Leadership

Why is Leadership Important to Nonprofits?

Nonprofits need to understand the dynamics of a changing landscape in the leadership of the nonprofit sector. There has been an unprecedented growth in the sector in the past several decades. With so many new nonprofits, the sector enjoys new leadership opportunities – and faces critical challenges. But the opportunities and challenges are not just for new organizations; mature organizations gain new leaders, and veteran leaders can always add some polish to help them shine. It is clear that leadership in our sector is needed now, more than ever before.

Effective leadership is key to nonprofit sustainability. In a 2009 report entitled, The Sustainability Formula: How Nonprofit Organizations Can Thrive in the Emerging Economy (TCC Group), the authors conclude that effective leadership is the strongest predictor of nonprofit sustainability. Whether your role is chief operating officer of a huge nonprofit, or board chair of an all-volunteer group, your leadership is vital.

How Can Nonprofit Leaders be Effective?

Many state associations of nonprofits offer leadership training opportunities especially designed for nonprofit board and staff leaders. Find your State Association here. Leadership training opportunities also abound in local communities through universities, colleges, and other organizations that regularly provide training for nonprofit professionals.

Would leadership training be helpful to you? You can use this Leadership Self-Assessment Tool offered on the website of the National School Boards Association to conduct a self-assessment to determine what aspects of leadership training might be most helpful to you.

Be ready to face these challenges to nonprofit leaders:

• Setting Priorities and Delegating Duties. One of the biggest challenges for nonprofit leaders, according to the consulting firm Bridgespan, is knowing what fire to put out first. The report, Leadership Priorities: What Facets of Management Shouldn’t You Delegate? (2010) argues that aligning staff around the organization’s strategic priorities, and developing its next leaders, should never be delegated.
• Knowing Your “Leadership Blindspot." We all have them. Bridgespan’s article, Beware Your Leadership Blindspots (2009), suggests tips, including getting 360-degree feedback, to help leaders "improve their leadership eyesight."
• Developing Next Generation Leadership. Resources on leadership development for "next generation" leaders are compiled at the Emerging Leaders section of the online Nonprofit Good Practice Guide hosted by the Johnson Center at Grand Valley State University in Michigan.
• Planning for Leadership Succession. Read more information about both planned and emergency leadership transitions from the National Council’s resources on Administration and Management, in the Leadership Succession section.

Resources

There are many useful publications focused on the subject of leadership. One favorite of the team at the National Council of Nonprofits and State Association leaders is The Leadership Challenge, by James Kouzes & Barry Posner (2007). See the following resources for additional information on leadership:

• What Helps Leaders Grow: Highlights from the Fund for Leadership Advancement, James Irvine Foundation (2009).
• Daring to Lead 2011: A National Study of Nonprofit Executive Leadership provides the findings from a joint study by CompassPoint and the Meyer Foundation that examined leadership, executive turnover, compensation, career plans and retirement in the nonprofit sector.
• The National Council's Bibliography of Leadership Resources for some past, but still relevant, reports and publications on this topic.
• CompassPoint's Coaching and Philanthropy Project. Here you can read about coaching as a strategy for developing and highlighting leadership.
• Measuring Leadership Development, a blog post by Matthew Forti of the Bridgespan Group.

Also visit the section on Leadership in the National Council's online bookstore.