At the Leadership Learning Community, we are working to promote a metashift in the way that the nonprofit sector thinks about leadership (more inclusive, networked, and collective) to make greater impact on complex challenges. We believe that this change will help support how emerging leaders and innovators are realizing their potential and creating openness for their work and contributions. We recently had an opportunity to engage members of the Global Youth Leadership and Engagement Working Group, a sub-committee of a network of funders working on global health, who wanted to understand the implications of this leadership metashift for emerging leaders. As part of the research for the presentation, we interviewed Ashok Regmi from the International Youth Foundation, who also happens to be an LLC board member. He shared some interesting perspectives from his experience and research conducted by the International Youth Foundation. We wanted to share some of the ideas that we discussed and invite you to add your thoughts to the conversation. We believe that leadership is the process of engaging others to identify and act on behalf of a larger purpose - such as greater equity. This is not exactly a new paradigm but it challenges what has been the dominant paradigm in Western cultures - i.e. the individual heroic model. Some cultures around the world are more collective by nature, such as African and Indigenous cultures, to name a few. We need a much more expansive view of leadership that credits those models and replicates them. Not one individual or organization alone can tackle complex problems. It will take all of us learning to work together in new ways. We need to embrace models that will move us beyond silos and connect our efforts across the systems that are producing today's problems. WHY DOES THIS MATTER NOW?There are several factors that are contributing to the need to collaborate. With increasing global technology and media platforms, people from around the world can organize and form associations to advocate for their work. The Arab Spring is an example of this sort of movement. We are also witnessing a shift in power dynamics because of increased access to information (younger people have more access to information). Lastly, while the business community has embraced unconventional thinking as a means of maintaining a competitive edge, the nonprofit sector has placed a strong emphasis on experience, expertise, and long-term quantifiable results. In the spirit of due diligence, many foundations want to invest in proven strategies and proposals that indicate a level of certainty about what can be delivered. While there is solid logic to this approach, it could be argued that the proven incremental changes are not producing the level of change needed, and that to make significant progress we need to try new strategies - some of which may fail in the pursuit of breakthroughs. The good news is that emerging leaders are investing a lot of energy in bringing more innovation and collaboration to the sector. For example, they are creating hybrid models, instead of registered nonprofits, that allow them to be more agile, as this leader mentions: "I don't see working in a nonprofit as necessary to bringing about social change" (YNPN Survey, 2011). They are also more willing to share failures and learn from them. Emerging leaders achieve a lot with limited resources (mobilizing volunteers, for example). They are reinventing traditional notions of scale - influencing local and national policies, harnessing the power of technology, and partnering with the government and other sectors - to expand the impact of their work. While emerging leaders value the power of collaboration, they often struggle with finding ways to successfully collaborate. As a study conducted by the American Express NGen Fellows Project mentions, "the vast majority of NGeners saw collaboration as necessary for solving the social problem they identified as most important. There is a strong desire to work with people in other sectors, but ignorance of the methods or even of the people to facilitate that cooperation" (2009-2010 American Express NGen Fellows Project). Emerging leaders are also more willing to take risks. As a study conducted by the Building Movement Project suggests, "this generation takes more risks but we're not necessarily supported to do that...we're up to being much more nimble and opportunistic - to be innovative - and we don't necessarily have the support or structure to be able to do that." (Interview with US Emerging Leaders Under 40 by the Building Movement Project) A great example of this experimental approach is Back to the Roots, an organization founded by two emerging leaders who were inspired by the idea of turning waste into fresh food (growing gourmet mushrooms on recycled coffee grounds). They decided to experiment and raise some small funds to create a first prototype. After many trials, they successfully grew one crop of sustainable mushrooms in an old paint bucket. That working prototype was enough to demonstrate their vision and help them create a successful Kickstarter campaign. There is great potential for emerging leaders to lead and innovate, but also a lot of challenges. Primarily, the current structures of the nonprofit sector are not ideal for emerging leaders to fully exercise their leadership and contribute innovations. Emerging leaders are not taking leadership roles in their organizations as much as they could. There are two main reasons why this could be happening: they are not interested and/or they are not supported. The lower pay scale, compared to other sectors, and lack of work-life balance could be a contributing factor. Also, according to a study conducted by the Young Nonprofit Professionals Network, "more often, the jobs (Executive Director positions) do not seem to have the draw or cachet for a new generation of leaders." And once in leadership roles, emerging leaders struggle - according to the YNPN study, they feel unrecognized-almost invisible-to the older generation. Also, they often lack experience and expertise in the more operational aspects of the ED role (i.e. developing the right staff, managing the financial health of the organization).The sector should invest in creating more accessible structures and systems to support these leaders. Some ideas include: PROVIDE PRACTICAL SUPPORTTo support emerging leaders and encourage them to stay in the sector, there are three areas to focus on, according to a study conducted by the International Youth Foundation: * More skills, particularly around developing a business plan * Increased access to networks and resources, particularly to decision makers. * Credibility, working the media to tell their stories. FOCUS ON LONG TERM INVESTMENTA lot of leadership development programs are disappointed when emerging leaders go through their programs and then only stay in their current organizations for a couple of years before leaving. However, it is important to remember that it's about preparing them for a lifelong trajectory. It's a long term investment in the individual. For example, a significant number of the International Youth Foundation's YouthActionNet Fellows eventually assume new roles beyond the organizations they founded, but staying grounded in their social change agendas. An example is Ahmad Alhendawi, a YouthActionNet Fellow who in 2008 worked on engaging Jordanian youth in the development of their country, and is now the United Nations Secretary General's Envoy on Youth.RETHINK FOUNDATION SUPPORTFoundations can play an important role in supporting emerging leaders. A lot of the things that these leaders are working on are experimental but have great potential for innovation, so it would be interesting to look at that as Research and Development for the Social Sector. Investments can support prototyping, capturing data from experiments, and also leadership development for emerging leaders. As a study by YNPN suggests, "funders need to partner with EDs in recognizing that developing top staff and future leaders is actually an investment in sustained program quality and organizational sustainability." As we engaged the working group during the presentation many questions emerged, particularly around supporting innovation and risk taking. We only began to scratch the surface on this topic, and there are many questions that remain. We want to invite you to consider the following and share your thoughts: * What strengths do you believe the next generation of leaders bring to leadership and innovation? * What do you believe are effective ways to support emerging leaders in their efforts to catalyze innovation? WE WILL BE HOSTING A WEBINAR IN THE NEXT FEW MONTHS TO CONTINUE TO EXPLORE THESE IDEAS SO STAY TUNED FOR MORE INFORMATION!"References:" * 2009-2010 American Express NGen Fellows Project -- Final Report, July 2010 * A New Leadership Mindset, Leadership Learning Community, 2009 * Generation Changes and Leadership: Implications for Social Change Organizations, The Hauser Center for Nonprofit Organizations, 2002 * Good in Theory, Problems in Practice: Young professional's views on popular leadership development strategies. 2012 * Leadership and Networks: New Ways of Developing Leadership in a Highly Connected World, Leadership Learning Community, 2012 * Lean Impact Series: 10 Changemakers Using Lean Startup Methods For Greater Social Impact, Beth Kanter, 2013 * Next Generation Organizations: Nine Key Trait, CompassPoint, 2011 * Next Shift: Beyond the Nonprofit Leadership Crisis, Building Movement Project, 2007 * Stepping Up or Stepping Out: A Report on the Readiness of Next Generation Nonprofit Leaders, Young Nonprofit Professionals Network * Vision for Change: a New Wave of Social Justice Leadership, Building Movement Project, 2007 * YouthActionNet Yearly Reports, 2012 and 2013
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