Discovering the leader in you: How to realize your leadership potential. San Francisco, CA: JosseyBass. Blanchard, K. H., Zigarmi, P., & Zigarmi, D. (1985). Leadership and the one-minute manager: Increasing effectiveness through situational leadership. New York, NY: Morrow. Articles: Buckingham, M. (2005, March). What great managers do. Harvard Business Review, 83(3), 70–79. Bunker, K., & Wakefield, M. (2004). In search of authenticity: Now more than ever, soft skills are needed. Leadership in Action, 24(1), 16–20. Goleman, D. (1998, Nov.-Dec.). What makes a leader. Harvard Business Review, 76(6), 92–102. Goleman, D. (2000, March-April). Leadership that gets results. Harvard Business Review, 78(2), 78–90.
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Chapter 8: Self
Burnout Issue: All the challenges that come with functioning in a high-demand, lowresource environment exacerbate the nonprofit leader’s level of stress. Additionally, lack of time for self-care impacts the ability to cope with stress. Why it matters: High, sustained levels of stress have a direct impact on productivity, effectiveness, and the ability to “stay in the game” for the long haul, a combination of symptoms referred to as burnout.
“I feel like I’m in a 24/7 spin cycle” Brian always prided himself on his stamina for work. As a classic achiever, he thrived on accomplishment. However, after a year of being a new executive director at a grassroots advocacy group, he began to notice some changes in his mood and energy. He wasn’t able to sleep well, home and family commitments began to be neglected, and even in leisure moments he found himself thinking about incomplete tasks and imminent deadlines. Friends told him he looked and sounded anxious, which only added to his stress level. As someone deeply motivated by the mission of his chosen organization, he was surprised to find himself having fantasies of quitting and doing something completely different with his life. After speaking with his mentor about some of his feelings and behavior, Brian realized that he needed to address and manage stress in his life. Brian realized that managing his stress level may be the most challenging task he’s ever had. With sustained repetition and fortitude, he made good progress using the following approaches.
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Reframing Recognize that being overwhelmed was a choice In discussions with his mentor, Brian began to notice when he tended to hold on to things he could delegate and when he jumped into a set of tasks without prioritizing. Embrace the porous work-homelife boundaries Brian realized that strict separations between the categories of professional and personal life were not realistic in his role and that he needed a more holistic approach to managing his human needs. Make space for the inevitability of challenging moments Rather than fighting stress whenever it appeared, Brian realized he needed to regulate its amount and frequency. Embrace leisure and recreation as a necessary ingredient of productivity He noticed that downtime allowed him to be more effective in a more sustained way, and this allowed him to see recreation as part of success rather than a deviation from it.
“1-2-3” Steps Make weekly planning a habit Brian began to spend his Monday mornings prioritizing and delegating tasks, as well as calendaring time for project “hand-over” to other staff. Make time for breaks in a long day Brian began to fit exercise and even lunch with a friend in the middle of his workday, knowing that waiting for the elusive “end of the day” was often unrealistic. He did this in a transparent way so that his staff understood that in his position his time needed to be flexible. Adapt one’s working environment to one’s human needs where possible When Brian had an unavoidable conflict between work and family commitments, or a packed day with multiple priorities, he began to telecommute from home and attend meetings by phone and Skype. This saved on commuting time and allowed him to balance home and professional spheres more effectively. Find a buddy for the moments when stress SFBDIFTBSFEìBHMFWFM He began to become conscious of the days when he had the “pileup” feeling and made an agreement with a trusted colleague to ventilate and talk through his priorities before jumping into overdrive. This allowed him to take a quick break and have space to determine what was truly urgent and what could be reprioritized. Make time for, and commit to, vacations where you are unreachable Starting with small time frames, Brian began to model being away and unreachable. As part of this he made the upfront commitment to training two senior staff to manage in his absence.
73 Copyright © 2014 Center for Creative Leadership. All Rights Reserved.
Chapter 8: Self
PERSONAL IMPACT AND EFFECTIVENESS TURNKEY COMPETENCIES, SKILLS, AND KNOWLEDGE t Effectively managing one’s time, attention, and resources to ensure that work is completed efficiently t Managing stress effectively t Effectively delegating by allocating decision-making authority and/or task responsibility to appropriate others t Using remote access and telecommuting technologies, including document and calendar sharing
RESOURCES Books: Allen, D. (2002). Getting things done: The art of stress-free productivity. New York, NY: Penguin Books. #BM 7 Ή$BNQCFMM . Ή.D%PXFMM-BSTFO 4Ή ΉManaging leadership stress. Greensboro, NC: Center for Creative Leadership. Braddy, P. W., Hannum, K. M., Kossek, E. E., & Ruderman, M. N. (2013). Managing your whole life. Greensboro, NC: Center for Creative Leadership. Covey, S., Merrill, R. A., & Merrill, R. R. (1994). First things first: To live, to love, to learn, to leave a legacy. New York, NY: Simon & Schuster. Lee, R. J., & King, S. N. (2001). Balance your work life and your personal life. In R. J. Lee & S. N. King, Discovering the leader in you: A guide to realizing your personal leadership potential (pp. 101–134). San Francisco, CA: Jossey-Bass. Lencioni, P. (2004). Death by meeting: A leadership fable … about solving the most painful problem in business. San Francisco, CA: Jossey-Bass. Kossek, E. E., Ruderman, M. N., Hannum, K. M., & Braddy, P. W. (2010). WorkStyle Profile: Increasing your effectiveness on and off the job. Greensboro, NC: Center for Creative Leadership.
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Meeting the Job Challenges of Nonprofit Leaders
Instruments: t Job Challenge Profile (www.ccl.org/leadership/assessments/ +$10WFSWJFXBTQY t Work Life Indicator (http://www.ccl.org/leadership/assessments/ 8-*0WFSWJFXBTQY
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Meeting the Job Challenges of Nonprofit Leaders
Chapter 9
A Different Learning Avenue There is no dearth of leadership talent in the nonprofit sector. What we could have more of is a broader array of developmental opportunities that are high quality and that produce meaningful results. Research shows that coaching, 360-degree-feedback experiences, and peer exchange are among the most powerful learning experiences. In this fieldbook, we attempted to provide approaches to the nonprofit leader’s challenges that are grounded in those methodologies. The challenges presented here are not simple, linear issues. As is true in the nonprofit leader’s world, they are multidimensional and complex. There is no one solution and certainly no magic bullet to address them. Also, some of the strategies we propose can dovetail with others and at times a strategy could BQQMZUPTFWFSBMDIBMMFOHFT0VSIPQFJTUPDSFBUFBOBWFOVFGPSOPOQSPëUMFBEers to begin addressing those challenges on their own and in their workplace. There are “low-hanging” developmental opportunities one can find within oneself, within the workplace, and among one’s network of colleagues and friends. In appendix A, you can find a developmental action plan to help you move forward with your on-the-job development strategies. This different avenue of learning is meant to supplement rather than replace other developmental and training activities. It is our hope that the nonprofit sector will continue to support, if not increase, innovative and powerful MFBEFSTIJQEFWFMPQNFOUQSPHSBNT0GDPVSTFUIFTFBSFEJïDVMUUJNFT BOETVDI programs tend to end up on the chopping block. But that feels shortsighted when one knows that the greatest asset of our sector is our people. And to the nonprofit leader reading this fieldbook, we hope this enriches and expands your reservoir of developmental opportunities.
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Meeting the Job Challenges of Nonprofit Leaders
Appendix A
Developmental Action Plan Target Issue to Address:
Competency, Skill, and/or Knowledge to Acquire/Practice:
What reframing do you find helpful?
What immediate, early steps do you plan to take?
What outside work will you undertake?
What resources would you use?
What is your time frame for addressing this issue?
How will you measure success?
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Meeting the Job Challenges of Nonprofit Leaders
Appendix B
Additional Resources Allen, D. (2002). Getting things done: The art of stress-free productivity. New York, NY: Penguin Books. #BM 7 Ή$BNQCFMM . Ή.D%PXFMM-BSTFO 4Ή ΉManaging leadership stress. Greensboro, NC: Center for Creative Leadership. Baldwin, D., & Trovas, S. (2002). X marks the spot: Developing and retaining emerging leaders. Leadership in Action, 21(6), 14–18. Barnes, B. K. (2007). Exercising influence: A guide for making things happen at work, at home, and in your community. San Francisco, CA: Pfeiffer. Bell, J., Moyers, R., & Wolfred, T. (2006). Daring to lead 2006: A national study of nonprofit executive leadership. San Francisco, CA: CompassPoint Nonprofit Services and the Meyer Foundation. Birdsell, D. S., & Muzzio, D. (2003). The next leaders: UWNYC grantee leadership development and succession management needs. New York, NY: Baruch College School of Public Affairs. Blanchard, K. H., Zigarmi P., & Zigarmi, D. (1985). Leadership and the oneminute manager: Increasing effectiveness through situational leadership. New York, NY: Morrow. Block, P. (1991). The empowered manager: Positive political skills at work. San Francisco, CA: Jossey-Bass. Block, P. (2009). Community: The structure of belonging. San Francisco, CA: Berrett-Koehler. Buckingham, M. (2005, March). What great managers do. Harvard Business Review, 83(3), 70–79. Bunker, K., & Wakefield, M. (2004). In search of authenticity: Now more than ever, soft skills are needed. Leadership in Action, 24(1), 16–20. Cartwright, T. (2007). Setting priorities: Personal values, organizational results. Greensboro, NC: Center for Creative Leadership. Colby, S., Stone, N., & Carttar, P. (2004). Zeroing in on impact: In an era of declining resources, nonprofits need to clarify their intended impact. Stanford Social Innovation Review, 2(2), 24–33. Collins, J. (2005). Good to great and the social sectors: Why some companies make the leap … and others don’t. New York, NY: HarperCollins. 81 Copyright © 2014 Center for Creative Leadership. All Rights Reserved.
Appendix B: Additional Resources
Community Resource Exchange, Human Resource Team. (2005). Framework for an onboarding process [PowerPoint slides]. Retrieved from http://crenyc.org/ fieldbook/resources. Competency-based employee selection. (n.d.). In CPS Human Resource Services. Retrieved from http://www.cpshr.us/workforceplanning/ implementationcompetencymodel.htm Conger, J. A. (1998, May-June). The necessary art of persuasion. Harvard Business Review, 76(3), 84–95. Cornelius, M., Moyers, R., & Bell, J. (2011). Daring to lead 2011: A national study of nonprofit executive leadership. San Francisco, CA: CompassPoint Nonprofit Services and the Meyer Foundation. Covey, S. (2004). Principles of personal management. In The 7 habits of highly effective people: Powerful lessons in personal change (pp. 145–183). New York, NY: Free Press. Covey, S., Merrill, R. A., & Merrill, R. R. (1994). First things first: To live, to love, to learn, to leave a legacy. New York, NY: Simon & Schuster. D’Amato, A., Henderson, S., & Florence, S. (2009). Corporate social responsibility and sustainable business: A guide to leadership tasks and functions. Greensboro, NC: Center for Creative Leadership. %BZ %7 -FBEFSTIJQEFWFMPQNFOU"SFWJFXJODPOUFYULeadership Quarterly, 11(4), 581–613. Dinwoodie, D. L. (2005). Solving the dilemma: A leader’s guide to managing diversity. Leadership in Action, 25(2), 3–6. Douglas, C. A. (2003). Key events and lessons for managers in a diverse workforce: A report on research and findings. Greensboro, NC: Center for Creative Leadership. Ernst, C., & Martin, A. (2006). Critical reflections: How groups can learn from success and failure. Greensboro, NC: Center for Creative Leadership. Fleenor, J. W., Taylor, S., & Chappelow, C. (2008). Leveraging the impact of 360-degree feedback. San Francisco, CA: Pfeiffer. Friedman, D. (2013). Influence for nonprofit leaders. Greensboro, NC: Center for Creative Leadership. (FOUSZ # Ή)BOOVN , Ή-JWFST " Ή7BO4UJDIFM ) Ή8JMTPO . Ή;IBP 4Ή (2013). Interpersonal savvy: Building and maintaining solid working relationships. Greensboro, NC: Center for Creative Leadership.
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Goleman, D. (1998, Nov.-Dec.). What makes a leader. Harvard Business Review, 76(6), 92–102. Goleman, D. (2000, March-April). Leadership that gets results. Harvard Business Review, 78(2), 78–90. Goleman, D. (2005). Emotional intelligence: Why it can matter more than IQ. New York, NY: Bantam Books. Goleman, D., Boyatzis, R., & McKee, A. (2004). Primal leadership: Learning to lead with emotional intelligence. Boston, MA: Harvard Business School Press. Gryskiewicz, S., & Taylor, S. (2003). Making creativity practical: Innovation that gets results. Greensboro, NC: Center for Creative Leadership. Hart, E. W. (2011). Feedback in performance reviews. Greensboro, NC: Center for Creative Leadership. Hernez-Broome, G., & Hughes, R. L. (2004). Leadership development: Past, present, and future. Human Resource Planning, 27(1), 24–32. Hersey, P. (2001). Situational leadership: A summary. Escondido, CA: Center for Leadership Studies. Hill, B., & Tande, C. (2006). Total rewards: The employment value propositions. Workspan Magazine. Retrieved from http://www.tandehill.com/pdfs/ Total-Rewards.pdf )JMM -" &YFSDJTJOHJOìVFODFHarvard Business School Cases, 1-13. Idea Sandbox. (2007). Osborn: Creative problem solving process. Retrieved from http://www.idea-sandbox.com/destination/2007/10/osborn-creativeproblem-solving-process/ Kanter, R. M. (2004). The middle manager as innovator. Harvard Business Review, 82(7/8), 150–161. Kerzner, H. R. (2013). Project management: A systems approach to planning, scheduling, and controlling. Hoboken, NJ: Wiley. Kossek, E. E., Ruderman, M. N., Hannum, K. M., & Braddy, P. W. (2010). WorkStyle Profile: Increasing your effectiveness on and off the job. Greensboro, NC: Center for Creative Leadership. Lencioni, P. (2004). Death by meeting: A leadership fable … about solving the most painful problem in business. San Francisco, CA: Jossey-Bass. Lobell, J., & Connolly, P. M. (2007). Peak performance: Nonprofit leaders rate highest in 360-degree reviews. Nonprofit Quarterly, 14(4), 12–27.
83 Copyright © 2014 Center for Creative Leadership. All Rights Reserved.
Appendix B: Additional Resources
Maletz, M., & Nohria, N. (2001, February). Managing in the white space. Harvard Business Review, 79(2), 103–111. Martin, A. (2007). The changing nature of leadership (white paper). Greensboro, NC: Center for Creative Leadership. Retrieved from http://www.ccl.org/ leadership/pdf/research/natureleadership.pdf McCurley, S. (1998, Nov.-Dec.). Why good volunteers do bad things: Looking at the subtleties of volunteer motivation. Grapevine. McGuire, J. B., & Rhodes, G. B. (2009). Transforming your leadership culture. San Francisco, CA: Jossey-Bass. Mizrahi, T., & Rosenthal, B. (1986). Some essential components of coalition building: The 4 C’s. Unpublished manuscript, Hunter College, New York, NY. Retrieved from http://www.hunter.cuny.edu/socwork/ecco/coalition_project/ c.htm Moxley, R. S., & Alexander, J. R. (2003). Leadership as partnership. In L. Segil, M. Goldsmith, & J. Belasco (Eds.), Partnering: The new face of leadership (pp. o /FX:PSL /:"."$0.Ή Naudé, J., & Plessier, F. (2014). Becoming a leader-coach: A step-by-step guide to developing your people. Greensboro, NC: Center for Creative Leadership. 0FDI 37 A whack on the side of the head: How you can be more creative. New York, NY: Warner Books. 0QUJPO1SFQBSJOHZPVSQSPGFTTJPOBMEFWFMPQNFOUHPBM OE *OHuman Resources at MIT. Retrieved from http://hrweb.mit.edu/system/files/all/other/ pd_goal_templates.pdf 1IPFM $. (SBEZ 4 (BMMP " #JFMBT[LB%V7FSOBZ $ .BO[POJ + #VUMFS T., & Krattenmaker, T. (2011). Guide to giving effective feedback. Boston, MA: Harvard Business School Press. 1ZOFT +& 7PMVOUFFSTJOUIFQVCMJDBOEOPOQSPëUTFDUPST*O+& Pynes, Human resource management for public and nonprofit organizations: A strategic approach (pp. 255–278). San Francisco, CA: Jossey-Bass. Riddle, D. (2008). Leadership coaching: When it’s right and when you’re ready. Greensboro, NC: Center for Creative Leadership. Rock, D. (2006). Using the six steps to give feedback. In D. Rock, Quiet leadership: Six steps to transforming performance at work (pp. 203–215). New York, NY: Harper Collins. Rummler, G. A., & Brache, A. P. (1995). Improving performance: How to manage the white space on the organization chart. San Francisco, CA: Jossey-Bass. 84 Copyright © 2014 Center for Creative Leadership. All Rights Reserved.
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Satterwhite, F. J., Fernandopulle, A., & Teng, S. (2007). Cultural competency in capacity building. Retrieved from http://www.compasspoint.org/sites/default/ files/docs/research/496_satterwhitefull.pdf Scisco, P., McCauley, C. D., Leslie, J. B., & Elsey, R. (2014). Change now! Five steps to better leadership. Greensboro, NC: Center for Creative Leadership. Sikka, M., Sauvage-Mar, C., & Lobell, J. (2009). What makes a difference in leadership development: A view from the field. Nonprofit Quarterly, 16(4), 50–54. Stone, D., Heen, S., & Patton, B. (1999). Difficult conversations: How to discuss what matters most. New York, NY: Penguin Books. Weisbord, M. R. (1992). Discovering common ground: How future search conferences bring people together to achieve breakthrough innovation, empowerment, shared vision, and collaborative action. San Francisco, CA: Berrett-Koehler. Weisbord, M. R. (2004). Transforming teamwork: Work relationships in a fastchanging world. In M. R. Weisbord, Productive workplaces revisited: Dignity, meaning, and community in the 21st century (pp. 296–310). San Francisco, CA: Jossey-Bass. Whitworth, L., Kimsey-House, H., & Sandahl, P. (1998). Co-active coaching. .PVOUBJO7JFX $"%BWJFT#MBDL Wilson, J., & Gislason, M. (2010). Coaching skills for nonprofit managers and leaders: Developing people to achieve your mission. San Francisco, CA: JosseyBass. W. K. Kellogg Foundation & Development Guild/DDI Inc. (2002). Evaluation outcomes and impacts: A scan of 55 leadership development programs. Retrieved from http://www.wkkf.org/knowledge-center/resources/2006/08/evaluatingoutcomes-and-impacts-a-scan-of-55-leadership-development-programs.aspx
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Meeting the Job Challenges of Nonprofit Leaders A Fieldbook on Strategies and Action Nonprofit organizations need to depend on mission-oriented, motivated, and committed leaders who have a mix of social awareness, programmatic expertise, operational knowledge and skills, strong relationship capacities, and sound judgment to deliver results in an environment in which they must function and fulfill their missions with very limited resources while simultaneously demonstrating the impact of every dollar they raise. Community Resource Exchange, a management consulting firm that works with nonprofit organizations of all sizes, delivers leadership and management programs designed to build the competencies of nonprofit leaders. This fieldbook aims to put many of the skills and insights gained by participants in CRE’s cohort learning programs into the hands of more nonprofit leaders. The strategies offered here will provide nonprofit leaders with approaches to their challenges that shift their perspective on things or stretch their current repertoire of practices and competencies. Applying these approaches are developmental experiences, enabling nonprofit leaders to supplement or deepen their leadership talent. By implementing the suggested approaches, nonprofit leaders will learn by doing, a key ingredient in adult learning. THE AUTHORS Jean Lobell, senior managing partner and director of consulting at Community Resource Exchange (CRE), has an extensive background in both the nonprofit and corporate sectors. At CRE she works with a variety of clients on organizational development, leadership and management development, human resources, strategic planning, board governance, and organizational cultural change engagements. She holds a Ph.D. degree in organizational psychology from Columbia University. Mohan Sikka, senior affiliate consultant at CRE, provides consulting services to organizations fighting poverty and advancing social justice. He has worked with a range of organizations, including food justice groups, youth and senior service organizations, nonprofits fighting for immigrant rights, and groups at the intersection of art and social justice. He holds a Ph.D. degree from the University of Minnesota and is also a Certified Professional Co-Active Coach. Pavitra Menon, senior partner and cohort leader at CRE, works with clients on human resources, leadership development, strategic planning, and board development issues. She leads CRE’s High Performing Managers Initiative for nonprofit managers and supervisors. She holds an M.B.A. in international business from École Nationale des Ponts et Chaussées, Paris, and a bachelor’s degree from Bangalore University, India.