Competency 1: Leadership and Management

Competency 1: "I am able to lead and manage in a dynamic, mission driven nonprofit sector."

Leadership and Management

A major key to success in any organization stems from leadership, and the success of nonprofit organizations are no different. Strong leadership, from the board of trustees/directors, to the CEO/director, to department heads, to even volunteers who step into leadership roles, play a role in the direction and success of the organization. Leadership is not just who is in charge, but is about the skills necessary to manage and motivate people, develop and execute strategic plans, handle complex internal and external problems, be exceptional critical thinkers, and other skills that can be developed and matured within a leader (Hudson, 2005). While used interchangeably, there are distinctions between leaders and managers. Leaders are seen as visionary when it comes to the future and direction of an organization, emphasizing direction (versus planning), organizational change (versus custom), inspiration and risk-taking (versus careful, calculated next steps). Managers are focused on the day-to-day, step-by-step, effective planning and execution of an effective operation, emphasizing planning and budgeting, policies, procedures, problem solving, etc (Rowe & Dato-On, 2013) (Worth, 2020). Understanding and distinguishing the differences between leaders and managers help develop guidelines on what each position entails and provides more clear direction on the role each person in the position plays within the organization. This does not restrict the work that leaders and managers do. Leaders should be able to understand and take charge, if necessary, in dealing with the daily operations of the organization and managers must be able to cast vision for their own departments and cast a vision for how they want to see their areas of influence grow and advance.

PAD 6335 - Strategic Plan

One of the main responsibilities of a leader is to cast the vision and lead the people in a specific direction, driving the organization to achieve the mission in the community (Rowe & Dato-On, 2013) (Worth, 2020). One method of vision casting that many leaders in organizations develop is creating a strategic plan. This assignment was a great opportunity to learn the necessary steps in developing a vision and a strategic plan that can be cast to all those under leadership, detailing the vision and outlining the steps to take toward achieving the mission, vision and goals/objectives of the organization. It taught me how critical having a strategic plan for an organization can be. This assignment was made more interesting for me because it allowed me the opportunity to work alongside SALT (Service And Love Together) Inc, an organization that is closely aligned with my own interests in addressing homelessness and hunger and poverty, which made me more passionate to develop a detailed strategic plan that the organization could use to build upon in the future. One thing that I learned in the course of the assignment is the importance of having different perspectives from other people. Working in a team with others who were not as familiar with the organization, as well as with the founder and director of SALT Inc, we each brought a different strength and perspective to the strategic planning process and could approach the same topic from different angles, which made it more impactful when it came to how we each decided to address the issue.

PAD 6149 - Leadership Case Study

Oftentimes, people believe they are capable of being good leaders, but becoming a leader involves much more effort than many people are aware of. The Leadership Case Study for PAD 6149 - (insert class name here) provided a working example of one of the key components of a good leader - critical thinking when it comes to addressing society concerns. But another component of the assignment is collaborating with other leaders from other organizations, which is another aspect of being a good leader; learning how to work with others. This assignment required drafting a memo that addressed the growing concern of homelessness within a community and developing potential ideas with other stakeholders in the community. In working on this assignment, I learned how the balance vision casting with execution; it is not merely enough to develop an idea, but also to develop and outline the steps necessary to see that idea carried out and, more importantly, be able to articulate that idea to others.

References

Hudson, M. (2005) Managing at the Leading Edge: New Challenges in Managing Nonprofit Organizations. Jossey-Bass.

Rowe, W. G. & Dato-On, M. C. (2013). Introduction to Nonprofit Management. SAGE Publishing.

Worth, M. J. (2020) Nonprofit Management: Principles and Practice. 6th edition. SAGE Publishing.