This session describes principles of leadership within organizations and common leadership issues. These presentations are are part of a workshop series that was implemented in Nepal and 2016 as part of the INGENAES initiative.
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Organizational Capacity-Building Series - Session 9: Leadership
4. • Organizational Life Cycles of NGOs
• Executive Leadership in NGOs
• Principles of Good Executive Leadership
• NGO leadership: functions, principles and characteristics
• Major Issues in Executive Leadership
The Game plan for session 9
5. The start-up stage:
• Launched by motivated individual(s) who believe in the cause; usually
centered around a single activity/service
• No management system exists or required
• Most decisions centered on the founder(s)
• Initial staff/volunteers based only on knowledge & belief in the cause
• Founder(s) overloaded with ‘administrative’ details and operational
issues
• Growing need for formal staff
NGO organizational life cycle – stage 1
6. The expansion/growth stage:
• Characterized by growth in programs & revenue
• Growing complexity in terms of structure & culture of the organization
• Often unplanned growth
• An executive leader is hired
• Necessity for task delegations on programs
• Need for key personnel with skills
• Fragmented & inconsistent policies that require organization-wide
rationalization
• Emerging organizational structure based on programs and services
NGO organizational life cycle – stage 2
7. The consolidation stage:
• Characterized by planning processes
• Shift from optimal program levels to optimal organizational level
• Growing importance of management staff
• Hierarchy & decentralization
• Structured recruitment & training
• Performance measure for employees
• Focus on outcome rather than output
• Engagement with strategic planning process
NGO organizational life cycle – stage 3
8. The metamorphosis stage:
• Characterized by programs expanding and/or shifting to other
nonprofits through collaboration
• Larger contracts
• Near-corporate HR model
• External networks
• Partnerships
• For profit subsidiaries
• ‘Industry’ leadership
NGO organizational life cycle – stage 4
9. • An NGO’s leadership is fundamentally the responsibility of its board and its
executive leader
• The chief executive officer is the head of day-to-day administration of the
organization
• Titles of executive leader include: ED, CEO, COO, President, etc.
• The relationship between the CEO and the board is crucial and its complexity
differs from NGO to NGO
The chief executive of an NGO
10. NGO Leadership
• The hallmark of NGO leadership is TRUST
• Trust stems from
• Honesty
• Care
• Commitment
• Positive thinking & planning
• Ability to inspire others
• Actions in the best interest of the NGO
• NGO leadership functions
• Ensuring the effectiveness of the organization
• Ensuring both ‘production’ & ‘production capacity’
• Ensuring efficiency
11. NGO Leadership
• A good NGO leader…
• Must create or facilitate a vision for the NGO & the means
towards the vision
• Must have a keen understanding of current conditions,
opportunities & challenges
• Must exhibit a positive can-do attitude by being proactive
• Must work with others to bring ideas to life
• Must be persuasive
• Must inspire others to action
• Example of an exemplary NGO leader – Wangari Maathai
12. • The Leadership Challenge (Kouzes & Posner)
• Of the 225 values, traits & characteristics
• Top four are…
• Honesty
• Forward-looking
• Competent
• Inspiring
What do people look for & admire in their
leaders?
13. What do people expect from an NGO Leader?
Korn-Ferry International survey
• Honest
• Competent
• Forward-looking
• Inspiring
• Intelligent
• Fair-minded
• Broad-minded
• Courageous
• Straightforward
• Imaginative
14. • Training (some business training), expertise & experience
• Provides leadership and policy guidance
• Manages and directs all operations, programs, and activities
• Implements policy decisions
• Reports regularly to board of directors
• Approves financial disbursements
• Hires, supervises, and evaluates staff
• Maintains records, filings, and documents
ED job description
15. • Self-confidence and self-improvement
• Technical proficiency
• Seeking & taking responsibilities
• Making sound & timely decisions
• Inspiring all stakeholders of the organization
• Setting examples to employees
• Knowing employees and caring for their well-being
• Keeping employees informed & developing their sense of responsibility
• Using the full capabilities of the organization
Principles of good executive leadership
16. • ED as Visionary
• Understanding the nonprofit’s organizational culture
• Creating and sustaining a vision
• Determining organizational effectiveness
• ED as Change Agent
• Embracing a changing nonprofit environment
• Understanding changing life cycle stages in nonprofits
• Leading organizational change
• ED as the Relationship Builder
• Nurturing relationship with the Board
• Establishing productive staff relationship
• Following the founder
5 important characteristics of the executive Director
(Carlson & Donohoe)
17. • ED as Community Creator
• Engaging external stakeholders
• Embracing partnership and collaboration
• Ensuring Board representation
• ED as Resource Wizard
• Ensuring sound financial management
• Sustaining the organization with team-based fund raising
• Diversifying the organization’s source of revenues
• Source: Carlson. M. & Donohoe, M. (2003), The Executive Director’s Survival Guide: Thriving as Nonprofit
Leader
5 important characteristics of the executive director (Carlson & Donohoe)
18. Major Issues in NGO Leadership
• Dominance/dictatorial
• Excessive compensation
• Hero worship
• Unwillingness to relinquish power
• Lack of succession planning
• Nepotism
• Corruption
• Turf/territorial mentality
• Political influence
• Lack of accountability/transparency to certain stakeholders
19. Activity
Group discussion on the status of executive leadership in
Nepal’s NGO sector:
1. Discuss…
• Characteristics (good, bad & ugly) of the executive leader
of an NGO that you are familiar with
2. Group project: Write…
• The SWOT (at least one S, W, O &T) of executive
leadership in Nepal’s NGO sector
3. Group debrief!