Leadership

Gwen Fujie calls it “martial arts ideas for the mind and mouth.”  In this article, Fujie explains why “Tongue Fu!” leads to cooperative communication and more peaceful relationships, both essential elements to success in volunteering. Based on author Sam Horn’s popular book by the same name, Fujie argues that Tongue Fu! is the “constructive alternative to giving a tongue-lashing or to being tongue-tied, a step-by-step process for turning hostility into harmony and aggravation into aloha.”  

Leaders are people who inspire others to follow.  They do this largely through their communication.  That influence partly comes from what leaders talk about, such as a vision of the future, organizational values, and other topics which have been well-described in many books and articles on the subject.  But the influence also comes from the way leaders phrase things.

Rick Lynch has based this article on some of his recent research into what kinds of communication inspire commitment and what kinds inspire resistance.  He identifies seven skills which will make you a more influential leader if you master them.

Should there be a significant difference in leadership ability between the head of the organization and the head of the volunteer program?  While there may be differences in authority, leadership is not restricted to the executive director or chair of the board, nor should it be for the sustainability of the organization.   Leadership happens at all levels within an organization.  Everyone, including volunteer managers, has the capacity of becoming a leader. We all have skills which can be enhanced and abilities which can be cultivated. 

 

Some volunteer program managers may not yet perceive themselves as leaders in their organization, but they can be.   In this article, Bailey and Petro provide some self-assessment considerations and tools.

Recruiting volunteers to be the leaders or presidents of their organizations can be a daunting task.  Once there, these leaders take on the role with varying levels of effectiveness.  Given their brief leadership reigns and the unusual circumstances bringing them to the position in the first place, it’s no wonder their success can be haphazard.  Though they may have minimal leadership experience, they are expected to be passionate promoters of their cause, highly visible organizational members, fundraisers extraordinaire, brilliant organizers, and empathetic and encouraging managers.  The volunteers who take on leadership of these organizations must be skilled in working not only with volunteers, but also with paid staff and the general community as well.  This article highlights the need for recognizing the various populations with whom a non-paid leader will interact and offers some advice on making the most of those relationships.

Sabotage!

The very word conjures up images of old war movies – silhouetted black and white figures blowing up railway lines in the midst of the night to prevent enemy advance. Indeed, sabotage is in fact a very real tool of war. Sadly it has also been a tool of some corporations who have used the technique to delay competitor success, while some individuals also deliberately sabotage the lives of their colleagues, families and even themselves in some bizarre notion of personal victory.

Sabotage is also at work within the volunteering sector. It is not too difficult to find volunteer administrators who, through poor work practices or a lack of a true understanding of their role, are unwittingly sabotaging their own volunteer programs. This results in a weakening of the value of volunteering in the eyes of their line managers, program volunteers, and the general public, as well as an undermining of the whole profession.

Martin Cowling warns us to be aware of the five 'lethal factors' of sabotage that can easily sneak into our management practices, describes how to confront them, and suggests how to deal with each in a decisive manner.

One of the least-researched areas of volunteer involvement in the United States is that of ethnic volunteering. Hispanic volunteering, in particular, has received much less attention than it deserves considering the vast increase in size and importance of the Hispanic population of the United States.

This qualitative study, by Safrit and Lopez, is one of the few efforts to examine Hispanic reactions to volunteering.

The refrain is heard time and time again in the groups and organizations of modern society. Schools have been crying out for ages about the shortage of math and science teachers. Corporations have been wailing about the lack of skilled workers. Community issues go un-addressed for lack of passionate people. There is a leadership crisis; a volunteer crisis, a "can't find the person I need when I need them" crisis. Why such a shortage of people?

Yet people increasingly ask us, "Why aren't there more leaders?" Why are people reluctant to answer the cry for leadership? ... We believe this cautiousness results not from a lack of courage or competence but from outdated notions about leadership. (Kouzes, Posner. The Leadership Challenge)