The other day I came across an old article by Michael Porter, the guru on competitive business strategy, entitled: “What is Strategy?” It was well worth re-reading.

In defining strategy, Porter talks about doing your work in a unique way—through a unique set of activities. He goes further to say that all those unique activities need to fit together and mutually reinforce each other.

Have you ever thought of your nonprofit’s work in this way?

The ideas take some adaptation to the nonprofit context, but the effort is worth it.

We are in the midst of a generational shift as baby boomer nonprofit leaders retire and younger folks takeover. Everyone is talking about the need for good nonprofit leaders.   And lots of them!

So what makes someone a good nonprofit leader?

Certainly, given the “accidental executive director” phenomenon that leads so many of us to fall into ED jobs, we cannot say great leadership is a result of our lifelong aspiration to lead a nonprofit. Similarly, given our varied backgrounds—we have all known lawyers, social workers, immigrant community leaders, history majors, and plain old college drop outs who have successfully led nonprofits—we cannot say it is our specific preparation or career path.

What about personality style? We have, in our workshops and seminars, administered the Myers Briggs Type Indicator to dozens of nonprofit leaders, and I can tell you that there is no “type” that nonprofit leaders cluster in. We are extreme introverts and extreme extroverts, thinkers and feelers, doers and procrastinators.

So what is it?

Passion for the mission? Yes! But plenty of passionate people still fail (often passionately).

A very practical approach to management? Yes, as well! It is a very practical job: the budget numbers must add up, the services must really meet people’s needs, and the staff must work as a team.

So, yes, a combination of passion for the work and a practical management sense are essential. But I think there is at least one other key ingredient. This is what Jim Collins refers to in Good to Great as the ability to look the brutal facts of your organization’s existence in the eye. The successful nonprofit leader will face no fewer crises, competitors, fickle funders, and other dismal circumstances than anyone else. But it may be that s/he sees these challenges more clearly than less successful leaders. Ignorance is bliss—only until your payroll bounces.

Successful nonprofit leaders always seem to be thinking about the next hurdle, the next big challenge they will encounter. They hate surprises so they insist on good data from their systems, whether it’s an entire finance department or Quickbooks running on their own laptop.

They try to anticipate the next bad thing. Significantly, they do not ignore or dismiss their own failures, nor do they beat themselves up over them. They acknowledge and then learn from them.

But, successful nonprofit leaders are also optimists. Jim Collins says that good leaders, after looking at the brutal facts, are optimistic that they will overcome whatever obstacles are placed in front of them.

So, let’s put it all together: We are looking for a generation of leaders in their 20′s, 30′s, and 40′s who are passionate about their organizations’ missions and optimistic about their organizations’ chances for success; who approach management as a practical undertaking, full of understandable and essential tasks; and who never flinch from looking straight bad news straight in the eye, knowing they can handle it.

Know anyone who fits that description?