Subject: Nonprofit leadership and management competencies...what do you think?

This posting from the Role of theLeader Forum on KnowHowNonProfit refering to Action Centered Leadership is the best I've seen for behaviours. 

THE ROLE OF THE LEADER

1. Define the objectives of the Team. Put them across with enthusiasm and remind people of them often.

2. Clarify accountability. Ensure every individual is accountable to ONE leader, and make leaders accountable for 4 - 15 people.

3. Train Team Leaders in leadership skills.

4. Regularly and at least anually discuss progress with individuals. Establish new targets and priorities.

5. Delegate decisions to individuals. With your own decisions consult those affected before you decide. Explain your decisions and the reasons face to face. Support decisions from above.

6. Remind all staff regualry of the value of their work. Brief the Team regularly on progress, policy, people and points for action.

7. Gain support for the rules, set an example, and 'have a go' at those who break them.

8. Where unions are recognised encourage joining, attending meetings, standing for office and speaking up for what is right.

9. Work alongside people. Care for the wellbeing of people in the Team. Represent the Team to higher and independant authority. Deal with grievances promptly and attend social functions.

10. Monitor the work of the Team, but regularly 'stand back' to see the whole picture. Regularly walk around each person's place of work, watch, listen, encourage and praise.

I really like the team focus that this list brings, it adds a helpful dimension to the list Zeta and colleagues have provided.  I particularly like the notion of strategic managers encouraging their team to speak up for what is right.  It is very interally focussed though isn't it?  Do strategic managers in our sector have a wider team?  Do we also need to look outside our team boundaries?

This list is wonderfully comprehensive, but I wondered if it might actually be more useful if it was shorter and more concise. Could it somehow be condensed to show only the key KSBs, or even prioritised in some way?

I also agree with Caroline above about the list being somewhat internally focussed. In our sector beneficiaries’ needs come first, and I think this should be reflected by at least placing the beneficiary points higher on the knowledge and skills lists. We could also add a point about building and maintaining networks – small organisations in particular often have few staff and rely heavily on their external contacts.

This list is wonderfully comprehensive, but I wondered if it might actually be more useful if it was shorter and more concise. Could it somehow be condensed to show only the key KSBs, or even prioritised in some way?

I also agree with Caroline above about the list being somewhat internally focussed. In our sector beneficiaries’ needs come first, and I think this should be reflected by at least placing the beneficiary points higher on the knowledge and skills lists. We could also add a point about building and maintaining networks – small organisations in particular often have few staff and rely heavily on their external contacts.

Interesting discussion and I think there is an importance about looking beyond the traditional team boundaries.  Which makes me think that a skill or competency around being comfortable with/managing complexity is important.  I think the most successful strategic managers are quite creative and confident in managing in uncertain environments. 

Does the strategic manager also need "knowledge" of the wider external environment & developing trends outside the organisation's environment.  You mention this slightly differently under skills as needing to read trends.  And will they need to be able to analyse the potential impact of emerging (wider) trends to see what effect this might have on their organisation.  

Do they need to be flexible?

    

I think this is a very good and solid list; it addresses some key leadership qualities and is certainly 'good enough' as it stands. (I do however agree with other commentators about working beyond the boundary of team and organsiation).  I suppose an additional suggestion I would make is implied, but not explicit in your list. it is the ability to know oneself and recognise, contain and manage one's own limitations. It seems to me that a lack of self-reflectiveness is something that can be a substantial impediment to good strategic leadership- having it can enable the  application of many of the SKB on your list.

Look forward to reading more of your thoughts and work.....

Great list from ZetaMacD, very comprehensive - my initial reaction was to add 'and wear pants outside trousers' is this a skill or a behaviour????

I would add story-telling - and this helps chunk some of the other knowledge,skills and behaviours because we need to understand who we are telling the stories to and what their needs are.  Our trustees, our benefciaries, our funders, those we work with,those we are trying influence (policy makers) etc etc...

I would also add humility - I love Jim Collin's 'Good to Great' and his mongraph on the social sectors.  He describes leadership in great organisations as level 5 leadership - requiring immense professional will and personal humility - to deliver success for the organisation rather than for oneself.

Very thought provoking discussion

After all these necessary competencies, as Denise says, Superwoman becomes the only credible role model for a strategic leader. However, I am very struck by three comments in the discussion so far;

i. ability to know one-self and have a level of self-reflectiveness

ii. ability to tell stories

iii. personal humility

I attended a seminatr recently with Jim Lovell the astronaut and I think this little video sums it all up.

http://www.foundation.org.uk/events/videos/20100312.htm

This is a good long list.  Are any of the KSB more important than others?  Will you want to sort them in order of importance or "essentialness"? 

I agree that the list is very comprehensive, and might be even more useful if it was condensed into the key points or prioritised. In particular I think that because in our sector puts the needs of beneficiaries first, we should reflect this in the list by moving the points which relate to beneficiaries higher up – at the moment their positioning could make them appear to be afterthoughts.

Hi, I'm one of Zeta's fellow students so just wanted to say thanks so much for all the helpful comments you've posted so far on this subject.

I'm really taken with the idea of self-refectiveness. I think we were partly thinking this when we added in self-awareness, but self-reflectiveness is actually slightly different and really crucial in terms of development. Excellent points about focus on team (in its broadest sense), prioritising beneficiaries, being able to spot emerging trends.

Also, it's great to be pointed in the direction of useful literature and material around the subject of strategic management. The Jim Collins recommendation is helpful - added to the reading list as we speak! Any more thoughts on the KSBs greatefully received.

Hello to the study group; glad to be of use Vicki......

I would agree with Esther a propos  Fiona's notion of prioritising; it  is likely to be more useful to you than trying to condense the list.

Ruth

I may be slightly biased but I'd like to see something around coaching in this list. In my opinion, there is no more strategic way of developing your line reports than adopting a coaching approach - encouraging staff to craft meaningful career goals for themselves, as well as identifying their own perfect solutions to the challenges they meet on a day to day basis.

I like the addition of coaching into the mix.  Do you need different skills to be a 'line manager coach' than to be a general coach (is there such a thing?).  Is the process and competency base the same?  What kind of qualities would you look for if you were thinking about using coaching in your approach to leadership?

I used these competencies in a coaching session last week, as the basis for a senior manager to assess where their key strengths and areas for development might lie. They worked very well, with the coachee giving themselves a 1-10 rating for each competency (I asked them to go with a quick, instinctive answer, rather than dwelling on each one - a bit like this: http://bit.ly/duBbOU). Then I asked the coachee to reflect on the key strengths (tendencey here is to be drawn towards the low scores and the areas for development), before prioritising the main areas for development into 'quick wins' and 'ongoing work'.

One thing I noticed was that I felt the need to seperate 'effective staff management' into two competencies: performance management (key business objectives, ongoing supervision etc) and staff development (helping individuals achive their career goals and learning needs etc). Staff management just felt too broad.