Читать книгу Joan Garry's Guide to Nonprofit Leadership - Garry Joan, Joan Garry - Страница 20

Unlike T'Challa (Black Panther) who is clearly a respected leader of his people, Peter Parker is a three‐dimensional teenager — a nerd, an introvert, and an outsider — a sensitive soul who has experienced tragedy and loss. Spidey, on the other hand, owns his brilliance and is all about victory, but both Peter and Spidey share two key things — (a) the importance of the intersection of knowledge and power and (b) a core value to lead a responsible life.

Kim began her job as a board chair deeply insecure about her ability to do a good job (get in line, Kim). She was now in charge of a sizable board filled with some very high‐powered folks. If you spent an hour with this group and someone asked you who the chair was, she would not be your obvious choice. She was not a great public speaker and was intimidated by the resumes of those folks around the table, none of whom, by the way, were willing to step into the leadership role. But Kim knew the organization needed someone dedicated — someone who loved the organization — and really wanted the staff leader to succeed.

Kim's challenge was not to be overrun by the bombastic folks in the room — to establish leadership. But Kim doesn't wear a cape.

In our coaching sessions, Kim and I spoke about where her power comes from. I learned that she was deeply empathetic and had a profound and personal connection to the mission. I also learned that she was smart as hell.

The following shifts helped Kim quite a bit:

 Be the most knowledgeable person in the room. I’m not talking about smarts; I'm talking about the professional aspects of the role of board chair. I begged her to buy Robert's Rules of Order. It is amazing how much respect a board chair can garner when managing a meeting professionally. I also encouraged her to spend time really understanding the nonprofit sector and the complexities and context of the issue the organization was up against.

 Play to Your Strengths. Remember Kim's empathy, remember her introvert tendencies? We devised a regular email from the board chair. It opened with a story about the work or something Kim had learned about the broader context of the work, reminding board members why they serve. Then, she was able to call board members to action. She had put the requests into an emotional and intellectual context.