This book is about how to “make a better world.” I am aware and I know you are aware, because you are reading this, of the enormous challenges almost everywhere around us. The needs are pressing for more and better programs in education, health care, poverty alleviation, disaster response, gender equality, justice, and equity and in peace, anti-corruption, climate change, democracy, economic sustainability, nature preservation, and animal protection. By adopting the Sustainable Development Goals in 2015, the nations of the world have come together and agreed on urgent priorities for partnership and sustainable development. Governments should be doing more and corporations should take greater responsibility in these areas.
Nonprofit organizations and community groups should also step up as social innovators, agents of change, and builders of movements. Many of them are clearly doing very well, raising more money, and helping in more and more ways. But unfortunately, the majority of nonprofits and groups are not performing well enough and are not raising more money and helping in more ways. Why? Quite simply, I think it is the lack of leadership needed throughout the organization. I have seen many nonprofit organizations and community groups that are open to people stepping up to identify and solve problems, but, in fact, not enough people are actually stepping up to meet the needs of people and earth.
You can start leading now from wherever you are within your nonprofit organization or community group. Opportunity is waiting. One way or another, you can find important steps to take.
Read on for clues about how to do this without too much opposition. First, it is important to understand the difference between the leadership function and the management function. Many people in nonprofit organizations (including fundraisers) have both leadership and management responsibilities. Good leaders get people to change by inspiring and motivating them to aspire to higher goals. Good managers, on the other hand, guide people and processes to achieve identified tangible results.
As a leader, you focus on changes needed, establish new directions, motivate and inspire others, align people in pursuit of those directions, and promote initiatives that result in long-term improvements. Leaders at all levels may even promote instability as a means to progress by focusing on what is not right and on what could be possible in the future. Leadership is about what you, your organization, and your society should become and how you can move forward to better serve the interests of important stakeholders in new ways. Leadership at all levels involves vision, inspiration, and goals for the organization. Leaders think three to five years ahead maybe even longer about significant change. It is about innovation.
As manager, you plan and budget, organize and supervise, control and problem solve, produce predictable and orderly outcomes, and oversee people and activities to achieve short-term results. Managers promote stability and consistency as a means to achieve planned outcomes by focusing on what can be implemented in a short timeframe. Management is about moving forward as planned and is the day-to-day implementation of mission, responsibilities, and objectives for the organization. Managers think days and weeks ahead to achieve quarterly or annual progress. It is about results.
You may have read or heard the views of management consultant and author Peter Drucker that management is “doing things right” while leadership is “doing the right things.” In this sense, management cannot succeed if leadership is doing the wrong things. In nonprofits, the best fundraiser will fail in managing the fundraising activity if the executive leaders are not doing the right things to ensure the organization is attractive to donors or if leaders at all levels fail to step up to achieve the needed corrections and improvements.
Drucker also wrote that nonprofits needed to learn much from the business community about business (strategy, finance, efficiency, control, and other “hard” issues) while corporations needed to learn much from the nonprofit community about engagement (vision, values, motivation, support, and other “soft” issues). You can learn these things from business and, at the same time, develop your own engagement skills!
A leadership development story from my personal experience
In my leadership role at Foster Parents Plan, I was the visionary executive director who talked about what could be, and I looked for breakthrough results. Meanwhile, the director of finance and administration served in the manager role; she talked about continuous improvement and looked for day-by-day progress. It was a good combination of leadership and management, since we were able to achieve both the occasional breakthrough success and the more regular step-by-step improvements.
I had been recruited by the board of directors to change the organization and raise substantially more income. The organization had experienced a full decade of zero growth and had settled into a “frozen” and discouraging reality. After joining the organization, I saw that the staff members were smart and committed, but they were unable to find their way forward and were continually frustrated by failure. Thankfully, they were open to change and were looking to develop and grow.
For the first few years, I was a very autocratic leader-manager. I was setting the vision and direction, providing inspiration and confidence, and providing a high dose of hands-on management coaching and supervision. At the end of three years, we had doubled the income to $20 million ($47.7 million today) and raised the competence and confidence of everyone involved.
Then there was a mini-revolution by staff members who wanted to have more ownership and more control of their own work. Fortunately, through expert guidance from a great consultant and with strong encouragement from my wife, I was able to move to a new level of leadership, which was more about mentoring and being a supportive leader. The staff thrived on this new approach, and we continued our success in terms of increasing our revenue by another $10 million ($21.8 million today).
An analogy is a sailing ship in the midst of a storm versus the safety of a port. In the storm, the captain leads, interferes, and micromanages everywhere to assure the survival of the ship and crew and to guide the ship to port. In calm waters in the port (and beyond), the captain delegates, steps back, and lets others manage on their own. In my first years in that organization, we were in a storm. In the following years, we sailed in good weather!
Leadership insights from three experts
I like to cite three authorities on leadership who are especially relevant to this discussion of leadership.
First, in its executive programs, the Center for Creative Leadership presents that among leadership capacities are five essential abilities:
Develop self-awareness
Increase self-confidence
Take a broad and systemic view
Think creatively
Learn from experience
These are insightful and helpful conclusions from the Center’s experience with thousands of successful executives in both business and nonprofits.
Second, in his book In Pursuit of Excellence, Tom Peters identifies five components of leadership excellence:
Bias toward action
Close to the customer
Entrepreneurship
Tolerance of failure
Quick feedback
I would call these components excellence in management, but they are important for leaders to promote.
Third, in several books, Rosabeth Moss Kanter identifies seven phases of leadership – a beautiful continuum of leadership process:
Experiencing restless dissatisfaction to see what is missing
Utilizing kaleidoscope thinking to identify new patterns and new reality
Communicating a compelling vision
Planting seeds to enlist champions and stakeholders
Empowering workers and working teams
Having patience and persistence when everything looks like a failure
Communicating that everyone is a hero to celebrate small steps of progress
These are powerful insights to guide you as you develop your leadership and management skills and capabilities that every leader/manager in a nonprofit organization should follow.
My definition of leadership attributes
Showing vision
Setting high goals
Fostering change and innovation
Motivating others
Supporting them
Communicating with them
Grounded in values and character
Showing good judgment
Finally, you can think of leaders and managers this way: Both leadership and management skills are necessary in your fundraising career and, I believe, in every career in a nonprofit. You will find that you need to use both skill sets to envision and implement innovative and successful fundraising projects and to gain the internal support you need. This definition of leadership attributes complements my six steps to leadership presented in Chapter 1: Networking with others so you have allies, Seeing what needs to be done so you can focus, Seizing opportunity so you can take advantage, Stepping up so you actually do it, Being persistent so you don’t give up, and Running meetings well so people see you as someone who gets things done.
When you lead, you focus on vision, strategic planning, and change. When you manage, you focus on mission, operational planning, and results. You function at different times and in different ways as leader or manager, but it is important to know which mode you are in and to emphasize the relevant characteristics. For both leader and manager, success requires trustworthy character, good values, and a caring disposition supported by sound judgment and unwavering persistence.
Fundraising success from good leadership and good management means more money for your nonprofit or group. This means you can have a greater impact on your commitment to make a better world.
Conclusion
In the nonprofit world, effective leadership and management are crucial for achieving success and making a significant impact. By understanding the differences between leadership and management, and by embracing both roles when necessary, you can guide your organization toward greater achievements. Remember that good leadership is about vision, inspiration, and strategic planning, while good management focuses on mission, operational planning, and achieving results. Combining these skills with trustworthy character, solid values, and persistent effort will enable you to drive your organization forward and make a better world. Take every open opportunity to step up, lead with conviction, and manage with precision to raise more funds and enhance the effectiveness of your nonprofit's programs and services. Your leadership can pave the way for a brighter future for those you serve.
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