Anatomy of Nonprofit Leadership: Part 2

This is the second article in my “Anatomy of Nonprofit Leadership'' series. The idea of using the body as a metaphor for leadership came to me when I was invited to share insights with a group of women leaders in London last fall. While I find the metaphor fitting, I’m also keenly aware that every body is different, and full usage of each of the body parts I mention may not be available to every reader; while I bring my own bodily experience to this writing, I do believe that the lessons I share can be relevant to everyone. Read part 1 of this series, all about Leadership Brain.

"I look; morning to night I am never done with looking. Looking I mean not just standing around, but standing around as though with your arms open.” - Mary Oliver

What we see, and how we see, is essential to our leadership in the nonprofit sector, and to the impact we are able to have.?

Thinking of “seeing” as a leader likely brings to mind the idea of having vision, but the eyes of leadership are about more than being visionary. In fact, I think we tend to overemphasize the importance of “vision” to effective leadership. In my experience, people aren’t waiting for me to have “the” vision — they’re waiting for me to have “a” vision, for this organization, at this moment in time. So then, if I’m not talking about being visionary, what DO I mean when I talk about the importance of what and how a leader sees?

For one thing, as leaders, we must be clear-eyed about the purpose and priorities of our role; this clarity becomes a filter for decision-making (e.g., how to spend our time, and what conversations we do and do not need to be part of), while enabling other leaders to stay clear on their own purpose and priorities.?

At the nonprofit executive director or CEO level, that means being clear that this job requires fundraising and board management. If you don’t like those things, then no matter what other gifts you bring to the table, this role is likely not for you. (Incidentally, for those earlier in their nonprofit careers, if you think you might ever wish to serve in an executive director capacity, my advice is to find opportunities to learn the art and science of fundraising, even if it doesn’t seem like it’s your area of focus and, also, to get exposure to board work.)

It’s also so important that, as leaders, we be able to toggle between seeing things through the lens of our experience, and seeing things with fresh, unencumbered eyes. After all, no situation is the same; nothing you’re encountering is exactly what you’ve encountered before. Imagine you have a pair of glasses that let you see with experience; often, it serves you to wear these glasses, but sometimes, it’s essential that you take them off in order to see a situation afresh.?

For example, I’ve led or helped implement strategic plans for three different organizations. I know the motions, and yet, to be effective, I still need to remain open to new inputs; I need to remind myself, “The last time you went through a similar process, it was in a different organization.” I need to ask, “What is here that is unique to learn and absorb?”

In other words: As a leader, your job is to know what you know, and also, to continue to learn. Never lose your curiosity. Curiosity helps us see things from multiple points of view, which is essential to having empathy —?which, in turn, is essential to equity. Even when you can’t “know” how someone else sees things, you can ask yourself, “How close can I come to inhabiting their point of view?”. For example, when I had jury duty earlier this year, it was clear that the defendant made a mistake —?and, I could see that she did so within the context of a system that is unjust, inequitable, racist, anti-poor, and anti-feminist. As leaders, being able to see the individual on their own terms, while also seeing the larger systemic context within which they operate, is essential.??

At the end of the day, an effective leader learns to look with their own eyes, without closing themselves off to what others see. This is true on many levels, from how we assess strategic opportunities to the impressions we form of those with whom we interact. At one point in my career, someone told me to “watch out” for a particular executive I would soon be working with. Instead, I met with that executive and I said, “We are starting fresh today. Me and you. I’m not reading your old file unless I need to; we will build our own file together.” At the end of the day, different people work differently with different people, and we need to see those we work with — from employees to external partners — through our own eyes, first and foremost.

Last but absolutely not least, it is our job as nonprofit leaders to bear witness to those our organizations were created to support. It’s a moral imperative, as well as a practical necessity. At USA for UNHCR , for example, my effectiveness as CEO is severely limited if the refugees and displaced people our agency exists to protect and partner with remain characters in stories I consume, or worse, abstract concepts; I need to witness their lives first-hand in order to have the information and perspective required to lead this organization well.?

Tell me: What do you see? What are other ways that nonprofit leaders use our metaphorical eyes? What advice would you give to someone earlier in their career about how to develop their “leadership eyes”? Share your thoughts in the comments — I’d love to hear from you.