Charities must think again about the nature of social sector leadership, says Ruby Chadwick

The social impact space is built on passion. The lifeblood of non-profit organisations is unabashed devotion to their mission and their core values. 

But the very passion that drives organisations also can make it difficult to change traditional ways of thinking and operating. And that can make growth impossible. This is especially true in terms of leadership.

Disruptive change is happening throughout the social sector. It’s good. It’s necessary. And it relies on our leaders — those who want to make sure the right decisions are made, no matter how difficult, for the long-term greatness of their organisation and the achievement of its mission, independent of consensus or popularity. 

Most non-profit organisations that fail do so because of a lack of this type of fearless, far-seeing and forward-thinking leadership. And even when the doors stay open, stagnation at the top too often trickles down to affect everything from personnel to programmes — and ultimately mission and the people the organisation serves.

Social impact sector leaders must be different from their business counterparts

Good leadership is good leadership — and bad leadership is bad leadership — no matter where it happens, and all great leaders do share some common traits. But social sector leaders must have different goals and visions than their business counterparts. For example:

Resource mobilisation is such an integral part of the social sector, so every leader must play a critical role in ensuring their organisation has the resources it needs. Their focus must be less on how much money they’re making and more on how they can develop a sustainable resource engine to deliver continual, superior performance relative to the mission.

Values and ethics also play a much larger, conscious part in social sector leader profiles. They own a social conscience, which leads to a broader societal perspective rather than the often limited product- or service-focused perspective of business leaders. This can, however, lead to naiveté and the assumption that if they throw energy and goodwill at an issue, rather than examining their own strengths and weaknesses, it will reap positive results.

A common challenge experienced by many social sector leaders is that they struggle to get the right people on the bus more so than in business, and instead often rely on support from relatively underpaid or volunteer staff.

Great social sector leadership is about doing something different — breaking boundaries and asking difficult questions. It’s about emotional intelligence, effective communication, informed decision-making (along with a certain amount of calculated risk-taking), and the desire and ability to stay somewhere long enough to implement transformational change. It’s about having the right team in place and giving them the tools and the inspiration to deliver, and it’s about being able to help the entire organisation understand fundraising.

While the “right” questions are far from universal, you might want to ask yourself: What kind of a leader am I?

Take a pen and paper and write down six words that you feel define you as a leader. If your answers don’t include words like fearless, or innovative, or inspirational, or collaborative — or if you just don’t feel good about them — make a commitment now to grow. Open your mind to the seismic shift in leadership that will guide your organization to transformational change and a deeper impact on the mission you’re dedicated to serving.

Ruby Chadwick is international programmes manager for The Resource Alliance. For information on The Resource Alliance’s Leading for the Future programme, go to www.resource-alliance.org/leadership. 

With more than 100 sessions and 18 intensive masterclasses, the 2016 International Fundraising Congress, happening 18-21 October in the Netherlands, is about “Asking the Right Questions.” For more information on the IFC, go to www.resource-alliance.org/ifc.

Civil Society Media would like to thank the Resource Alliance for their support with this piece.