leading today, transforming tomorrow: cultivating the leader within

Leading Today, Transforming Tomorrow:

Cultivating the Leader Within

Nikki Russell

Volunteer Initiatives Manager

United Way of King County

Explorations of Leadership

Exploring our identity in the 21st Century

Understanding leadershipAppreciating leadership roleCultivating the leader within

What’s In a Name

Volunteer Coordinator?

Volunteer Manager?

Volunteer Resource Manager?

Defining the Role of the VRM

What is our role in the nonprofit/ public sector?

An Image of Ourselves

Volunteering Today

Today Yesterday

• Greater variety• Greater

sophistication• Increased liability• More people

volunteering • High Expectations• partner

• Fewer Opportunities• Simple Tasks• Liability not a

concern• People volunteering

more time• Low Expectations• subordinate

From Collective to Reflexive Volunteering…

Collective VolunteeringCollective action throughmembership in nonprofits,clubs, churches, etc.

Reflexive VolunteeringReflexive (self-referential)action, based on individualinterests, motivations andneeds. Hustinx and Lammertyn, 2003

What Are the Implications?

Then Now

Management

Recruitment

Placement

Supervision

Performance Review

Recognition

Engagement

Cultivation

Negotiation

Support

Performance Measurement

Acknowledgement

Shifting Our Paradigm

Position-centered

Person-centered

Metaphor

The Machine The Team

Redefining Your Role

Small Group Exercise: Shifting Our Paradigm

Come up with a 21st Century title and description of the “volunteer program manager”

Leaders of Volunteer Engagement

we lead the way to effective 21st Century volunteer involvement

Leadership Vs Management

What is the different between our role as managers and our role as leaders?

Is there a difference?

Our Role as Managers

• Managing tasks and people assigned to those tasks

• Processing and Monitoring Information• Monitoring Internal and External

Environments• Allocating resources according to the

goals of the organization

Our Role as Leaders

Organizational Leadership:

The ability of an individual to influence, motivate, and enable others to contribute toward the effectiveness and success of the organizations of which they are members

Leadership Vs. Management

Complementary but different

Manager LeaderTasksGetting things doneCompliancePositional power

People centeredbuilding commitment and motivationInfluencePersonal power

The Ability to Influence

Suggests Power

What Kind of Power?

Exploring Leadership

Leadership: a form of social power

The ability to influence people in favorable ways to engage in behaviors they would not probably do on their own (in the absence of a leader)

Types of Power

Positional Power Derives from hierarchical position or professional designation.

Personal Power Associated with the characteristics of individuals rather than the characteristics of the position occupied

Sources of Power

Positional:• Legitimate (decision-making power tied to position)• Reward (ability to define salary and benefits)• Coercive (ability to penalize)• Informative (controlling the diffusion of information)

Personal:• Expert Power (perception of knowledge)• Referent power (affection or admiration)

Power and LeadershipPositional power is about compliance

Management predominately employs positional power

Personal power engenders commitment through influence

Leadership = the ability to influence people in favorable ways.

Leadership Implies Trust and Relationship

Leaders require followers who trust and accept the full influence of leaders

This is different from subordinate: Someone who occupies a specific hierarchical position in the organization who may or may not be under the influence of a leader

Our Role As Leaders…

To help staff and volunteers understand…

the central goals of the organization,

how the actions of volunteers contribute to such objectives, and

what individual and collective benefits result from volunteer engagement

As Leaders of Volunteer Engagement

We Build Organizational:CommitmentCapacityCompetency

Betty Stallings’ Thoughts on the Position of the Leader of Volunteer Engagement

Effective Leaders

Build trust and commitment by…fostering self-efficacy and providing

the means for successful attainment of performance

clarifying the linkage between performance and individual and collective reward

A New Image of Ourselves

Group Sketch The 21st Century

Leader of Volunteer Engagement

Born to Lead??

People are not born leaders.

People must cultivate/ hone leadership skills and traits

Being a leader is a journey

Leadership Skills

Key Leadership CharacteristicsHonesty - Display sincerity, integrity, and candor in all your actions. Competent - Your actions should be based on reason and moral principles. Visionary- Set goals and have a vision of the future. The vision must be owned

throughout the organization. Effective leaders envision what they want and how to get it. They habitually pick priorities stemming from their basic values.

Inspiring - Display confidence in all that you do. Take charge when necessary. Intelligent - Read, study, and seek challenging assignments. Fair-minded - Display empathy by being sensitive to the feelings, values,

interests, and well-being of others. Broad-minded - Seek out diversity. Courageous - Have the perseverance to accomplish a goal, regardless of the

seemingly insurmountable obstacles. Straightforward - Use sound judgment to make good decisions at the right time. Imaginative - Show creativity by thinking of new and better goals, ideas, and

solutions to problems. Be innovative!

Cultivating the Leader in You

Embark on the Leadership Journey• Read about leadership• Learn from people of influence

Recognize and tap your personal power• Expert Power – be knowledgeable and

informed• Build relationships of trust

Cultivating the Leader in You

What steps can you take to cultivate the leader in you?

Leading the Way

Leadership is not about position. We all have the capacity and the responsibility to

lead

Cultivate leadership and become truly effective in your volunteer engagement

role.

Leading Volunteer Engagement

The first responsibility of a leader is to define reality

The last is to say “Thank You”

In between,

The leader is servant