Self-Evaluation and Initial Considerations

Nonprofit Leadership

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Leadership 

Drawing wisdom from your life experiences and recognizing your knowledge gaps are essential first steps in leadership. To build a strong foundation, it's advisable to operate within your strengths while assembling a team that complements your abilities. Acknowledging your need for expert assistance and avoiding overestimation of your knowledge are signs of wisdom. Effective leadership in the nonprofit sector requires a thoughtful approach. It's essential to strike a balance between risk aversion and the willingness to launch new opportunities. Developing a network of peers can provide valuable insights and a platform for testing ideas. Seek advisors with diverse strengths and consider coaching for all levels of employment to foster personal and organizational growth. Continuous learning and growth in leadership, management, and ministry skills are fundamental.

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Self-Care

Self-care, mentorship, and personal development plans are non-negotiable elements for sustainable leadership. Efficient time allocation and comprehensive planning are key to maintaining personal health and organization momentum across all areas of the nonprofit's work. Make sure to delegate tasks that others can do to provide time for you to give thought to more critical topics that only you, as the leader, can address.

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Spiritual Care 

A profound faith in your calling from God, coupled with trust in His provision, serves as an unwavering anchor in the challenges of nonprofit leadership. Reflect on your theological and spiritual motivations and be prepared to prayerfully navigate transitions as conditions evolve. Attend to the spiritual and physical needs of your staff, recognizing that soul care is essential. Leading with love, rooted in faith, and guided by Biblical principles will strengthen your nonprofit's impact and reputation. Avoid judgment when serving others and approach tough decisions with a business acumen that aligns with your mission and Christian faith.

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Risk Management

When embarking on the journey of leading a nonprofit, it's vital to be aware of the various risks involved. These risks encompass organizational, financial, reputation, legal, and regulatory aspects. See Chapter 12 – Legal Protection & Insurance for more detail on managing risks. Additionally, it's crucial to consider the potential need for change management. Unforeseen internal problems or shifts in the external environment can necessitate adaptive work protocols to ensure the nonprofit's sustainability and success. 

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Cultivating a Healthy Work Environment

Cultural dynamics within your nonprofit are a vital part for organizational health and productivity. Your actions and values set the tone for the workplace. It's essential to understand that "culture eats strategy for lunch." The organization's culture plays a pivotal role as it ultimately dictates the success of your strategies. Respect for employees, recognition of their contributions, clear work boundaries, and effective leadership all contribute to a positive, respectful, and healthy culture. This provides motivation of employees, enhances longevity, and elevates the quality of their work and productivity. Cultivate an inclusive, welcoming, and safe organizational culture that fosters collaboration and belonging.

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Work-Life Balance:

Leaders should model work-life balance not only for their well-being, but also to set a crucial example for their staff. Prioritizing their self-care, along with the well-being of their marriage and family, should take precedence over the organization's mission. Consider dedicating regular time for reflection, prayer, and planning to maintain this balance effectively.

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Leadership and Organizational Strategy

Nonprofit leaders play a pivotal role in setting the direction and strategy for their organizations. Maintain an ongoing evaluation process that considers both internal workflow and the external environment. Tools like SWOT analysis (Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities, and Threats) can help identify underlying causes, not just surface-level symptoms.

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Church Leadership

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1. Balancing Ministry and Business

Leading a church's business aspects from the senior pastor's chair can be challenging. Pastors should acquire knowledge in people management and understanding balance sheets and profit/loss statements. Seminaries should consider including classes that cover these topics in pastoral training. It's common for pastors to find themselves spending a significant portion of their time managing the business side of the church, even when their training is primarily theological. 

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2. Leveraging Strengths

Pastors often excel in areas such as communication/preaching, counseling, care, and teaching. To address financial matters effectively, pastors should identify strong business leaders within their congregation who can provide expertise in this area.

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3. Caution in Adopting Trends

Pastors should exercise caution when considering the adoption of the latest congregation trends. It's essential to ensure that these trends align with the specific context, the congregation's expertise, and the characteristics of the church's facility. 

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Example:  One creative initiative involved selling some of the church’s property. This resulted in a substantial cash surplus. The congregation decided to hold a contest, awarding approximately $250,000 to Christian nonprofits led by young leaders under the age of 40. Congregation members, including lawyers, accountants, business leaders, and others, volunteered their time to coach these nonprofits. The initiative engaged congregation members with Christian nonprofits sharing their gifts and talents while strengthening the nonprofit for more impactful ministry. The project’s success led them to a repeat the effort. However, the second time did not go as well. It is crucial to recognize when it's time to conclude any initiative, as initial enthusiasm and participation may fade over time.

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4. Investing in Personnel

For most congregations, personnel expenses constitute a significant portion of the budget, often around 70%. It's advisable to allocate sufficient resources to pay qualified individuals competitive salaries. This approach not only attracts top talent, but it also can infuse new energy into the congregation when new staff members are onboarded.

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5. Financial Transparency

It is recommended that pastors avoid knowing the specific donation amounts from individual members of the congregation. Such knowledge can inadvertently lead to favoritism or undue influence in decision-making. A church should be viewed as a place for investment, not a charity. Endowments should be approached cautiously, as they may create a perception that all members are not needed, or that new members are not necessary. Endowments are best suited for specific purposes like building maintenance.

Podcasts

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• Craig Groeschel started Leadership Podcasts. There are numerous episodes that will help you build a strong leadership foundation and learn practical ways to influence your leaders, manage your time wisely, and improve how you communicate. 

• “3 Keys to Sharpen Your Leadership” https://info.life.church/threekeys
• Leadership Traits https://www.craiggroeschel.com/leadershippodcast 

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Websites

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• The Nonprofit Association of Oregon has the following helpful articles:

1. Executive Director/CEO Role

2. Nonprofit Culture, Teams & Meetings

3. Succession Planning/Executive Transition

4. Succession Planning Toolkits

5. Diversity, Equity & Inclusion (DEI)

6. DEI Asset Framing

7. Equity Audit Tools

https://nonprofitoregon.org/pp/leadership 

• Prosper Strategies has several articles on planning and leading. 
• How to involve your board in strategic planning and other big decisions.
• How to engage your stakeholders without fostering a consensus culture.
• How to find the right nonprofit consultant.
• How to embed core values in your nonprofit’s culture, once and for all.

How to manage change.

• Emerging Leaders having certain characteristics and are eligible for a grant from We Raise Foundation. We Raise invests in leaders and their programs when they are getting started to have a catalytic impact on both the program and the kind of leader that person will become. https://weraise.org/what-we-do/grant-information/emerging-leader-grants/ 
• Faith & Leadership – A learning resource for Christian leaders and their institutions from Leadership Education at Duke Divinity. https://faithandleadership.com/christian-leadership#menuOpen 
• Minnesota Council of Nonprofits has an article on leadership and organizational culture. https://www.minnesotanonprofits.org/resources-tools/principles-practices-for-nonprofit-excellence/leadership-and-organizational-culture 
• Prosper Strategies helps leaders stay informed about the latest trends, nonprofit news, and information in the sector. Leaders can read traditional nonprofit news outlets, blogs and other consultants’ websites as they compile several nonprofit news sources that you can follow. https://prosper-strategies.com/nonprofit-news/ 
• Exponential is a church planting network that holds annual conferences where mission focused leaders gather to share, learn, and encourage one another. The website has many resources including books, articles, and tools https://exponential.org/ 
• Fresh Expressions helps pastors and leaders equip their church to incorporate outreach to reach more people for Christ. Fresh Expressions makes space for denominational leaders and pastors to use both traditional services as well as innovative forms of church to live out Christ’s mission. Check out the books, podcasts, articles, and trainings on outreach, church planting, and much more. https://freshexpressions.com/about 
• Discovering Your Gifts by Lutheran Hour Ministries is a free gifts survey. https://everygift.org/ 

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Books

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• The 6 Types of Working Genius: A Better Way to Understand Your Gifts, Your Frustrations, and Your Team by Patrick M. Lencioni.
• StrengthsFinder 2.0 by Gallup
• SWOT Analysis by Alan Sarsby 
• The SWOT Analysis: A key tool for developing your business strategy (Management & Marketing) by 50 MINUTES
• Developing the Leader Within You by John Maxwell. This is his first leadership book and one of his best. You don’t develop as a leader accidentally. You develop intentionally.
• Great by Choice: Uncertainty, Chaos, and Luck--Why Some Thrive Despite Them All by Jim Collins and Morten T. Hansen
• First, Break All the Rules: What the World’s Greatest Managers Do Differently by Marcus Buckingham & Curt Coffman. What sets great leaders apart? Gallup’s research on 80,000 managers shows what they have in common: non-traditional mindsets that make them great.
• Good to Great by Jim Collins. How to transform an organization on an “okay” trajectory to achieve lasting success.
• 12: The Elements of Great Managing by Gallup & James K. Harter Ph.D
• The Leadership Challenge: How to Make Extraordinary Things Happen in Organizations by James M. Kouzes & Barry Z. Posner. Motivational leaders push you to do more, but inspirational leaders pull your best out of you. If you want your organization to thrive, you have a very specific role to fill. This book will help you pull extraordinary results and growth out of your team.
• Never Split the Difference: Negotiating as If Your Life Depended On It by Chris Voss & Tahl Raz. As a leader, train yourself never to gripe about what you allow. Never complain about something you tolerate. You are the leader—lead to the desired result. Learn how to tactfully approach every leadership conversation.
• Predictable Success: Getting Your Organization on the Growth Track--and Keeping It There by Les McKeown. Goals don’t determine success. Systems determine success. But if you have too many systems, they’ll eventually drag your organization down. This book shows you how to bring sustained, lasting, predictable success to your organization by maintaining the right balance of systems and flexibility.
• The 4 Disciplines of Execution: Revised and Updated: Achieving Your Wildly Important Goals by Chris McChesney, Sean Covey, & Jim Huling. Small disciplines done consistently lead to big results over time. This book helps you lead your team into a rhythm of disciplined accountability. When you get in this rhythm, you’ll be surprised by how much you’re able to get done.
• The Tipping Point: How Little Things Can Make a Big Difference by Malcolm Gladwell. When it comes to getting your product or ideas out there, the goal isn’t just to get it into more hands. It’s to get it into the right hands at the right time.
• The 21 Irrefutable Laws of Leadership: Follow Them and People Will Follow You by John C. Maxwell & Steven R. Covey. According to John, “Times change. Technology marches forward. Cultures vary from place to place. But the true principles of leadership are constant.” Follow these 21 laws, and people will follow your leadership.