What do you believe are the key leadership
challenges for the not-for-profit sector? Are these challenges reflected in the
effectiveness of your management teams? Are they impacted by the ability or
otherwise of your organisation’s adaptability to change? To what extent do your
leaders posses a good balance between technical and people skills? Is your
board providing true value to your organisation? How effective are the teams
within your organisation? Is your CEO the initiator and driver of change and if
so how effective is this? Are your employees adequately engaged with the key priorities
of your organisation? Does your strategic plan have an effective monitoring
process that supports it? Is your internal communication processes effective
and efficient? Does the culture of your organisation support the achievement of
your mission?
In 2013, these were the questions that I, and a
consulting colleague ‘Growing People+Organisations’, put to a wide
cross-section of not-for-profit leaders throughout Australia via an online
survey, and the results are now available in the recently released paper
entitled “Not-for-Profit Leadership Challenges Survey 2014 Report”
Key
findings identified in the Report included:
-
More than half the leaders surveyed believe they are
challenged by the ineffectiveness of their leadership team
-
Just over half are concerned about their
organisation’s change ability
-
More than half see their leadership teams lacking
the required leadership skills
-
One quarter of leaders feel they do not have a Board
that adds value
-
The majority of leaders see evidence of effective
teamwork in their organisation
-
Two thirds feel that the management team rely too
heavily on the CEO to initiate change
Comments
provided by respondents also highlighted that the amount of change and the
challenges in seeing through the complexities and ambiguities was their
greatest worry. Additionally, there was a clear indication in the results that
NFP organisations are going through significant change and rapid growth at
present and need to adapt their approach using strategic and change management
skills more. As a result more CEOs are looking to recruit leaders with those
skills rather than just the technical skills they looked for in the past.
Finally,
leaders saw a need for more leadership development, including building change
management skills. With regards the Disability Care sector, whilst the provision
of resources and funding for up skilling organisations and leaders had begun,
there was clearly a need to ensure all organisations can access these
resources.
The Report also identified a detailed suite of
solutions available to address these challenges. OPTIMUM
NFP in conjunction with the
collaborating partner is well versed in dealing with these challenges with a
wealth of experience that can be harnessed to meet the needs of your
organisation.
Should you wish to receive a copy of the
Not-for-Profit Leadership Challenges Survey 2014 Report you can either contact
me via email or alternatively visit the OPTIMUM
NFP website and request a copy through the ‘Publications’ tab. You
can also contact David Rosenbaum of OPTIMUM NFP
for a free, no obligation consultation regarding your organisation’s leadership
challenges.
