By Molly Penn
We talk a lot, and yet not enough, about understanding the distinction between leadership and management. You may still not feel clear on what that is (see? We don’t talk enough about this!). Why is it even important to understand this distinction? Because it will make the difference between being a good leader and a great one.
Leadership + Management = Great Leader
In this blog post, we’ll focus on the leadership side of the equation. Leadership is about having your eyes on the landscape and spotting opportunities as well as challenges for your organization and instigating change as necessary. In practice, instigating change is about strategic planning, forging partnerships and collaborations, joining advocacy coalitions, and ensuring your vision remains relevant and motivational and alive. The Executive Director needs good thought partners to do that. One person’s vision should never be the lead – it must be a shared responsibility. There needs to be a board of thought partners who are willing to share that responsibility. PLUS the added benefit of having an appropriately engaged board is that those who are engaged are the organization’s most ardent supporters and fundraisers! One of the greatest contributors to Executive Director burnout is not having a strong board. We’ve met Executive Directors who want nothing more than to get their board ENGAGED, let alone strong. We’ve also met those whose boards are WAY too much “all up in their business.” Both of those are extreme signs that the board you have is not a strong one.
Leadership
Leadership is about two things (to boil it down): INSTIGATING change or ADAPTING to change. What does that mean?
Instigating Change
A good leader has their eyes on the horizon. They are in touch with their field, they are networked, they are in touch with the community they serve, and they read and think about issues outside of their field that might affect their organization. Whew, that’s a long list right? This is why a strong board is crucial. The Executive Director should not do all of that alone – they are NOT a superhero, and no one should expect them to be! They need thought partners, conspirators, advisors, and people who will help think through the huge question of how to deepen your organization’s impact.
“But the board is my boss! – They expect me to have it all figured out” This is one of the common responses we get from Executive Directors when we say they need the board’s help. And we tell them, then you (collectively) haven’t set the expectation that they are not your boss, they are your thought partners!
“But they have the power to hire and fire me!” Another common response. But how often does that really come up? And what about the rest of the time? If the board has a “gotcha” attitude, they are not the right people for your organization, or they need a serious level setting conversation. Yes, at the end of the day the board, as stewards of the public trust in your nonprofit organization, has the “power” to fire the Executive Director if the ED is truly doing a poor job, or acting unethically, or not centering the mission in their decisions. But those are extreme circumstances, that are not relevant to day to day life in the organization.
What if the board could jump in with the Executive Director to think through the big existential questions? What if the board encouraged regular dialogues around what the organization’s ideal future is, and how to get there? And they never put the Executive Director in the hot seat.
In some cases, leadership also means instigating change internally (for example, we worked with a large human service organization that sought to build a culture of justice, equity and inclusion – that is a change management project!). In those cases, having board members with experience in human resources, in change managment and in leadership in general is a priceless resource for you. There are many hills and valleys in a change management process, so having expertise “on tap” to help you will allow the Executive to sustain their attention and energy for the change.
Adapting to Change
Finally, leadership is about adapting to change that may be imposed on your organization from the world outside. We live in a cyclical world – the economy ebbs and flows, the political landscape shifts with regularity, the world of technology is also changing the very nature of how we do business every day. On top of that are the surprise things like a global pandemic, or 9/11, or other unforeseeable events that mark turning points for the whole world, including our organizations. Once again, it’s about having thought partners around the board table. Having a diverse set of expertise and life experiences is crucial to helping the Executive Director think through all the facets of these world-changing situations.
At the end of the day, we are talking about shared leadership – let’s get away from the hierarchical power dynamics of the past and build the world we want to see, where Executive Directors and their boards are true thought partners.
Next month’s blog post will focus more on the management side of great leadership, so join us to read more.
Need help thinking this through? Give us a call and we’ll be happy to talk about how we can help.
