If You Are A Leader, Prepare To Feel Like a Piñata

My hunch is that you have encountered a piñata at a birthday party at some point.  It's an exciting time for children to swing a stick/bat/broomstick at this donkey-looking concoction that's (hopefully) filled with candy.  

The fun is great for the kids, but the adults are hoping and praying that the stick hits the piñata, not another kid, lamp, window, Grandma, etc.  I'm also guessing the donkey is not overly happy to be hit by all these people.  (Disclaimer:  I know the donkey is not alive or a real donkey.  If you encounter a real donkey being hit by children with a stick looking for candy, please get in touch with the local authorities immediately!)

Travel Engagements

When you are a leader or director of an NFP organization, chances are you’ll be travelling. Often. Typically, these trips will often be work-related, and rarely for your pleasure unless you’re taking a family trip during your break from work. Travelling by plane can cause severe sluggishness and throw your thought process off track when you need to be at the top of your game. When your board of directors, employees, funders, etc., need you, you must be available, alert, and ready to resume work. Imagine you are in the banking industry on leave to New York for an investor roadshow, or the director of a high-end fashion company in Milan for the next fashion week, you’re going to have an immense amount of work on your plate.

As a director for an NFP organization, there will be many days when you will feel like that piñata.  Let me explain.

As the leader of an NFP, you are faced with many tasks and many stakeholders. All of these stakeholders have the best interests of the NFP in mind when they ask you questions, give advice, etc.

There's nothing wrong with a community member offering suggestions on how the organization could improve its offerings. But when you hear them from a variety of different individuals with different roles/connection points to the organization, it can become overwhelming if you're not prepared.

Here's a list (likely not complete) of who will want your time:

Board of Directors

The board has a mandate to govern the organization.  In most NFPs, the board hires one employee:  the executive director (aka you). So they're your boss(es). In a well-governed organization, you will have one boss to report to, and this is often the chair of the board.  You'll want to know this up-front before starting/accepting the role, so ask to see their current by-laws before accepting.  If they don't, I would ask why and think long and hard about accepting this role.

Even with "one" boss, you still report to the board at the board meetings, Annual General Meeting (AGM), and various board subcommittee meetings.  Yes, meetings.  Meetings are life.  That should be printed on a t-shirt—# NotReally.

The board will ask you for a variety of items, and there will be the occasional (hopefully rare) situation where a FOTB (Friend of the Board) will make some comment about the level of service they experienced or their displeasure with the paint color that was selected for the customer waiting room. Yes, that happens.

Yet, it is fair to say that the board has its limitations, too, and these need to be measured by board reviews. Ultimately, it is the best way to determine how effective your director board is. Here’s the thing, though:” An ineffective board will systematically affect what you can do as a leader. No matter how much you know your stuff. 

Believe it or not, many boards have no idea how to conduct proper board reviews, which means they might hinder your leadership without realizing it. That’s where you want to work with professional, external review mechanisms. 

Employees

You should have consistent dialogue with your employees, but a percentage of employees will be frequent fliers to your office.  There are many reasons for this so that I won't list them here, but these employees will take up some time.  Please do your best to address their issues promptly so you can get back to them about why the board hired you.

Funders

Remember how you hated (ok, maybe intensely disliked) preparing reports for school?  Well, the NFP sector loves them some reports.  Funders (whether organizations or the Government) will want an accounting of what you did with their money.   They'll let you know if they don't like how you spend their donations.

Customers

Customers pay you, or at least that's what the customer service training I received years ago mentioned.  In reality, it's correct, but it's through either the customers buying your services or through their tax dollars.  And if you encounter an unhappy customer, you'll hear about their tax dollars.

Community Partners

Partnerships are a pain.  You're trying to figure out how to "share resources" without impacting your organization.  It's the equivalent of bringing an open bag of chips to a potluck luncheon.  

Family & Friends

When you're the new director, juggling all the demands of running an NFP, you may be required to work long hours.  Your friends and family will not be happy with this long term, so be prepared for them to get up in your grill if you're nowhere to be found.