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8 Core Responsibilities for Strong Leaders

By  Zack Bodner
February 5, 2019

When you’re leading a team ―whether at a massive organization, a small start-up, or within a department at a nonprofit ―it’s easy to become distracted by the day-to-day minutiae and forget where you should be focusing your time and energy. However, a strong leader focuses on high-level responsibilities and delegates the rest.

These eight core responsibilities ―creating the acronym Scaffold―will allow you to manage your time and energy, thus empowering your team to do the rest.

Strategy. The first responsibility for a great leader is the ability to create a high-level plan of action that will achieve your desired goals. Strategic planning and execution often take place over a long period, which means you will need to spend much of your time thinking about tomorrow while your operators spend the bulk of their time thinking about today.

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When you’re leading a team ―whether at a massive organization, a small start-up, or within a department at a nonprofit ―it’s easy to become distracted by the day-to-day minutiae and forget where you should be focusing your time and energy. However, a strong leader focuses on high-level responsibilities and delegates the rest.

These eight core responsibilities ―creating the acronym Scaffold―will allow you to manage your time and energy, thus empowering your team to do the rest.

Strategy. The first responsibility for a great leader is the ability to create a high-level plan of action that will achieve your desired goals. Strategic planning and execution often take place over a long period, which means you will need to spend much of your time thinking about tomorrow while your operators spend the bulk of their time thinking about today.

Culture. You need to determine the customs, environment, and behavior characteristics you want your team to embody. For instance, you may want to build a culture of shared leadership, where each person feels like he or she has the autonomy to make decisions and take risks, or you may want a culture where there are tighter controls and every decision must go through a manager. You may want to have a flat organization, where there are few reporting lines, little bureaucracy, and an open-door policy at the highest levels, or you may want to create a stringent hierarchy where following the chain of command is important. The leader sets the tone and continuously reinforces standards by setting expectations, serving as a role model, and ensuring everyone else is following along.

Architecture. What will the org chart look like? Who will report to whom? How many direct reports will you have? How many separate groups, teams, or departments will exist? Who will attend which staff meetings and how often will they occur? This is the architecture of an organization, and it’s your responsibility to build it. That doesn’t mean it needs to be static. You can shift people around, try new reporting structures, and experiment with different types of staff meetings, just as you might build an addition onto your home or construct a remodel. Ultimately, though, you are the designer of the building.

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Focus. Focus on the priorities. Keep the team on track, aspiring toward the organization’s grander vision, implementing the mission, and putting values into operation. This starts at the top. You must stay focused; do not distract yourself. If you are scattershot, always chasing the next great idea, it makes it difficult for staff members to stay focused on goals. If part of your mission is to experiment and pilot new ideas, be sure to differentiate between things you consider “innovation” and work that is core to the mission.

Forecasting. All good leaders need to have some ability to forecast the future. Your vision will determine where your organization is going. You need to have a sense of what your industry will look like in the future, how your product should evolve to address future challenges, and how the market will respond to changes. It’s impossible to perfectly predict the future, but a good leader has a clear sense of her destination and sells stakeholders on that vision.

Oversight. A smart leader knows how to differentiate among overseeing the “why,” the “what,” and the “how.” Striking the right balance between overseeing progress toward achieving your goals versus watching day-to-day progress is crucial. Depending on the size of your operation, you will determine whether you should be watching weekly reports or quarterly key performance indicators. The key is to oversee progress toward achieving your mission, and that’s what your stakeholders are counting on.

Leadership Development. Developing leadership involves two groups of people. First, you must keep your current leaders ―board of directors, funders, key staff, and other stakeholders ―informed. This means providing honest, constructive feedback and seeking the same from them. Second, it means cultivating the next generation of leaders ―donors, middle managers, your board pipeline ― who will make a difference in your operation. Great leaders ensure an enterprise can live on after them.

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Development. You can hire the best fundraisers, but at the end of the day, you are the top fundraiser. You are responsible for the biggest prospects, the most important donors, or the largest grant makers. You often will need to make an important pitch or close a big gift. Someone on your team may own the account, but, in your donors’ minds, you are their point person. So, you should always be available to them, too.

Focus on these eight responsibilities to stay free from unnecessary work and empower your staff members to achieve success.

Zack Bodner is chief executive officer of the Oshman Family Jewish Community Center.

Read other items in this Essential Advice for Nonprofit Chief Executives package.
We welcome your thoughts and questions about this article. Please email the editors or submit a letter for publication.
Executive Leadership
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