Attracting, Selecting, and Empowering Appropriate Volunteer Leaders

I think we’ve found ourselves a problem. Non-profit organizations are finding it more and more difficult to attract their most respected, qualified leadership candidates while the leaders who accept these responsibilities find themselves frequently overwhelmed by the tasks given to them.

How can this be!

Primarily because the old system of contested elections based on popularity and the demands of today’s business world are not producing enough qualified leaders to meet the needs of most non-profits. Popularity, as significant an issue as it may be, has little to do with enabling an individual to be an effective association leader. Running or managing a good company or business does not prepare an individual for the duties of leadership. The size and complexity of non-profit management, board politics, the constraints of non-profits, spokesman and chairing responsibilities, and the many other requirements imposed on organizational leaders are not always considered.

So what is the solution to this predicament? Associations should and must allow uncontested slates or “nominations from the floor” and they should work diligently to identify the most qualified candidates from among committee members and industry and profession leaders. For the sake of the organization’s success this identification process, typically delegated to a nominating committee, must be clarified through specific selection criteria. The selection criteria must be appropriate, broadly supported, and explicit in order to discover the most qualified, competent candidates.

But having detailed, precise selection criteria is only half of the need. The role and structure of the nominating committee must also be reviewed. Once the committee is selected (via election or otherwise) providing the nominating committee with a clear direction for the search reduces the chance for oversight and mix-ups. A well informed, representative, and trusted nominating committee can be the key to selecting great volunteer leaders.

Even with the revamp of leadership selection criteria and methods, we need to orient and equip most leaders to perform the unfamiliar tasks they inherit. No longer are associations simply clubs or social groups. Organizations require volunteer leaders to have knowledge and skills they are not likely to have acquired in their previous work experience. Orientation to the unique requirements of leading a nonprofit organization is now a necessity and the final step in modern leadership identification, selection and empowerment.

So go get yourself a great nominating committee, provide them with specific criteria for selecting leaders, and orient your leaders with effective training to empower them to lead your non-profit where it needs to go.