Today’s highest-performing organizations are committing to long-term leadership development, knowing that employee engagement initiatives that focus on learning and professional growth are the keys to both innovation and sustainability. Formalized leadership training programs are standard in large organizations that consist of many management layers. But in smaller and flatter organizations, less attention is given to developing employees’ leadership potential because there are significantly fewer management positions available. Yet, regardless of the organization’s size, researchers have found that improving leadership across the organization, rather than focusing on “high potential” employees, has an overall positive effect on the organization as a whole.[1] For nonprofit organizations that depend on engaged volunteers to carry out their mission, leadership development is becoming even more important. While regular promotions and advancement may be limited for staff, opportunities for improving the leadership that staff members provide to volunteers is unlimited.
Researchers have found that volunteer management practices vary greatly depending on the leadership capacity of the organization’s staff members. Hillary Knepper, Maria D’Agostino, and Helisse Levine summarized their research saying, “We also learned the importance of relationship building and the importance of taking the time, despite busy schedules, to provide feedback and performance assessment to volunteers.” They went on to emphasize the importance of “getting to know volunteers better to support their interests with assignments and encouraging staff to utilize their skills as best they could.[2]
Creating a leadership development program for your staff demonstrates that your organization is dedicated to its employees’ growth and development and ensures that staff members are equipped to provide excellent leadership to volunteers. This article highlights two leadership approaches, Servant Leadership, and Strengths-Based Leadership, that align with mission-driven cultures and support the needs of volunteer-based nonprofit organizations. Affordable and authentic strategies for leadership development in volunteer-based organizations are also shared in this article.
Leadership Approaches for Volunteer-Based Organizations
A recent Google search of the word “leadership” revealed approximately 4,400,000 results, and there are more leadership gurus, instructional leadership books, and proprietary models of leadership available than any of us could quantify. The same wide-ranging results appear when people discuss their personal experiences with leaders and share stories of the positive and negative impacts leaders have had in their lives. Because of this, it is wise to explore and define the particulars of what leadership means to you and your organization before beginning a leadership development program. Adopting a defined leadership philosophy or approach can help to ensure that everyone is on the same page about what excellent leadership looks like and speaks the same language about leadership development moving forward. The two leadership approaches shared below are both excellent options for building a culture of leadership in your nonprofit organization.
Servant Leadership. Robert Greenleaf’s 1970 essay, “The Servant as Leader” was the starting point for the servant leadership movement.[3] Robert Greenleaf recognized the difference between leaders who are driven by their desire for power and influence and leaders who are driven by a desire to serve others. The Greenleaf.org website says, “A servant-leader focuses primarily on the growth and well-being of people and the communities to which they belong.” Servant leaders are concerned with the following questions:
Do those served grow as persons?
Do they, while being served, become healthier, wiser, freer, more autonomous, more likely themselves to become servants?
And, what is the effect on the least privileged in society?
Will they benefit or at least not be further deprived?“
These reflective questions led to the development of the servant leadership model, which is comprised of the following ten principles:[4]
1. Listening: As leaders develop their ability to listen to others, they are able to make decisions that are in line with their followers’ needs. Additionally, excellent listeners demonstrate to followers that they care about their opinions and value their input.
2. Empathy: The ability to put yourself in another person’s shoes and consider situations from the other person’s perspective is a skill that servant leaders seek to develop.
3. Healing: Peter Northouse described this tenet by saying, “To heal means to make whole. Servant leaders care about the personal well-being of their followers. They support followers by helping them overcome personal problems.”
4. Awareness: Servant leaders seek to grow in their awareness of themselves, others, and the situation or environment in which they work.
5. Persuasion: While coercion relies on power and authority to motivate people to change, persuasion is accomplished with gentleness and a non-judgmental approach.
6. Conceptualization: Developing an understanding of the complexities of the organization, while also keeping the organization’s mission, vision, and goals at the forefront is necessary for leaders who seek to add value to an organization.
7. Foresight: With awareness and conceptualization servant leaders seek to develop their ability to anticipate the future. Leaders have the responsibility of helping individuals, and the organization adequately prepare for the future.
8. Stewardship: Accepting responsibility for leadership and using your leadership role to improve both the organization’s internal situation and its position in the community.
9. Commitment to the Growth of People: Servant leaders do not just make decisions based on what is best for the organization, they also take an intense interest in helping others learn and grow. Rather than simply managing employees and volunteers, servant leaders provide opportunities for others to also grow as leaders.
10. Building Community: Creating safe and affirming environments where people are free to express their individuality, form authentic relationships with others, and contribute to a goal that is bigger than themselves is a priority for servant leaders.
Nonprofit organizations that commit to a leadership development program that is based on the tenets of servant leadership can exponentially increase their organizations’ positive impact. Full-time staff members who experience servant leadership as employees are in a prime position to provide the same type of follower-focused leadership to volunteers, which can, in turn, positively impact the service that volunteers provide to clients and communities. When organizations that depend on volunteers to carry out their mission use the servant leadership approach, the whole organization will grow in its ability to provide service to others.
Strengths-Based Leadership. Gallup’s strengths-based leadership approach is based on their proven research that we live our best lives, accomplish our greatest achievements, and provide the best service to others when we focus on using our natural gifts and talents. While leaders need to recognize and manage their weaknesses, their best chance of success comes from developing and investing in their strengths.[5] Gallup has identified, categorized, and defined 34 different strengths. When individuals take the CliftonStrengths assessment they receive an individualized report that details their top five strengths and provides recommendations for how they can best use their strengths in service to themselves and others.
Leaders who adopt the strengths-based model of leadership are committed to learning more about themselves, their employees, and ways they can become more strategic in the work they do together as teams. Gallup’s Strengths-Based Leadership report provides customized information for leaders with guidance on how they can use their strengths to best meet the needs of their followers. Gallup’s many years of research have revealed that there is not a fixed set of traits that all successful leaders have. Instead, successful leaders use their unique gifts, talents, and strengths to carry out the following four essential leadership behaviors:[6]
1. Build Trust
2. Show Compassion
3. Provide Stability
4. Create Hope
Businesses that have adopted a strengths-based approach to leadership and development have higher rates of customer satisfaction, employee engagement, and employee retention. Gallup’s research has proven that this approach to development does not only work in traditional workplace environments, it is also highly successful in schools, families, and churches.[7] Not surprisingly, employees who have the opportunity to use their strengths at work experience greater overall satisfaction with life.[8]
Strengths-based leadership can positively impact an entire organization, from its Executive Directors all the way down to its volunteers. Executive Directors who are aware of their own strengths can use that knowledge to improve their own leadership practices, as well as to help employees set goals for professional growth that are based on the employees’ individual talents and strengths. As a result, each individual can develop leadership skills that are personalized and strategic. And if the employees who are interacting with volunteers, supporting them in their work, and helping them grow are doing so from a perspective of noticing and encouraging the volunteers’ strengths the positive effects can be far-reaching.
Authentic and Cost-Effective Leadership Development
University classes, professional conferences, and webinars are popular options for formal leadership training. Leaders should recognize that sending an employee to a leadership training class will produce limited results due to the one-size-fits-all approach of such programs. However, customized leadership development programs that consist of a variety of methods and activities, can be more closely aligned to the organization’s strategy. What’s more, customizing a leadership development program gives organizations an opportunity to choose professional development activities that are both authentic and affordable.
The Center for Creative Leadership has identified over twenty different types of learning activities and guided experiences that can be used in a leadership development program.[9] Many of these activities are cost-effective, but they do require dedicated time and commitment in order for learning to take place. The following two leadership development activities are recommended based on the wide availability of books and resources that provide guidance to professionals seeking to implement these leadership activities for the first time.
Professional Book Clubs. Discussion guides are available for many of today’s best-selling books on leadership. A free discussion guide for Brene Brown’s best-selling book Dare to Lead is available online[10] and James Kouzes’s and Barry Posner’s classic book The Leadership Challenge includes questions for reflection and discussion at the end of each chapter.[11] Additionally, a number of professionals have shared advice online about how to structure and run productive professional book club meetings. Susan Heathfield’s article on how to get a successful book club and running is full of practical advice and helpful tips.[12]
Peer Coaching. Coaching is increasingly becoming more popular as a mode of professional development. Peer coaching is a strategy that is widely used in the field of education. School leaders found that it was not uncommon for principals and teachers to leave a formal training session excited to try a new strategy or skill, only to return back to their old habits and routines once they returned to the classroom. The peer coaching model was developed to help increase the effectiveness of learning and development activities that require change. In her book about peer coaching, author Pam Robbins said, “Peer coaching is a confidential process through which two or more professional colleagues work together to reflect on current practices; expand, refine, and build new skills; share ideas; teach one another; conduct classroom research, or solve problems in the workplace.”[13] Peer coaching provides the support and accountability needed to make lasting changes.
As is the case with the leadership approaches highlighted at the beginning of the article, activities can also extend to volunteers. Inviting volunteers to participate in book clubs and peer coaching can go a long way to keeping them engaged in your organization’s mission. Volunteers often come to nonprofits with a wide range of professional backgrounds and life experiences. Their participation in leadership development initiatives could increase both the diversity of your group and the learning opportunities of its members.
Conclusion
The 2018 Volunteering in America Report shared that 77.34 million adults (30.3 percent) volunteered through an organization in 2018, and said, “Altogether, Americans volunteered nearly 6.9 billion hours, worth an estimated $167 billion in economic value…”[14] For nonprofit organizations that depend on volunteers, volunteers’ development and engagement must become a high priority. Just as employee engagement has become a key indicator of organizational success, volunteer engagement is a crucial factor for organizations that rely on volunteers to carry out their mission.[15]
Investing time and resources into a customized leadership development program can provide unlimited opportunities to invest in employees’ professional growth, provide relevant development opportunities for volunteers, and help improve the overall effectiveness and sustainability of volunteer-based organizations. If you need help creating a customized leadership development program that will work for your organization feel free to get in touch by visiting our website at www.lakesideleadership.org or emailing the author at amandalake@lakesideleadership.org. Lakeside Leadership Services offers complimentary half-hour consultations, as well as cost-effective solutions for non-profit and mission-driven organizations and businesses.
Biography: Dr. Amanda K. Lake is the Founder of Lakeside Leadership Services, a company that provides learning and development consulting services to leaders of small businesses, non-profit organizations, schools, and churches. As a Gallup-Certified Strengths Coach, Amanda offers training and coaching to leaders, teams, and individuals based on the CliftonStrengths assessment for adults and students, the StrengthsExplorer assessment for children, and the proven principles of strengths-based psychology and development. Lakeside Leadership Services also offers coaching and consulting in the areas of strategic planning, team learning and performance, employee engagement, organizational culture, and educational programming. Amanda can be contacted by email at amandalake@lakesideleadership.org
[1] The Center for Creative Leadership Handbook of Leadership Development by Ellen Van Velsor, Cynthia McCauley, and Marian Ruderman. (2010). San Francisco, CA: Jossey-Bass.
[2] Volunteer Management Practices During Challenging Economic Times by HIllary Knepper, Maria J. D’Agostino, and Helisse Levine. (Fall 2014) Journal of Public Management & Social Policy, p.15.
[3] The Servant as Leader by Robert K. Greenleaf (Pamphlet). Robert K. Greenleaf Center for Servant Leadership
[4] Leadership: Theory and Practice by Peter G. Northouse. (2013). Thousand Oaks, CA: SAGE Publications.
[5] Strengths-Based Leadership by Tom Rath. (2008). New York, NY: Gallup Press.
[6] Strengths-Based Leadership by Tom Rath. (2008). New York, NY: Gallup Press.
[7] Strengths Finder 2.0. by Tom Rath. (2007). New York, NY: Gallup Press.
[8] Well Being: The Five Essential Elements by Tom Rath and Jim Harter (2010). New York, NY: Gallup Press
[9] The Center for Creative Leadership Handbook of Leadership Development by Ellen Van Velsor, Cynthia McCauley, and Marian Ruderman. (2010). San Francisco, CA: Jossey-Bass.
[10] Dare to Lead Read Along Workbook https://daretolead.brenebrown.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/10/DTL-Read-Along-Workbook-v1.pdf
[11] The Leadership Challenge by James Kouzes and Barry Posner (2017). Hoboken, NJ: John Wiley & Sons, Inc.
[12] How to Implement a Book Club at Work by Susan Heathfield https://www.thebalancecareers.com/implement-a-book-club-at-work-1917942
[13] How to Plan and Implement a Peer Coaching Program by Pam Robbins. (1991). Alexandria, VA: ASCD
[14] 2018 Volunteering in America Report by National Service.Gov https://www.nationalservice.gov/newsroom/press-releases/2018/volunteering-us-hits-record-high-worth-167-billion#:~:targetText=The%202018%20Volunteering%20in%20America,through%20an%20organization%20last%20year.
[15] Volunteer Management Practices During Challenging Economic Times by Hillary Knepper, Maria J. D’Agostino, and Helisse Levine. (Fall 2014) Journal of Public Management & Social Policy
