One basic tenant of good leaders is that they discover frameworks to help them work with people. Not all frameworks are healthy – I once had a boss tell me that fear was one of the tools in his leadership toolkit. Really. Fortunately, there are plenty of...
There are many reasons leadership is challenging: staff, clients, budgets, demands on our time. But the biggest reason leadership is challenging? As a leader, we’re calling the shots. Before getting into a leadership position, you want to call the shots. You...
In our most recent nonprofit leadership study, one of the things we looked at was how four different leadership styles affected a nonprofit’s “culture of philanthropy.” The four styles were: servant leadership, transformational leadership,...
Nonprofit leadership has got to be the toughest job in the world. You have to be a big-picture visionary with a close attention to details who also has an incredible ability to initiate and grow relationships. Nonprofits do such great work. And leaders seem to know...
As leaders, we often delegate tasks to others. Tasks like making sure the phone lines work. But, as leaders, we’re ultimately responsible. Anonymous calls can easily be blocked I know a number of nonprofits, especially hospitals, that are using antiquated...
As we discovered in the latest nonprofit leadership report, leadership is hard. There are competing demands on us. And unclear expectations. Even our own expectations of ourselves can be unclear. Most of our life, we’ve had someone else set the agenda and tell...
Traveling around the country, I’m constantly asked for the secret to hiring Millenials. Leaders tell me, “They don’t stay in the job. And when they’re here, it’s hard to tell what they’re working on.” First, a warning For...
A new study by the Hartsook Centre for Sustainable Philanthropy suggests nonprofits are completely unprepared to face looming leadership changes. The report seems to show that most nonprofits aren’t even trying. Researchers estimate that over 67 percent of current...
So often, leaders look for external cues and systems to validate their leading. They want manuals or a curriculum. But these can fall flat. Or worse, have no lasting impact. It’s not until leaders start working from within, that lasting change gets made. We just...
Leaders often get stuck because they don’t know where they’re at on the journey. In our work with leaders, we find that a lack of confidence is actually a growth step – a movement toward grounded confidence. We call this The Leader’s Journey...
