Leadership

Leaders of volunteers often feel pressured to know the right responses or to solve all the problems presented to them. In this Training Designs article, Sue Jones challenges this perception. Jones asks volunteer leaders to consider the value of supporting individuals and helping them self-identify their own solutions, and then reflect on what they learn from their volunteering experiences.

According to Jones, the volunteer field can benefit from techniques used in the coaching field, which emphasize the use of insightful questions and focus on listening rather than telling or explaining. Jones shares examples of how leaders of volunteers might adapt these techniques in working with volunteers. She describes some of the key skills required in this reflective practice approach, and provides practical tips to help volunteer leaders start and practice this questioning approach.

It was one of those moments in time that starts a movement – a movement to increase the recognition and support given to Managers of Volunteers. In this feature article, author Claire Teal of Volunteering New Zealand explains how the movement got started at a 2009 National Volunteering conference, what has happened over the past two and a half years, and why she is excited about what she calls a “work in progress.” Teal explains that “VNZ is on target to launch both the competencies and best practice guidelines before the close of 2012,” two exciting accomplishments that will certainly be important to Managers of Volunteers world-wide. 

On behalf of Osteoporosis Canada, volunteerism consultant Suzanne Lawson recently convened a telephone conference call that included Linda Graff, Marilyn MacKenzie, Susan J. Ellis and representatives of Osteoporosis Canada. These accomplished volunteer management experts proceeded to discuss how multi-level organizations are adapting to current trends in volunteer engagement and how the local level of "action" can best be structured. The call was recorded. This Keyboard Roundtable offers a lively exchange of that conversation, which covered such questions as:

• How are local chapters (or whatever people call them these days) succeeding or failing to bring new volunteers to a national cause?
• Do chapters tend to support established volunteers in their work - but not newcomers?
• Are there any new models for connecting volunteers at the local level to the activities of the organization - doing the work with engaged volunteers "around" a chapter structure or "instead" of it?
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Despite the prevalence of small nonprofits and all-volunteer organizations, training for leaders of volunteers is often geared towards the full-time volunteer manager working in a large organization.  While most training is valuable to volunteer managers in all sizes of organizations, this common focus does not give the leaders of volunteers in small organizations a chance to explore the challenges when volunteers are responsible for most of the work and staff resources are slim to nonexistent.  How to insure follow-up? How to avoid burn out? How to bring in new members? 

This Training Design is offered with small nonprofits and organizations in mind.  It is designed specifically to be delivered by volunteer centers, nonprofit management centers, academic programs and trainers/consultants who wish to meet the needs of volunteer leaders in small nonprofits, community-based groups and other informal all-volunteer organizations. It will provide participants with an opportunity to address common challenges, share ideas and learn practical tips to maximize their success through volunteers.

Have you ever wondered what grantmakers and foundations look for when considering whether or not to give money to your group? In this excerpt from the new book, Grassroots Philanthropy: Field Notes of a Maverick Grantmaker, leading philanthropist Bill Somerville and writer Fred Setterberg take you behind the scenes and describe how the search for outstanding people often drives the process, and explain why it should. Somerville outlines how he defines “outstanding” people, and reveals what grantmakers should look for in nonprofit leaders. You’ll want fundraisers in your community to think like this!

With its insights into fundraising and its application to volunteer management,
e-Volunteerism readers will no doubt find this article both interesting and valuable. Consider how a search for outstanding people might affect your volunteer recruitment goals. 

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.