Leadership Development Critical to Nonprofit Sustainability

Nonprofit Quarterly Communicator— May 2012, Issue 2

Empowering Nonprofits Since 1995

LEADERSHIP DEVELOPMENT CRITICAL TO NONPROFIT SUSTAINABILITY

Mission: to help nonprofits achieve their missions by providing high quality, affordable consulting services.

Inside this Edition

Cultivating a talented workforce is mandatory for nonprofit sustainability. Excellence in leadership is the engine that drives a nonprofit, so continually developing your management

CEO’s Letter page 1 Letting Go page 2

team is paramount.

A Dream Realized page 3

As investors become more discriminating and discerning about which nonprofits to fund, staying ahead of the curve is strategically important. Using best practices, developing a blueprint for your agency and using the strengths of each individual in your organization to maximum effectiveness will help you better fulfill your mission.

Soft Skills page 4 Changes Implemented page 5 Meet Our Program Directors page 6

Meet the Team Andrew J. McCreanor CEO/Executive Director andymccreaor@esccincinnati.org Craig Kowalski Director of Operations ckowalski@esccincinnati.org Darlyne Koretos, Editor Director of Marketing/PR

dkoretos@esc-cincinnati.org ESCC was founded in 1995 to provide valuable consulting services to nonprofits that maximize community impact by increasing the overall capacity, efficiency and sustainability of these agencies while maintaining its leadership position in nonprofit best practices 10945 Reed Hartman Highway, Suite 108 Cincinnati, OH 45242 513.791.6230 www.esc-cincinnati.org

Driven by a maturing workforce with little succession planning, increased demand for services and decreased funding, nonprofits must make leadership development a priority to attract and retain talented professionals.

Since 2008, Executive Service Corps of Cincinnati has been developing nonprofit leaders through its Nonprofit Leadership Institute. To date, 75 individuals have passed through the 10-month program taught by a 40-year career educator, Dr. Tom Monaco, and managed by a former marketer, Carol Leigh.

As we prepare for the class of 2012-2013 at the Nonprofit Leadership Institute – which we are always fine tuning to remain vibrant and relevant – we reflect on lives that we have touched and nonprofits we have assisted. As you will read in the following pages, we are very proud to have had a hand in helping to shape promising new leaders for a better community for all.

Sincerely,

Andrew J. McCreanor, CEO/Executive Director

Thanks to our funding partners for their generous support of NLI

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LETTING GO BENEFITS NEW LEADER have much time for ‘leadership’ and only the skills but the confidence to began to feel as though his division take more risks. had stagnated.

“My coach was especially helpful in “The first day of the program Tom putting pencil to paper to mentor (Monaco) asked ‘what’s the me in working out the details of the difference between management new housing program,” he said. and leadership?’ I just never Geoff seemed especially proud of separated the two,” Geoff being able to participate in his commented. “The whole program agency’s strategic planning process, (NLI) was geared toward leadership along with the four other graduates and getting out of the weeds and of the NLI program from his agency. making sure that you’re delegating “For an agency the size of properly and hiring the right staff.” Lighthouse to let us have a stab at Geoff Hollenbach Lighthouse Youth Services

As a result of what he was learning at NLI, Geoff said he was better able to analyze Lighthouse’s programming and make changes.

One change he instituted was in s an experienced social opening a new shelter for 18-24 worker but new to the agency, Geoff Hollenbach, year old youth. Another change was one of three division directors was in instituting a new program for Permanent Support Housing for at Lighthouse Youth Services to come through Nonprofit Leadership homeless youth that not only gave them a place to live but helped Institute in 2010. His colleagues had been with Lighthouse for years them work through any mental health issues and take steps to and Geoff felt he was behind the curve. With the three programs he becoming self sufficient. He credits the NLI program for giving him not was supervising, he said he didn’t

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(the strategic plan) I thought was wonderful and that would never have happened if we didn’t have the experience gained from NLI.”

Geoff makes a point during Collaborations workshop in 2009 NLI class session.

“I think Geoff learned to delegate from his experience (with NLI) so that he could take on new challenges. And I can’t think of a more valuable lesson, as it freed up Geoff to think bigger and allowed other people that he trusted in the program to take on new tasks. It became a win-win situation because the staff felt more empowered and it gave Geoff an opportunity to really focus on a brand new large project.”

Jean Sepate – Vice President, Chief Operating Officer, Lighthouse Youth Services

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Core Values

Commitment

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Professionalism

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A DREAM REALIZED

N

icole Ware is a woman who knows what she wants and recognizes tools that will help her get there.

When she heard about NLI (in 2007) she already knew she wanted to be in a leadership position. And this new program really spoke to her.

“My career preparations to become an executive director coincided with this new program offering. I really loved the fact that it was open to emerging leaders and not just executive directors.”

Nicole points to three distinct benefits she derived from the “I’m a discriminating person,” program: the subject matter taught Nicole said, “and there are a lot of in the workshops, the coaching and career options available. I assessed the interaction with her peers in the the program to see if this was really program. “We were generating going to be of value to me and ideas in the class to help a decided it would be. colleague with a challenge at her agency and I was able to come up with a few ideas. What I learned from that is you feed off the brainstorming. Having the opportunity to problem solve with other leaders about common issues not only helps them but helps me, as well.”

Nicole (second from left) and other NLI participants during an NLI brain storming session in 2008.

January 1, 2012, Nicole Ware became Executive Director for Emanuel Community Center. “I was looking for an organization that needed a change agent. When I

Nicole Ware Emanuel Community Center

looked at Emanuel’s mission about creating shared neighborhood experiences, I realized their mission mirrors my personal and professional passion. And I wanted to build upon the momentum that Karyl Cunningham had already made.”

“Nicole is very motivated and she’s a good student – very reflective and has good follow through and

implementation skills. After completing the (NLI) course she had more tools and more guidelines to be able to channel her energy and hone in on what she was looking for. At the time, she would seek me out for guidance and coaching on how to be more people oriented. I’m pretty confident that now that she’s in a leadership role she is applying some of that.”

Beth Smith, Former President, Cincinnati Works

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Accountability

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Growth

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Collaboration

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FORMER BUSINESS LEADER GAINS SOFT SKILLS

As he moved into his new role, Roger said he found certain things were done differently in a nonprofit and certain things were the same.

Sometimes he found he had to adapt his approach. “Not having the education, the support, the coaching and the training in the nonprofit culture sometimes can lead you to be uncertain of yourself or not confident,” Roger commented.

new things. You have to be open to that.

“You work hard but at the end of the day you’re working for an agency that is helping serve people in the community,” he concluded.

As Roger prepares to graduate from Roger Rosenberger NLI in June 2012 he said he feels LifePoint Solutions much more confident in his ability to know how to best help his agency and know when he should push fter spending 25 years with ahead in the face of concern and when to adjust his approach.

Cincinnati Bell in Finance and serving on the board “Sometimes it’s very humbling of LifePoint Solutions as Treasurer because you go into a new for several years, Roger environment and realize how much Roger shares his valuable business Rosenberger was asked to join the you don’t know and how much you insights and experience with the 2012 staff of the agency as CFO. class of NLI. have to unlearn so you can learn

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“When a person transitions from a for profit to a nonprofit organization, there is sometimes a perception of it being easier because you don’t have the pressure of achieving financial profits and a return on investments to the shareholders. That drive to increase profits affects work habits and work styles. What Roger has found in the nonprofit world is that social change and client change are the drivers. You’re motivated because you want to do good but yet you need good business principles to thrive as an agency. He now embraces the nonprofit culture while never giving up on desirable quality and financial outcomes.”

Arlene T. Herman, CEO, Life Point Solutions

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Core Values

Commitment

•

Professionalism

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EXHUBERANT LEADER IMPLEMENTS CHANGES

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he long-time executive director of Norwood Service League, Lupe Gonzales Hoyt, sometimes runs her thoughts together as she expresses appreciation for what she learned from NLI. Her recollections come tumbling out as she recalls all the changes she has instituted at her agency since graduating in 2010. A few of these changes include 

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Hiring a new executive assistant to free her from the day-to-day details of running the organization.

“I have such a global view of things,” Hoyt said, “and I was  zooming down on such minor detail that I said I have to go back up and fly.”

Giving her small staff of four more freedom and flexibility to use those  skills they are best suited for.

“That’s one of the things I learned about through Emotional Intelligence (one of the tools used at NLI.) That validated my gut feeling about searching the treasure within each person and I  have found multiple skills within

each person,” Hoyt said.

Increasing the number of volunteers from 12 to 20 and adding a volunteer appreciation luncheon.

Reducing the agency’s utility costs from $17,000 to $6,000 by hiring a consultant. “The financial management portion (of NLI) helped me with forecasting expenses and . . . reallocating funds that weren’t used, Lupe said.”

Lupe A. González Hoyt Norwood Service League income, single mothers get off welfare.

“I found smarter ways of working, not harder,” Hoyt said of her experience through NLI. “I had been working hard and getting poor results. Now I’m working smarter.

It’s almost like using a microwave – efficient and it does all the work.”

Initiating a new program called Project Bootstrap to help low

“(After attending NLI) Lupe started thinking outside the box about other ways to raise funds and to relate to the community. If you cannot relate to your community, people don’t want to give you money.

“The other difference I noticed was in Lupe’s conscious deliberation about when and with whom to collaborate that would be beneficial to us and keep us on target for what our mission is.”

Casey Brown, Board Member and former Chair, Norwood Service League

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Accountability

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Growth

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Collaboration

MEET THE NLI PROGRAM LEADERS

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Thomas G. Monaco, Ph.D., Co-Program Director, NLI

om Monaco’s passion for teaching soon becomes evident after first meeting him. It is no accident that he has been leading the Nonprofit Leadership Institute since its inception in 2008. After retiring from his position as Head of the Upper School at Summit Country Day , Tom joined ESCC and immediately began co-directing the institute.

What Tom says he appreciates most about NLI is that it’s a growth program. It has evolved and changed in direct proportion to the feedback they receive from participants each year.

Aside from the learning participants gain in the workshops and in their individual coaching sessions, the single top benefit Monaco said he sees is an increase in the participant’s confidence level. “We had a mid-manager of a large agency with 15 years’ experience come through the program ,” Tom said. “She had the topic knowledge but always hung back and wasn’t sure she wanted to be an executive director. By the time she graduated, she said she felt ready to lead an organization. That growth,” he said, “she attributes to the sum total of NLI sessions that built her confidence.

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arol Leigh has been co-managing the NLI program since its inception in 2008. She’s seen a lot of change in that time.

“When we first offered the program, we were an unknown quantity and a few people were hesitant to join,” she said. Over time, however, the word has gotten out about how well the program Carol Hunt Leigh, works and attendance has been Co-Program Director, NLI steady. “What’s impressed me over the years,” Carol said, “is the quality of people who come through the program. The professionalism, the energy and the passion continue to grow, year after year.

“The people out there are hearing about the program and they want to participate to improve. Corporations have always had professional development. Nonprofits, however, do not have that in their budgets so it’s very hard for them.

Because NLI is so affordable we’ve made it easy for them to do that.”

The ability to share information with one another is a key factor to the success of the program, according to Leigh.

“What (the participants) say in a workshop or with their coach is confidential. To be able to safely share information and to get feedback from others is very important. A lot of the participants really don’t have anyone to share their concerns with. If you’re an executive director, the only people you can talk with are those who work for you or the board. It’s not exactly an objective venue.”

“Those of us who teach with a passion do so because we love to learn and we just assume everyone else will love it, too,” Tom continued. “You learn in connection to whom you are and what you’re doing. Learning is all about teaching in In addition to her perception and insight, Leigh says “What I context. The best math teachers teach math in the context bring to the table is the detail orientation – making sure that of how math will be used. Who cares about geometry. But everything gets done on time and within budget.” if you can apply geometry – the problem solving and the analytics --that’s cool.

“I also love watching learning take place. After 45 years of teaching I can actually see it on people’s faces. One of the joys of teaching is knowing that people are gaining by what you’re sharing with them. And that’s a huge kick for most of us who teach.”

SIGN UP FOR NLI TODAY! Visit our website to learn more about the program:

http://www.esc-cincinnati.org/?page=NLDI