I expect this to be the first of many blog entries on leadership.
I’ve been thinking about leadership as I’ve surveyed the landscape of organizations with whom I’ve worked or interacted. In many instances, I’ve concluded that organizational challenges are really just a byproduct of the fact that those with authority in the organization lack leadership skills.
Three examples come to mind from the world of Executive Directors.
Being overly deferential to all-volunteer boards. Executive Directors report to the board; and the board has the ultimate authority to set the organization’s direction. But in my experience, boards thrive only when the Executive Director articulates a clear vision and strategy. I’ve watched organizations flounder when the Executive Director has been unwilling to step up and push for a vision or strategy because he or she wants to keep every board member happy.
Paralysis by analysis. Data is good. Being deliberate about decisions is good. But taken too far, I’ve watched organizations spin their wheels trying to line up the perfect set of information to justify what, in the end, has to be a judgment call.
Lack of focus. I’ve seen this happen often within meetings. But even more damaging is when the nominal leaders of an organization flutter back and forth among strategies based on minor shifts in the lay of the land. Picking a winning strategy and focusing to see it through almost always will win out over vacillating between strategies.
I could, of course, add a dozen other skills that would fit under the label “leadership” and expect to write about them in the future.
Right now, I’m more interested in how people develop their leadership skills. Four methods come immediately to mind.
- Self-consciously studying leadership and trying to emulate what you’ve studied.
- Finding a mentor or a coach to work with whom you work on your leadership skills.
- Being thrust into situations where you must take on leadership outside your previous comfort zone.
- Experiential learning program designed to teach leadership.
I’m particularly interested in hearing feedback on the last option — what experiential leadership development programs have you been part of that you recommend to others? Or don’t recommend? Why?
Being overly deferential to all-volunteer boards: Wow, that resonates.
If an organization has a board culture that demands deference from the ED, what does it take to change that short of major catastrophe? I know there are no easy answers to this question.
Let’s think about it by positing two scenarios: A board of deference-demanding directors (BoDDD) hires a non-deferential ED (unDED), and a BoDDD hires a deferential ED (DED). Let’s look at them in that order, hypothetically.
The BoDDD hires the unDED. Predictably, the relationship deteriorates over time: while unDED, as an experienced professional, has a vision for how to run the organization, the BoDDD attempts to exert control because they just can’t help it — after all, they raise and/or donate some money, so why shouldn’t they have a say in day-to-day decision making? The unDED bristles and looks for another job, which turns out to be easy to find.
Okay, says the BoDDD, that didn’t work very well. Let’s hire someone who won’t make a fuss when we “suggest” they take a particular course of action. That’s the DED. DED says all the right things in the interview and in initial meetings with staff. But over time DED fails to connect with the staff (or do much else of the job at hand), because DED only considers his stakeholders to be members of the BoDDD. Staff morale drops. Staff morale plummets further when it becomes apparent that there is no coherent decision-making process or strategy in place; the day-to-day whims of board members rule. This is the “lack of focus” you talk about above. Effectiveness decreases. Turnover increases. DED, having proven to be a mirage, finally vanishes into nothingness.
In the short run, what can be done to improve the organization’s effectiveness, save finding someone who has cojones AND an existing relationship with the board? How does the organization ever improve or change? And what can be done to change the board culture? Board members simply don’t realize how disruptive it is to make decisions based on incomplete information, undercutting the professionalism of the staff. And, unfortunately, that leadership style trickles down, meaning the staff who “do all the work” feel disconnected and unempowered.
Would love to hear your thoughts on that.
Comment by non-profit professional — June 13, 2012 @ 2:57 pm
I highly recommend the American Leadership Forum program – http://www.alfo.org/ – but more because of the fact that you bond with a high quality group over a year or two, and have a support network ever after. I’ve found that having coaches or networks like this is most valuable. I’ve worked with a few different management coaches and found that very powerful, especially if you recognize your own weaknesses and are willing to shift to new coaches as your needs and weaknesses evolve. Books and such are helpful too, but I generally like the ones best that reinforce what I already believe :)-
Comment by Jeff Allen — June 13, 2012 @ 6:04 pm
Another excellent article, Jonathan! I think about this a lot, and I have come to the conclusion that leadership traits can certainly be learned, but there has to be an innate ability there (as well as an openness or even eagerness to learn), or the training program – no matter how good – won’t work. People either have a strategic big-picture outlook on life and an almost OCD-like ability to make sense of a bunch of details (without getting bogged down in them), or they don’t. A good ED can work with any type of board, and will also be able to implement changes in board structure and membership over time, so that it becomes even better. A not-so-good ED will butt heads with board members over dumb details, losing sight of the fact that both board and ED are supposedly working on the same mission, and then blame the board members for any failures.
To your specific inquiry, I think some EDs can definitely improve their skills with an experiential program, but most of us (I’d guess – at least most of us reading your blog) are probably more visual learners than experiential learners, so we probably do just fine with reading key books (and blog articles like yours!). I find taking time to attend networking meetings and conferences with other EDs is also helpful, but only if I’m able to put aside the “urgent” to focus on the “important” (to borrow Steven Covey’s 7 Habits language). So it’s more that I’m able to leave the office and get away from my computer that allows me to be in the headspace to learn, rather than the content of the particular program.
Comment by Jan — June 13, 2012 @ 6:09 pm
“Nonprofit professional.” — I’m not sure I have any brilliant ideas for you. In my experience, a strong leader can over a couple of years move their board away from micromanagement. My own observation is that in most boards the problem is the opposite — Executive Directors who fail to take leadership and bend over backwards to keep their boards happy.
Jeff — I’m increasingly intrigued by the idea of coaching, but have found relatively few nonprofits willing to invest dollars in it.
Jan — if you’re right that there is a part of this that is innate, the question I then have is what do you do as a board in an interview process to identify who has it.
Comment by jonathanpoisner — June 20, 2012 @ 10:30 am