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| Walking into uncertain times |
Employer surveys over the past four decades document the growing emphasis upon those “soft” skills: communication, dependability, tenacity. In fact, the transformation is now so complete that basic technical skills requirement no longer rank in the top five of what employers seek. As one Director explains, “I can teach them what they need to do a good job, but they need those soft skills like persistence in order to do a great job and add real value to this organization.”
Now comes new
data which suggests that leaders’ priorities in this area are changing in
important ways. Whether it is corporate
or nonprofit, ‘creativity’ is identified as the emerging critical competency
for the successful enterprise of the future.
That's
creativity—not administrative skill, passion or even dedication. In the midst
of an era of economic limits where we are entering an age of austerity, this
indicates an intriguing shift in attitude.
As business models for nonprofits change, the threat to traditional nonprofit
captains is titanic. Retrenchment of
government budgets, private household debt burdens, the expansion of venture
philanthropy, an emerging legal framework for public benefit corporations all
represent fundamental DNA challenges to traditional nonprofits. Uncertainty is confronting today’s ED, many
of who now sense a large gap between the
level of change coming at them and the ability of their staff to deal with it.
This is why The
New Executive Director views creativity as the essential leadership asset that
must permeate an enterprise.
Might As Well Break Your Business Model Before The World
Does It For You
The Great
Recession has shaken many of the assumptions held by those in charge. Since
half of the EDs in America are 55 and older, this means the majority of our
leaders cut their management teeth back in the 70s and early 80s, an age which
valued basic administrative skill and virtually ignored creative
leadership. When you consider that 40%
of human service nonprofits still conduct client intake via pen and paper, you
get a sense that even before the recession we were a few decades behind the
curve.
It’s not the
technical hardware we’re talking about, but the interconnected mindeset. Most nonprofits just use technology to
digitize existing systems, sometimes described as ‘paving the cowpaths’. Today
the world is massively interconnected—economically, socially, and
politically—and operating as a system of systems. For too many Directors, the
answer is that their stakeholders are plugged into their individual social
networks, but not to the nonprofit. So what does this look like for The New Nonprofit?
Against that
backdrop of interconnection, interdependency, and complexity, an
entrepreneurial generation of nonprofit leaders are emphasizing fresh thinking
and continuous innovation at all levels of the organization. The New Executive
Directors are seizing upon creativity as the necessary element for nonprofits
get nimble, reinvent themselves and thus remain relevant players in the funding
and service community.
So you’re
looking for creative talent and innovative thinking. What does this do for the nonprofit?
• Question
your status quo. Every organization has legacy programs that are sacred
cows. Often the need to perpetuate the ‘success’ of these products inhibits creativity
within the organization and thus leaving exciting new options open for other
nonprofits to advance competing innovations.
The New Executive Director understands that new revenues will have to
come from new sources, and thus be open to break with existing assumptions,
methods, and even traditional services.
• Rethink your business model. Directors who prioritize creativity as a
need in their staff are more likely to pursue innovation by changing their
business model. In an age of accelerating change, they surround themselves with
talent that can think on their feet and not wait for direction from the laborious
traditional strategy/planning sessions so beloved these past few decades. Strategic Thinking matters more than
Strategic Planning. The New Executive
Director builds staff capacity to favor continuous, rapid-fire shifts and
adjustments to their business models.
• Destroy your
institutional lethargy. The New Executive Director will not await certainty…nor
near certainty. Nor will they tolerate it in their staff. Creative leaders will develop a team that
fights the institutional urge to wait for completeness, clarity, and stability
before making decisions. This takes a
combination of vision, strategic awareness and gut level confidence. Also
required is strong analytical skills to sift through mountains of data and
decide what is relevant. These talents drive decision making that is faster,
more precise, and even more predictable.
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| Any questions? |
The New
Executive Director must create a culture which is far more transparent and
entrepreneurial. The New Culture is infused with the belief that the changing
economy is an opportunity, not a threat. The New Nonprofit understands that
risk is to be managed, not avoided. The New Executive Director has the ability to
build creative enterprises with fluid business models, not absolute ones.
Something
significant is happening to the American economy and to the nonprofit sector.
In response to powerful external pressures and the opportunities that accompany
them, The New Executive Directors are redefining the job. They are showing the
rest of us that a world of increasing complexity will give rise to a new
generation of leaders that make creativity the path forward for successful
enterprises.