I met a leader in my neighborhood the other day. She doesn’t wear designer business suits or travel with an entourage of assistants. In fact, when I see her she is usually wearing jeans and a sweatshirt, and is buys moving packages from the porch of her church to the trunk of her compact SUV.
Leadership is a behavior, not a position or a title. While some executives exhibit remarkable leadership behaviors, others simply become good managers, never fully realizing their capacity for leadership. The latter will likely have the skill and determination to operate a program and possibly even oversee an organization. It is the former, however, who will successfully guide an organization toward unlocking its true potential.
It just doesn’t make any sense. Mention to someone that you have a chronic condition like high cholesterol or heart disease, and they will shower you with empathy, offers of assistance, and maybe even a recipe for a healthy snack. Mention that you suffer from mental illness, and the same person is just as likely to find a quick excuse to exit the conversation.
What are board members looking for in an executive director? You may be surprised to learn that the skills they care most about are completely different from what they sought in the past.
“What’s wrong with millennials?” is a common starting point for discussion, whether it’s about their work habits, their (overstated) love of job-hopping or their ability to handle feedback.
“Mentoring is the thing that propels people to successful lives, in my opinion. It’s a great support system, it builds your self-confidence, and, more importantly, even if you’re asking for a mentor, I find — particularly with millennials — millennials can mentor you, too.” ~Dennis C. Miller
The cost of depression hits hard, but the good news — for staff and CEOs alike — is that businesses are getting proactive in their approach to it.
Nonprofit boards are seeking a chief executive with transformational leadership styles. Board members previously often placed a strong emphasis on recruiting chief executives who were passionate about the mission, experienced with grant writing, program development, possessed good management and community relationship skills.
The vast majority of nonprofits have great, dedicated and committed executives and wonderful individual board members. Yet, one of the most common questions asked is “how do we create a high performing board as a whole?”
The strategic planning process can be one of the most exciting times for a nonprofit’s leader-ship and board of trustees. A new vision statement is created. A set of strategic goals, which is needed to achieve the vision, is identified.
