As a nonprofit director or manager, how do you know when you’re ready to step into an executive leadership role? Our team of nonprofit leaders regularly uses their experience to help nonprofit career professionals answer this question as part of our board advisory work and interim executive leadership engagements. We act as mentors during nonprofit leadership transitions when the board needs help identifying their next leader and equipping them for success. These are the types of conversations we have day in and day out as we assist organizations in handing over the organization to new leadership. Ultimately, the question of whether you’re ready to move up to the next level comes down to two things: whether you have what it takes to succeed from a personality standpoint and whether you have enough experience to lead not only a team but the entire organization effectively. Let’s look at each of those areas separately because they are complementary, yet distinctly different, aspects of what makes someone qualified to lead a nonprofit organization. Do You Have What It Takes?
Before you can guide an organization, you need to be ready to lead on multiple fronts at the same time. This means having the “soft skills” required to be an effective leader like a visible and believable commitment to the cause, dedication to the work, ambition, and a passion for the work you will be doing. Some aspiring nonprofit leaders find that they are actually better suited to be in non-leadership roles because they find the front lines-type work more fulfilling. You will need to determine if a leadership role is what you truly want based on the areas you want to be involved in and the impact you want to make. If your heart is in it, that’s a great starting point! Additionally, you will need strong leadership skills like the ability to give and take criticism well, the emotional intelligence to overcome challenges, a willingness to wear many hats, and the kind of interpersonal skills that can rally others around a shared vision. The best leaders understand that they don’t know everything and truly want to keep learning more every day. They see their role as a way to do that – finding out more about the organization, who they serve, and how they serve them with everything that they do. With those personality elements in place, you can start thinking about whether you have the kind of relevant professional experience needed to succeed in the role. Do You Have Enough Experience? What kind of experience do nonprofit leaders need? A relevant educational background is often helpful, but not necessarily required. Degree tracts or executive programs focused on nonprofit organizational management and fundraising topics are some examples of the kind of education that can be useful. But nothing can substitute for real-world experience! Leadership experience in a related director-level role or in a board member capacity is typically that thing that best equips a professional for a nonprofit executive role. These types of positions typically give people financial management and oversight experience, which is instrumental in leading an organization because nonprofit Executive Directors and CEOs need significant financial acumen to lead strategically. It might shock you to hear that some of the best and most helpful first-hand experiences can actually come from mistakes you have made or witnessed. The closer you are to a mistake, the better it serves you down the road because you can recognize factors that led up to it and make different choices than before. What separates leaders from the average “boss” is an eagerness to own mistakes and learn from them. Humility serves leaders well! Ultimately, thorough understanding of nonprofit sector best practices and challenges is going to be the key to a nonprofit leader’s success. This kind of insight allows leaders to think and plan strategically to run their organizations well. Board members may bring some of those skills to the table, but the Executive Director must be comfortable weighing options and forecasting impact down the road given the funding, staffing, internal influences, external forces, and threats that will impact each decision made. Get Help! When you want to move an existing staff member into an executive leadership role, but they don’t feel quite ready or the board is unsure about how to proceed, reach out to us! We offer board advisory services to help identify your next leader and increase their strengths so they have the skills and confidence they need to lead. Our experienced nonprofit leaders will offer you their career insights to help your organization remain strong through a leadership transition so it can continue to serve its audience well. We can even provide an interim nonprofit leader so that your organization can maintain continuity in its operations during times of change while your new leader gets up to speed. Contact us to find out more! Comments are closed.
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