The coaching style of leadership requires a significant up-front investment of time, but the results are manifold: stronger longer-term performance, reinforcement of an inclusive culture and psychological safety, and “bottom-line” results in terms of impact.
LOOK AFTER YOURSELF
The risk for any leader, but particularly one new to the role, is that they are so focused on leading the organization that they fail to look after themselves. The job of a nonprofit leader comes with huge pressures. You are always acutely conscious of the responsibility you bear to the mission, to staff, to the community you serve, to your board—to everyone else—and you often forget about the responsibility you have to yourself. But if you don’t look after yourself, you won’t be as effective a leader as you need to be.
Your self-interest in looking after your own well-being is also in the organization’s interest. However, many leaders don’t see it that way and, in fact, believe that leadership requires them to demonstrate granite-like strength and infallibility. But that approach will increase your risk of burnout. In this section, we’ll look at how leadership challenges leaders’ own sense of self, and the steps they can take to better look after themselves.
1. Focus on the Right Things
As we’ve discussed, many nonprofit leaders, particularly first-time CEOs, find it difficult to allocate their time effectively so they can focus on the important issues rather than the seemingly urgent ones that are actually distractions from the core work. Everyone wants the leader’s attention, and it becomes all too easy for the CEO to make decisions on every issue that comes to them, which guarantees everything will continue coming to them whether or not it merits their attention.
Many new CEOs micromanage due to insecurity or lack of experience. A new CEO, feeling overwhelmed by their responsibilities, may find comfort in focusing on tasks and routines they know well, even if these are no longer their responsibility. A former program director, now CEO, may spend too much time on programs because that is familiar and often rewarding work, and they find it more engaging (and less scary) than fundraising, dealing with board members, and handling tricky internal staffing issues (such as firing someone).
The problem is that the CEO is spending time on things better done by others, and not spending time on the issues they should be prioritizing. The result is an overworked CEO who has no time to reflect, and colleagues who are disempowered and unwilling to take responsibility for difficult decisions. As we’ll see in the next chapter, how the CEO behaves has a big influence on the organization’s culture. Overworked CEOs who are pulled in many different directions should also consider the opportunity cost. When you are busy trying to do someone else’s job, you are not devoting enough time to your own. Or you are working far longer and more intensely than you should as you are trying to do two jobs at once, doing neither well, and creating a significantly increased risk of burnout.
CEOs need to be aware of these very natural tendencies and pull back as required. They should ensure issues only come to them for decisions at the right time and level. They should push decisions back down to colleagues who have responsibility for them. A coaching approach to leadership can be beneficial here. Instead of deciding for colleagues, encourage them to take responsibility where appropriate, and support them in doing so. Do this consistently, and you’ll find that fewer issues come to you that should have been dealt with by your subordinates. It’s important to remember that if you make good hiring decisions and feel confident about your team, you should trust colleagues to do their job without hovering over them.
Then, over time, you will find that you have more time to devote to the big issues and decisions you should be focused on, for the better of your organization.
2. Dealing with Loneliness
Leadership is a lonely practice. This can be particularly so for newly promoted CEOs, as their relationship with former colleagues changes from one of peers to one of boss/subordinate. Regardless of your intentions, your colleagues will treat you differently because of your position at the top of the organization’s hierarchy. The gap can be greater or smaller depending on your leadership style, but it’s always there. Many staff find interacting with their CEO stressful, regardless of how approachable you think you are. Staff more often come to you with problems than positive feedback. It’s crucial to maintain awareness of this power dynamic, which is present in every interaction, no matter how approachable or transparent you may seek to be.
Over half the CEOs in one survey reported experiencing feelings of loneliness in their role, and most of those believed it hindered their performance.20 Loneliness is particularly challenging during times of crisis—like a pandemic or in tough financial climates—as you add the challenge of dealing with these crises on top of all the usual CEO worries.
One way to reduce the burden of loneliness is to build a leadership team you can trust, and with whom you can openly discuss concerns. This doesn’t remove the burden of responsibility but will lead to better-informed decisions. Using executive coaching can also help leaders navigate these challenges. Even in the best of times, leaders can benefit from having someone outside their organization to speak to about their worries and hopes; during difficult times, this resource can be invaluable. Given all the demands of leadership, there is a particular benefit in having dedicated time to talk to someone who listens actively and asks incisive questions, to step back from the immediate pressures, to reflect and think.*
I certainly benefited from being coached during the pandemic. In fact, I’ve found the whole practice so helpful that I’ve now completed an executive coaching course myself, and regularly provide pro bono coaching to new nonprofit leaders. The feedback I’ve received from them is that it’s a very helpful practice. And for myself, I find that coaching others educates me as I seek to bring a coaching style to my own leadership.
If coaching seems too structured or otherwise unsuitable, you can seek out a mentor—someone with experience you value who can offer advice. Mentoring is generally seen as more of a top-down process, whereas coaching is—or should be—more of a two-way process. Both have great value.*
Peer groups have been another invaluable resource for me. Some of the most valuable advice I’ve received during my nonprofit career has been from groups of leaders in similar positions. During my time as a chief operating officer, I joined a group of senior operational and advocacy staff from peer organizations and found a trusted environment in which I could openly share challenges, failures, and advice. If something structured doesn’t already exist, you can easily set up a small, informal group of peers. You’ll be surprised at how many other CEOs want a trusted forum for honest discussion and sharing.
3. Mental Health
Nonprofit leadership is stressful at the best of times. Often there is a profound mismatch between what we can achieve and what we feel responsible for. Leaders often feel that the needs of the community they serve are overwhelming, and if only we worked a bit harder and longer, then we could make a bigger difference, and perhaps close the gap. But if you are not careful, that thinking will lead to exhaustion and burnout. So, you need to find a way to keep your commitment and empathy within manageable bounds.
Even when things are going well, you are most likely constantly thinking ahead about potential problems. I know that even when the Freedom Fund is in a very solid position, I’m reflecting on the next big funding renewal (how we can maximize chances of it happening, and what happens if it doesn’t come through); board dynamics at the forthcoming board meeting; how we’ll find high-quality staff in a tight recruitment market; internal processes on diversity, equity, and inclusion, and whether we are making the progress we want; when and how to phase out certain programs at the right time, and the impact that will have on communities we serve and our staff; and then almost invariably back to funding (funding concerns are ever present for most nonprofit CEOs). Your mind is constantly preoccupied with things you or the organization needs to do. And that’s at the best of times. During the tough times, you are probably in a constant state of heightened anxiety—even if it’s not apparent, sometimes even to your conscious self.
In many ways, the CEO has a 24/7 job, because you can’t shut away those concerns and stresses, even if you are highly disciplined about maintaining a healthy work-life balance. That being the case, you need to do a couple of things. The first is to maintain a sense of perspective on the challenges, even during the tough times. And the second is to find ways to help yourself be more mentally resilient and better able to cope with the ever-present pressures.
When it comes to perspective, on several occasions I’ve catastrophized about the consequences of something going wrong at the Freedom Fund, only to find either the situation didn’t occur, or if it did, it didn’t have the consequences I feared it might. A good example is of a big donor unexpectedly cutting all their funding. That happened to us once, with no notice, but fortunately, we had sufficient reserves to manage the transition because we’d been working through budget scenarios and ways to give ourselves a financial buffer against headwinds, even though we hadn’t foreseen this particular situation. And that unhappy experience has been more than balanced by other new donors appearing on the landscape. These days, while I often think about the risks of donors unexpectedly stepping away, I’m now much better at contemplating this in a broad context of the ebb and flow of funding. COVID-19 was out of left field for us, as for everyone else, but thanks to our financial resilience, investments in culture, and ability to rapidly change our approach where needed, we could navigate that particularly tough time.
In terms of building personal mental resilience, it’s hard for me to offer advice. Beyond keeping a healthy perspective on events, you need to focus on your ability to handle stress. That means acknowledging that stress is often present, and it’s normal to feel stress. The worst thing you can do is pretend stress doesn’t exist or impact you. Over the years, I’ve developed my own stress tool kit. This involves exercising regularly, trying (but not always succeeding) to meditate frequently, keeping work hours within check, discussing challenges with my wife, and finding ways to unwind outside of work. You should develop your own tool kit. The challenge is that in times of great stress, maintaining a regular routine becomes harder. When I travel too much, I disrupt my routine, often end up sleeping badly, and don’t do the things I should do to restore some balance, like exercising and meditating.
Sadly, leaders are still seen by many as weak if they admit they are struggling with their mental health. This inhibits them from taking the action they need to get themselves to a better place. I certainly learned this through hard-won experience, including seeing a psychologist during a particularly challenging work and personal time in a previous job. That was one of the best investments I have ever made in my own well-being.
Each leader will have to work out for themselves how to recognize and respond to stress. The best I can tell you is that it’s critically important that you do—otherwise, you will not be as effective a leader as you should be, and you and your organization and mission will suffer as a result.
LEADERSHIP SUCCESSION
One of the most important ways a CEO can serve their organization and its cause is to ensure a smooth transition at the right time to a well-qualified successor, ideally someone who will lead the organization to even greater heights. As a first step, this requires you to leave when the time is right, before your “use-by” date. Many CEOs simply don’t want to leave a job they enjoy, even if they are no longer best placed to lead the organization. Some remain in place because they are nervous about finding a new role. Some can’t contemplate anyone else leading “their” organization. Or they may fear that their successor will overshadow their achievements. Of course, all of this is the antithesis of purpose-driven leadership, which should be squarely focused on advancing the cause you serve and the best interests of the organization—not your ego.
There is no magic number on how many years one should serve as CEO. The metric is qualitative, not quantitative. Relevant considerations include: Is the organization thriving and getting stronger and having ever-greater impact? Are you still energized by the job and cause? Are staff still motivated by your leadership? Do you have the strong support of your board and key donors? For some nonprofits, the sooner the CEO departs, the better. Others have enjoyed remarkable success under long-serving leaders. While the evidence is limited, one study found that, although the average nonprofit CEO tenure is four years, the twelve highest-performing nonprofits identified by the researchers each had a CEO who led the organization for decades.*
Regardless of how effective a CEO is, the longer they serve, the more challenging the succession is likely to be, given that, after enough years, most staff, board members, and funders will only have experienced one leader and one leadership style.
When it comes to transition, there are some best practices to which all organizations should give thought. The first is a succession plan. This doesn’t need to be a detailed written plan. Having a highly capable deputy (or deputies) who is well qualified to lead the organization on an interim basis may suffice. This will enable a comprehensive search for a successor (for which the deputy may well be a candidate) when the time comes. Even better if that deputy has had stints in leading the organization during times when the CEO has been on leave or sabbatical.
Another is to have regular discussions between the CEO and the board chair on your term and succession. The decision for a CEO to leave should never be a surprise—to the board or to the CEO! Far better to have an open discussion and, when the time is right, an agreed-upon succession process. An important part of that process should involve the outgoing CEO handing over key relationships to their successor.
Another consideration is whether, as part of a transition process or otherwise, the organization might benefit from co-CEOs. I’ve never been a fan of these, as there is a risk of discordant leadership, but some evidence suggests that organizations can benefit from such an arrangement, especially as many are looking at alternative leadership and power-sharing structures.21 When done well, such an arrangement may well reduce some of the risks of transition, if one goes while the other remains.
Leading a nonprofit is challenging and rewarding in equal measure, though for a new CEO, the scale will likely tip more toward challenge than reward. Key to getting a better balance is determining which things are most important for you to focus on, and which should be left to others. This requires a hardheaded examination of what serves the organization and its mission best, not what you are most comfortable with or interested in. At the same time as determining your priorities, you need to work out your leadership style, as this will help translate those priorities into progress. And you need to do all of this while finding ways to look after your own well-being so that you are best placed to lead your organization effectively.
Your leadership efforts will be greatly assisted if you have a strong team around you, starting with your leadership team (if you have one) and then the organization as a whole. A priority for every CEO should be investing in their teams. That requires you to build an inclusive and impact-focused culture, and to recruit and retain the right staff, which is what we will turn to next.
CEO ACTION POINTS
Determine Your Priorities and Style
1.Identify your priorities, which should include:
•holding the vision,
•leading on strategy,