The Neck and the Heart of a Leader

Everyone is a leader. We all have the capacity to influence others. These skills, like the body, work together to makeup who you are as a leader. Each of us has a little of all of these skill sets, but, none of us is a master at all of them. The series covers all of the body parts below. This article addresses the Neck and the Heart of a Leader.

Eyes:See the vision; see the future in the present

Ears: Listen carefully to what the needs are, and act

Nose: Sniff out opportunities, build relationships

Mouth: Your organizations voice, communication

Neck: Don't be a stiff neck, be flexible

Heart: Value driven mission

Shoulders: Bear the responsibility, coping

Brain:Thinking clearly, thinking strategically

Hands: Be a servant leader

Legs: Walk the talk, be congruent

Stomach: Guts, courage, risk taking

Neck

How stiff is your organization's neck? At the turn of the 20^th century, information was doubling every 20 years. Now, at the turn of the 21^st century, information is doubling every 20 days. Flexibility is one of the key skills of an excellent leader. Necks turn left, right, up, down, but they don't spend a lot of time looking back.

Flexibility is demonstrated by the ability to let go of old actions, beliefs, patterns and services and move toward new ones that better meet the identified needs of your stakeholders. One of the best resources that I have found lately is the Spencer Johnson Book, Who Moved My Cheese? The short story parable is about mice and little people who are searching for cheese in a maze that learn interesting lessons about change. One of the little people writes his learning's on the wall of the maze. Two of my favorite learning's on the wall are: Movement in a new direction leads you to new cheese. And, Old beliefs do not lead you to new cheese.

Another significant trend that requires flexibility is that of non-profit collaboratives and partnerships. Non-profits are simply being asked to deliver more service for less money. Funders are asking organizations to pool their resources and respond to unmet needs in strategic alliances and collaborative ventures. The merging of two or more organizations toward a common goal is challenging and requires much flexibility and patience.

Peter Senge, in The Fifth Discipline describes the skill of flexibility as "Balancing Advocacy and Inquiry" Are you listening to the needs of your partners (Inquiry) at least as much as you are sharing your needs (Advocacy)? To do this in a balanced way, the leader must have a sensitivity to the agendas, needs, external forces, etc. that are bearing upon the partnering organization. How do these issues relate to our agenda, needs, external forces, etc? Win/Win solutions can only be determined when both parties have found their common ground. Too often, partners focus on their differences, rather than their commonalities. This can become a trap that blocks potential opportunities.

Consider your organization's flexibility by answering these questions:

1. Are the services that you are providing the same services that you have been providing for years, or are they new services that have required new skills to deliver?

2. Are you currently partnering with other organizations so that you can collectively meet a need that you could not meet alone? What win/win opportunities could you pursue that you aren't currently pursuing now?

3. Does your leadership team practice a healthy balance of advocacy and inquiry?

Heart

The best lead organizations have a strong sense of their guiding values. These values are at the core of their organizational missions and truly guide the organizations. While change is tenacious, the core values of the organization should be stable and consistent.

This is harder that you may think. We are nonprofit organizations. We want our organizations to espouse every value known to humanity. But, it is so powerful to really know that one value, above all others, is at the core of our organizational existence. If your organization's guiding value is self-sufficiency, for example, then you should not spend time creating services to help people apply for welfare. Instead, create services and programs that remove the barriers to dependency, i.e.: employment, job skills, mental health services, and other support network services.

The truly value-guided, mission-driven organization is not guilty of chasing after money, but is planful about the opportunities they pursue or create for themselves. Simply stating the value at the bottom of the organizational stationary is not enough to be considered a value-driven organization. Leadership must spend time defining the value and its implications, considering the value in decision-making, communicating the value both internally and externally. The value must be a part of the organization's identity.

Built to Last: Successful Habits of Visionary Companies by James Collins and Jerry Porras identifies that truly exceptional companies are distinguished by their deeply rooted values. One of the interesting points made in this book is regarding the charismatic leader. Collins dispels the myth that a charismatic leader is necessary for a great organization. To the contrary, he points out that charisma in a leader can sometimes be a stumbling block, because the staff are more inclined to step back and let the leader do all the thinking for them. The values endure longer than the leader. They provide the guideposts for leadership and allow for consistent decision-making.

Consider these questions when assessing the health of your organization's heart:

1. Do you know and can you articulate the to guiding value(s) of your organization? Would your co-leaders answer the question similarly?

2. Do the staff and stakeholders know what your organization's guiding value(s) are? How do they know? What is the evidence?

3. Do you make decisions on behalf of the organization using your value(s) as a guide?

Check out Part 4; The Shoulders and Brain of a Leader.

I hope that this series has been a helpful filter for you as you examine your strengths and weaknesses as a leader. If you didn't catch the rest of the articles, here is a brief overview of what they covered:

Part 1: The Eyes and Ears of a Leader
Part 2: The Nose and Mouth of a Leader
Part 3: The Neck and Heart of a Leader
Part 4: The Shoulders and Brain of a Leader
Part 5: The Hands, Legs and Stomach of a Leader