We Have Always Done It That Way

Organizations are hierarchical, and associations are no exception. As membership organizations, a hierarchy is unavoidable. There are thousands of members, but you can only have so many on the Board. Authority cannot be distributed evenly, so structures are created to hold that authority, giving the small number of people in those positions the ability to wield the authority.

But we do not refer to it as authority. We call it leadership. Most associations refer to “volunteer leadership” when they are speaking of the specific positions of authority and decision making power that they have created for members (Board, committees, etc.). On the staff side, “the leadership” refers to the CEO and, if the organization is large enough, the senior management team. These people get the title of leadership simply because they have authority to make decisions, commit resources, and tell other people what to do.

There is nothing wrong with authority, but it is not the same as leadership. I would challenge association executives to actually develop a clear definition of leadership (it is one of those words whose meaning is assumed, but never made explicit). In order to get you thinking, I will provide a definition of leadership given by management guru Peter Senge (author of The Fifth Discipline):

Leadership is the capacity in the human community to shape the future.

Senge broadens the definition by referring to the “human community” but you can replace those words with smaller systems, like “your association.” Leadership is a capacity that exists throughout the system, not just in the positions of authority. While your positions of authority are important, they are only a small slice of leadership in your association. Think about the implications of this.

Leadership development activities on the volunteer side typically include a multi-year journey through task forces, committees, and, eventually the Board. What else can you do with your members to enable them to better help you shape the future? Do they need to meet in person twice a year to do this? Do they need to have been in the association for ten years? What can you do at our annual meeting that develops leaders, but without expecting or promising a tour on the Board?

On the staff side, the same questions apply. What are you doing to develop the leadership capacity of your entry-level employees? Feel free to continue training your authority positions in how best to wield authority, but don’t stop there. Senge mentioned in a lecture recently that nearly all positive, long-term change programs in organizations are created by line managers (not the executive team). The Executive Team has a critical leadership role in making that change happen, of course, but if you want to more effectively shape the future (and get better results), you need to build capacity at all levels.

Tags: The Way We Lead, We've Always Done It That Way //