April 30, 2010

Life is a learning experience, and many nonprofit leaders find that they must learn as they lead.

Jan Masaoka, the former executive director of CompassPoint Nonprofit Services in San Francisco, said that she has learned many things, and she put 9 of them together in a list.

• Note to funders: Give us (unrestricted) money. Give us the chance to experiment, to make mistakes, to sleep at night and to take the time to nurture leaders in our organizations.
  
• The strongest leaders have worked in the fields and have hard as well as soft skills.
  
• Leadership lingo is tolerated by real leaders, but less frequently embraced. Use real language.
  
• Being a woman of color is both an asset and an obstacle to success, and leaders focus on the positive.
  
• When we observe leaders, there’s a lot we don’t know. We want to value both the theoretical insights and life experience.
  
• Over-hiring is a danger both to organizations and to leaders. Some people are in over their heads as managers.
  
• Underestimating young talent is also a danger.
  
• Listen to all the advice, and keep your own counsel.
  
• Fire drills are a fact of life. Stuff happens; it’s how you respond that defines you as a leader.