LLC at Alliance for Nonprofit Management Session: Shared Leadership
Deborah Meehan, Founder and Executive Director at the Leadership Learning Community, partnered with Dahnesh Medora, Director of Programs, TACS/Nonprofit Association of Oregon, and Judy Freiwirth, Psy.D., Principal, Nonprofit Solutions Associates for a session at this year's Alliance for Nonprofit Management Conference. The session was focused on Shared Leadership: Why it Matters and How to Help Nonprofits Get There.
The workshop took place on Friday, October 8th 2010 at 10:30 AM in St Louis.
Presentation
Meeting Notes
Group I. Recommendations about how to get started with a shared leadership model.
- Identify "Why do this". What events or opportunity to enhance the work has brought the group here.
- Walk through power structure and discuss what that means
- Understanding what's currently in place: what is working and what needs to change for shared leadership to happen?
- Create buy in with the staff, board and stakeholders
- Provide training on shared leadership models.
Challenges:
- Concern about who is the main point of contact
- Slower decision making process
- Is the staff ready and capable of shared leadership?
- It involves changes much of the process
Benefits:
- Everyone is engaged
- Increased productivity, morale, buying
- Encourages more input from external stakeholders
- innovative thinking and different perspectives
- Better staff transition and succession
Group II. What culture supports shared leadership?
Different levels
- Organizational culture
- Subgroup culture
- External culture
What we say and do can be two different things. Culture is not always visible
Perception: External stakeholders have different views about shared leadership
Everyone has responsibility for the culture: Create the place you want to work. Ask the question: What do you want this to look like? (process, structures, values, etc.)
Sometimes capacity building will be needed to support shared leadership.
Group III: What structures do you need for shared leadership?
- Communication: within a the group and to the board
- Documentation: electronic. Be clear what repsonse you need, what info is required for a decision
- Evaluation: 360 and board, report to different people
- Roles/responsibilities: where are the boundaries, what is solo and what is collective? Is there something else?
- Big picture checkin: who is the point person, know when you need meetings
- Assessment: determine appropriateness, readiness
- Alignment: align values and mission
- Education:
- Share data, e.g. case studies
- Maintain mission focus
- Cost benefit analysis