Leadership Development in Non-Profits (or the lack thereof)

February 14, 2011

By Kimberly Bell

Hello again and for the final time.  As promised, I spent some time researching the efficacy of leadership development in non-profit organizations and what I found was that quite simply, not a lot of leadership development is being done in non-profits.  These organizations are typically service-oriented and what little money is available is put into programmatic needs or general operating funds.  It is difficult to focus on succession planning when an organization is unsure of its future.  However, I would assert that just like a for-profit company, a non-profit is more likely to survive difficult financial times with a strong leader at its helm.  If non-profits are to survive the current economic crisis, they have to start thinking more like for-profits in many ways, including how they grow their leadership.

This idea is supported by such organizations as the Annie E. Casey Foundation who studied the lack of non-profit leadership development in 2008, and indicated in their report “Ready to Lead” that as much as one-third of all non-profit leaders are hired from outside of the organization.  With all the talent that exists within an organization, it seems a waste not to develop leadership potential from within.  A leader from the outside not only has the technical learning curve to face, but the cultural learning curve as well.   Developing someone who already has a working knowledge of the organization and a dedication to its mission seems common-sense to me.

However, as a psychologist with a direct service background, I will admit that not all of us are born to be both service providers and leaders.  Many direct service folks might not even want to lead the organization because of the distance it puts between them and their clients.  But, I believe that if they knew how much of a benefit it was to the capacity building of the organization, and if they saw that the agency was willing to invest in building their skills as leaders, more of them would step up to the plate.

The PRADCO leadership development program is ideal for these situations.  The research I read shows that most of the qualities of a good non-profit leader are the same as for-profit leaders.  They need to have a sense of vision, strategic thinking skills, a focus on customer service, strong interpersonal skills, the ability to motivate and strong ethical principles.  This sounds like a lot of the service-oriented people I know.  Taking PRADCO leadership indexes can help point out strengths that maybe the typical service provider doesn’t even know they have and identify the key areas that would need to be developed, or adjusted to become a strong leader.  In the end, it is an investment in the present to build a stronger organization in the future and one that I don’t think agencies can afford to overlook in today’s climate.

Well, it has been a pleasure to write these last few blogs and I appreciate those that have taken the time to read them.  I look forward to reading the blogs to follow that will be written by another newcomer to PRADCO, Alissa.  I am sure you will enjoy her thoughts as much as I know I will.

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The Effectiveness of Leadership Coaching on the Bottom Line

January 31, 2011

By Kimberly Bell

Hello again! As I said I would, I have done some reading and thinking about leadership training and the impact that an investment in coaching for executives can have on the bottom line for a company.  I am very excited to share with you what I have come up with, so let me start with some information I found on a for-profit organization involved in a study with PRADCO regarding the effectiveness of our coaching process. 

A major utility company enlisted PRADCO to work with several of their managers to improve their leadership skills specifically in the areas of innovation and strategic thinking. The managers worked with a PRADCO coach for 14 months with meetings every six weeks. To give you an example of the kind of impact that leadership coaching can have, let me share a sample of the results obtained by describing the impact of just one of the managers.  He and his coach assessed his strengths and challenges, worked together to develop his ability to think out-of-the-box, and developed action plans to bring his ideas to life.  As a result, he developed a new strategy to improve a production transition phase that typically shut down production for multiple days.  His new approach allowed the transition to take place faster, more efficiently and eventually got to the point where the transition could occur with no loss of production time at all. This led to a total measureable savings and increased profit to the company of $2,374,200.  That number represents a 1,980% return on the investment in the cost of coaching.

So, the potential value of leadership coaching in a for-profit setting seems very clear and relatively easy to calculate. Further, if one executive can have the impact on an organization that this one did, imagine the ripple effect that having multiple managers working at optimal levels of leadership can have on the bottom line of the organization.

However, for me a question still remains unanswered. How do we measure the impact that leadership coaching has on a non-profit organization?  Well I have some ideas about that too, but since I am out of space that will have to be the topic of yet another blog.  Once again, thank you for taking the time to read these musings and feel free to leave comments or questions.

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Supporting The Success Of New Leadership

January 20, 2011

By Kimberly Bell

As I said in my introduction, being new to PRADCO I have been spending time thinking about how I can apply my previous knowledge and experience to this new adventure. One of the areas that I am most interested in is leadership development.  I have spent the last several years training new psychologists and coaching them through their first few years as professionals in the field.  My job was to make sure that they were ready to be out on their own and to give them the best start possible toward a successful career.  But here I am at what most might call the midpoint of my career taking a new step and am on the receiving end of coaching.  I have been so appreciative of the time and effort that the staff at PRADCO has invested in making my transition into this field as successful as possible.  In case anyone was wondering, yes PRADCO uses its assessments with its own employees.  We practice what we preach.

But how does this all relate to leadership?  Well, as I was doing some reading to stimulate my thinking, I came across a rather surprising statistic.  It stated that 40 percent of new leaders fail in the first 18 months on the job.  This got me asking a lot of questions.  How many of those new leaders were properly assessed and interviewed?  How many of them came from within the company and were promoted based on their level of technical skill without consideration of their leadership potential?  How many of them were brought in for their success in another company, but were given no early help in acclimating to the culture of their new job?

This, I believe, is where leadership coaching comes in.  A new leader needs support regardless of their previous level of experience.  As with any new employee, it takes time to find one’s niche, to find the ways to be most successful in your new position.  We often forget that new executives are still new employees. They simply have more responsibility right from the get go and we expect great things from them in a very short amount of time.  The leadership coaching at PRADCO helps an executive evaluate their strengths and identifies areas for development.  Action planning meetings focus on creating objective and measureable goals.  Well timed retesting, with the input of both upper management and direct reports, supplies real life, real time feedback on progress. 

How much time and money could be saved, and how much of a decrease in the 40 percent failure rate could be achieved with the investment in the support of new leaders?  Let’s find out.  I am going to do a little more research and next week write in more detail about how leadership coaching can answer these questions.  Thanks for taking the time to read and as I continue pondering all of this, I would love to have some discussion about it so feel free to leave comments.

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Meet Kimberly Bell

January 6, 2011

Tell us a little about yourself and your role at PRADCO.

January is a time for new beginnings, so I imagine it is appropriate for someone brand new to PRADCO to be writing her first ever blog post.

I joined PRADCO one month and three days ago as a Management Consultant, which means I am spending my time learning the ropes, the corporate culture and completing pre-employment assessments.  I look forward to engaging in many more areas of our organization and getting to know our client base in the coming weeks and months. Beyond that, I hope to help expand PRADCO’s presence in the non-profit world, specifically in the areas of child services and healthcare.

Prior to joining PRADCO, I was a Clinical Psychologist specializing in developmental psychology.  I wore many hats in this role including direct service, teaching, non-profit management, and consultation to other non-profit agencies. Most recently, I was the Director of Training and the outpatient Co-Director at a local child services agency. I know all too well the challenges that non-profits face in the current economic climate and how well served these agencies would be by the consultation that PRADCO offers.

What do you like best about your job?

Being new to a job is not typically what people like best; however, I find it to be a time of infinite possibilities. I thoroughly enjoy finding new ways to apply my clinical background to enhance the development of individuals (and organizations) at all different stages of growth and change.  I can also say that the culture at PRADCO is supportive and inviting which is so important when taking on a new challenge in your career.

Tell us something about yourself that even your co-workers don’t know.

I am sure there are many things that my co-workers do not know about me yet, and I could probably get away with writing something very mundane and safe, but that seems a bit unfair having read their introductions.  So, I will share something more obscure.  My first real exposure to corporate culture occurred when I was in high school.  You see, as part of my involvement in the theater, I was a professional Mime.  Yes that is correct, a Mime that was actually paid to entertain mostly at children’s parties and festivals until one day when our troupe was hired to perform in a series of training films for the Bendix Corporation.  I don’t recall the content, but I remember being impressed at the lengths corporations would go to engage their employees.  I can’t report on how successful that approach was, but I sure would like to meet the consultant who made the suggestion.

What is your favorite travel destination?

I am pretty easy to please travel-wise and prefer a tent to most hotels.  However, my favorite place to go and really relax would be in Northern Michigan.  The northern Great Lakes are clear and beautiful.  The woods are filled with Birch trees and the air is pure and fresh.  There is a drive down the Lake Michigan coast from around Mackinaw City heading south called the Tunnel of Trees that is breathtaking.   This is a trip I never tire of and highly recommend to anyone.  Oh, and make sure you hit Traverse City while you are there if you enjoy sand dunes and pristine inland lakes.

What are you currently working on?

Well, certainly I am working on gaining a mastery of the many assessments and services that PRADCO offers.  However, as I settle in, I hope to also find new and interesting ways to integrate my background into potentially new ideas and directions for the agency, as well as to get involved in developing our client base, as I said, infinite possibilities.  I look forward to blogging this month and hope that my musings inspire discussion and insights.

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