In our work in the Leadership Practice Area we have the opportunity to explore what leadership means in the small communities of North Dakota and the island cities of Hawai’i.  How is it similar? How does it differ?  We have learned that there are cultural elements to leadership that must be integrated into our capacity-building work for it to resonate locally.  We have also learned that certain elements are universal and are essential to building a broad base of leadership throughout organizations for long-term sustainability.

As I young girl, my family owned a restaurant and at age 10, I was given the job to “observe” what was happening throughout the day and to report my observations to my father at the end of the day.  This wasn’t a spying mission, but an exercise in heightening my awareness to operations and interpersonal skills.  What was working well? What wasn’t?  Paying attention to the surroundings is a skill that heightens the ability of leaders to make adjustments to maximize the efficiency and productivity of the organization.

Although systems are important, it really comes down to the people.  People – how you relate to them, what you expect of them, what level of engagement you give them in the big picture.  I am a strong believer that leaders are bred, NOT born.  We all have areas of leadership within us; it is a matter of uncovering these areas and leveraging them for the greater good.

In our workshops, we present the work of many different thought leaders – Kouzes and Posner, Collins, Kotter, Senge, Blanchard, Goleman, etc. – and if I were to distill it to the most critical elements, I would say: it is about relationships, interpersonal skills and listening skills.  Leadership is something your carry in all aspects of your life, it isn’t only a jacket you put on when you go to work.  It is part of your being.  If you think about the people that have inspired you in your life, what attributes did they possess?  Did they care about you as a person? Did they believe in your ability to succeed? Were they good listeners?

There are several people in my life that demonstrated these attributes and shaped my leadership skills: my third grade teacher who allowed me to stay after school every day and cared about my future; my baseball coach who believed that I should play baseball even if I was a girl; and most recently a professional mentor who really solidified the tenets of leadership in my practice.  These tenets I carry with me in my wallet as a daily reminder:  They are:

1. Be nice to people because you never know when you might have to work for them
2. Hire the smartest people you can find
3. Give them far more responsibility than they can handle
4. Don’t get mad when they make mistakes
5. Always acknowledge good work
6. Don’t meddle

Leadership is something within all of us, it takes commitment and dedication to strengthen.  With this commitment.. the change we can be in the world is infinite.

Bill Coy, Mary Stelletello, and I are on our way to Honolulu for the capstone graduation event with our 7th class of PONO fellows. PONO is both a Hawaiian word meaning “righteousness” and an acronym: Promoting Outstanding Nonprofit Organizations. PONO is built on our firm’s Leadership Advanced program and provides a yearlong leadership development experience for up to 15 Hawaii nonprofit executive directors.

With our PONO partner, the Hawaii Community Foundation, this fall we will launch the Hawaii Emerging Leaders Program (HELP), which will adapt our proven leadership curriculum for non-CEO leaders in nonprofits in Hawaii. These are program directors, CFOs, development directors and other senior leaders who usually report to the executive director, and who may one day be executive directors themselves.

Looking towards the nonprofit sector’s next generation of emerging leaders, be sure to check out one of Rosetta Thurman’s latest blog posts, “11 Reasons Why New College Grads Should Pursue Nonprofit Careers” and Brent Copen’s recent post about the May 2010 HBR article “The Leaders We Need Now” at  our NonprofitNext blog.