Case Study - The Making of a Leader
This New York City based non-profit provides an essential community development service by helping aspiring and established entrepreneurs flourish and gain a foothold in their industry. Consumers of this non-profit's services receive business support at a subsidized rate for three years, long enough to become established businesses in their own right. They also receive other benefits, including business training and coaching.
This non-profit is accountable to the entrepreneurs it serves, the organizations that provide them with grants, and the city based governing body that oversees the non-profit. The good news is that it has successfully received grant funding to maintain its operations, and the organization enjoys a close relationship with a prestigious university. Unfortunately, poor leadership left the organization in disarray and created a poisonous atmosphere for the entrepreneurs that need strong guidance and leadership.
To help right the ship, a key staffer of the non-profit, the current Executive Director, was promoted to rebuild and grow the organization. Although the Executive Director was eager to help, she questioned her ability to leap from doer to orchestrator.
The ABEL Adviser Identifies 4 Challenges
- Leadership Ability Doubted: Motivated to achieve the success she knew was possible, the Executive Director was willing to lead the organization, but doubted her ability to do so. It's one thing to be motivated to do your best, but motivating others to do their best is the real test of a leader.
- Poor Relationships within the Community: Without leadership and guidance, relationships between the non-profit and the entrepreneurial clients it supported had deteriorated. Since there was little interaction or collaboration between the companies, there was no feeling of community.
- No Strategy or Direction: Because the organization lacked leadership for quite some time, there was no strategy or plan of action in place for growth or stability.
- Difficulty Letting Go: A common challenge the Executive Director struggled with when she moved from team member to team leader was letting go of some of her old responsibilities. In order to gain the clarity and perspective she needed to make smart decisions and move the organization forward, she needed to do some "soul searching," not only about her own values and beliefs, but also about relationships and how they impact an organization.
ABEL Adviser Solutions
- Unleashing the Leader Within: Working one-on-one with the ABEL adviser, the first step was to make sure the Executive Director had a deep understanding of how the non-profit operated to produce, deliver, support and maintain its services. By documenting the business operations, the Executive Director was able to see which areas needed immediate attention. So she would gain confidence in her leadership skills and her commonsense approach to decision making, the ABEL adviser helped her create a personal development plan so she could successfully lead the organization and grow with it.
- Rebuilding a Broken Community: So the entrepreneurial clients would feel a sense of pride and feed off one another's success, the original goal of the non-profit was to foster a sense of community. Instead, the clients felt isolated. To overcome the isolation and reignite community spirit, the ABEL adviser worked with the Executive Director to create a plan of action that included professional training, coaching, and networking events for the resident businesses.
- Identifying Goals and Creating Action Steps: After identifying four major goals to stabilize and grow the organization, the ABEL adviser worked with the Executive Director and her team to develop a strategic plan with action steps and milestones to track the progress of each goal.
- Focusing on the Bigger Picture: Once the Executive Director pictured herself as the conductor of the orchestra-as a leader who is familiar with all of the musical pieces and responsible for the orchestra's tempo and dynamics-she started to let go of the day-to-day activities she performed prior to taking on the role of Executive Director. As relationships among the organization's clients improved, so did the overall sense of community. Seeing that teamwork leads to success, the businesses were more willing to collaborate and support one another. By creating a positive work environment, the Executive Director was able to focus on the bigger picture. She finally realized that a strong leader is not responsible for doing everything, but for seeing that each member of the organization plays a role in carrying out the overall vision.
Results
With more confident leadership, this non-profit is growing, thriving, and vibrant. Now, everyone involved with the organization wants to be a part of its success. Knowing that she needs to inspire and unify the community, the Executive Director and her team effectively communicate the vision and goals of the organization, as well as the strategies to reach the goals. The entrepreneurial clients supported by the non-profit are following the organization's model as they plan and execute their own growth strategies with plenty of community support.
