Nonprofit Leadership, Innovation, and Change

There is and always will be a lack of resources

It doesn’t matter if you are leading in the nonprofit sector, business community, or government, you’re always going to face the problem of not quite having enough money. The fact that money is scarce is what makes it valuable.

As many of you know, A Day of Hope is a volunteer based program (I earn my income working full-time for United Way). I often catching myself saying, “If I only had the financial ability to hire that person to do "this" and to do "that" for A Day of Hope.”

But, I believe once I had that financial ability to hire someone to do the job, I probably would find myself wanting more money to hire someone with more skill.

It’s natural for a leader to always want more. Leaders are always pushing the envelope hard in an attempt to grow their organization. They always want more of what they’re doing and they want things to be better.

Lack of resources is always going to be a problem for a leader in any context. So, it’s not the increase in resources a leader needs to always seek, he needs to seek an increase in innovation and ingenuity.

He’s got to be creative to come up with ways to not just raise money, but to get the best and most capable work from the people he leads.

Leaders Are Productive

Is it me, or does it seem that people who are productive are usually leaders? Not always, but most of the time this seems to be true.

Here’s the true question, “Is someone a leader because he is productive, or is he productive because he is a leader?”

I believe it’s a little bit of both. Leaders are naturally productive because they have to be. They are being pulled in a lot of different directions, by many different people.

It’s also a leaders productivity that helps establish him as a leader. If you are someone who can get the job done day-in-day-out and manage many projects and tasks while keeping them all moving forward, you're more likely to be seen as a leader.

Why do you want to be a leader?

That might just be the most important question that you ever ask yourself as a leader.

So,
Why do you want to be a leader?

To make great change in the world? To have the front parking place? To help others who are less fortunate than yourself? To be the highest paid person at your nonprofit? To be able to take more vacation time than anyone else?

I lead because I know that as a leader I’m able to help others help others. I know that the work we do improves the lives of those in the world who are often forgotten. We’re able to give hope and encouragement to those who don’t have any, but who also need it the most.

I know that as a leader I also enrich the lives of those who I lead. I encourage them and lift them to a level that they probably would not be able to reach on their own. With me I’m doing my best to teach them what I know so they may grow and develop as someone who can also make a great difference in our community.

So,
Grab a piece of paper, a pen and write this sentence in the middle of the page, “Why do I want to be a leader?” Then just let the pen ink flow and see what happens.

One person can make a difference but a team can create a movement

One person can make a difference but a team of people working together can create a movement.

About a year ago I made a post about this guy. If you drive in downtown Modesto, you will still find him faithfully outside protesting, every single day. In many ways I admire his commitment and persistent for a cause that he believes in.

However,
He is only one man. Yes, he is making a difference (enough of a difference for me to talk about him), but he is limited.

What if he as able to recruit 300 people who were just as passionate as him to stand with signs protesting? I’m sure there a lot of other people who have suffered from the same circumstances that he is protesting about. If there were 300 people out there with him he would be creating a movement.

What’s the difference between making a difference and creating a movement?

Most of it is leadership. It's the ability to gather people together around a shared purpose and mission.

People Are Always Leaving and Coming

If you lead for any length of time you will realize that there will always be people leaving and there will always be people coming.

It doesn’t matter if it’s the greatest member of your staff or the worst, if you lead long enough you will find that there will always be someone leaving your organization and there will always be someone coming to your organization.

However, through this process you will realize there are no indispensable people that you work with. No matter how good someone is, if he leaves, you can always find a replacement.

Why people leave and what you can do to keep them with you is a total different topic, but as a leader always remember that no matter how long you lead or how great of a leader you are, there will always be people leaving and always be people coming.