Summer is a time when many will hit the easy button. The end of the year seems far off. This is about the time when complacency sets in and where you've likely become the most complacent is—with people. I have always said that nonprofits never lack money. Money is plentiful, and the access to it is people. The order of the day is leadership --> people --> money. Everything begins with leadership.
The first thing to know about humans is they always think they're in trouble. If you ask them a question, they're trying to give you the right answer to avoid getting into trouble. This comes from public school. What it has produced is adults who hide, avoid, cover things up, pretend, and wear a mask of sorts.
The cornerstone of getting the best out of staff and volunteers is what I call "weird ways." They're little mechanisms, tests, tactics, and experiments to see how people think, work, act, respond, and behave. I love doing it because it invites a richness of conversation and a multitude of invitations to communicate honestly.
I have four tenets I live by as a leader when interacting with both staff and volunteers.
Always open: I have an open-door policy. My office is a conversation space rather than a correction space.
Spontaneous timing: Conversations with me are spontaneous rather than planned. Giving someone 2-3 days’ notice about meeting means they will fill that time with worry.
Human first, issue second: Take on a way of being that makes you safe to interact with and safe to tell the truth.
Extend an invitation: Every conversation is ongoing because there is learning for them. It's never just one meeting that solves an issue. I always create an invitation for another time to meet and talk so they know I'm here.
And here is the clincher. This is what ultimately causes money to flow via people. It's the keys to the kingdom:
1) Get them to ENGAGE
2) Get them to DEAL
3) Get them to FOLLOW THROUGH on what they say they are willing to do
This should be easy, right? It's not. The one thing human beings avoid doing is dealing:
Dealing with the situation (whatever it is).
Dealing with the reality of it.
Dealing with what is directly in front of them - and doing it without delays, without excuses, without stories.
This is what I'll call the impossible task, and it's why most people who call themselves leaders simply don't do it. Getting a human being to engage, deal, and follow through is some of the most challenging work there is.
How do you do it?
Open the door to DEAL. First, understand you cannot force anyone to deal with anything. Your job as a leader is to open the door for them to deal. It's up to them if they want to walk through it. Still, you must open that door.
Only say what you are doing. As a leader, don't dream out loud or make guesses about what you think you're going to do. If you make empty promises, you’ll have an organization full of people who dream without doing. Then you’ll wonder why there’s no money.
Embrace flexibility. One of my staff liked sitting on the floor with no shoes under a blanket to do her work. I could've put her in an upright swivel chair behind an oak desk and expected creativity, or embrace that she had another method. If they deliver what you agreed on and what is needed, it hardly matters how they get there.
Tackle ant hills strategically. What happens to leaders is every situation is an ant infestation. You can see the ants, but don't run and get a bunch of traps. Don't let the ants take you off your game. Decide what you take on, and in what order. Don't let the ants decide for you.
Check in the right way. It's human nature to give a directive and check in near the outcome. Instead, check in on a small but manageable piece of the project they can speak to.
Example: "How did you find the right social media channels? How's it going so far?" Something vague (but important) like this reveals where your staff are in their deliverables. If the first thing you hear is an excuse about why something hasn't been done, the project is off track and you need to confront it.
Look out for jargon. It's how people hide, and how people avoid confronting reality. Staff and volunteers who use jargon are not engaging, not dealing, and definitely not following through. Examples of common jargon: "I'm using the best practices from our company manual," "I did my due diligence," "I'm trying to drill down to...", etc.
Staff and volunteers who don't engage, deal, and follow through are giant barriers to money. They must eventually be removed. If you're the one who isn't dealing, your staff and volunteers are mirroring that. It’s time for you to deal, too.
Sheree Allison merges the worlds of fundraising, marketing, and leadership combined with an entrepreneurial spirit to train and develop nonprofit leaders who are committed to building a world class organization. Check out her book “The Non Profit Book of Wisdom - One Executive Director Who Couldn’t Be Swayed” and her weekly column at www.shereeallison.com.
