In 2021, Anne Wallestad wrote “The Four Principles of Purpose-Driven Board Leadership.” In 2022, Hubert Joly wrote the HBR article “5 Principles of Purposeful Leadership.” An internet search for “purposeful leadership” yields a long list of more articles, programs, and organizations with this kind of leadership at their core.
Purposeful leadership seems important. What is it? How does one know one’s purpose in a meaningful enough way to shape their leadership around it?
As Wallestad defines it, purpose is “the fundamental reason that the organization exists.” A great definition, so how do we apply it to our own organizations? We know our mission. What is our purpose? This is where the struggle begins, in my experience. We spend a lot of time in Powerhouse Boards helping board members land on the underlying why of their work.
Another word like this is govern or governance. We want boards to govern, but what does that mean?
We all know what government is—and so it is an easy assumption to believe that most people know what it means to govern. In reality, I’ve struggled to find a useful definition of nonprofit governance and resorted to creating my own.
These two words are critical to board member success. Purpose is their why and govern is their how. Pausing to help them develop a personal connection to their why and how is time well spent.
Clarity is necessary for communication. It is also imperative if we want to shift behavior. I’m asking a lot in my instructional design projects, “But what does that mean?” For all of these articles about purposeful leadership, if people can’t define their purpose, they can’t use it to inform how they lead. We can talk all day about governance, but nothing changes without practical verbs that everyday board members can relate to and do.
What are the words around you that could use a clear, shared definition? How might people change their behavior if they connected on a personal level with what these words mean?
We’ve been working on instructional design projects related to nonprofit basics, advocacy, fiscal sponsorship, philanthropy, and drug/alcohol recovery. We’ve expanded the Nonprofit Learning Center—my joy each morning is seeing who started a class last night. And we have a full schedule of classes and events.
Here’s a taste of what is coming up. Join us!
February 20 | Let’s Talk Money – finance for board members
March 19 | How to Raise Money – fundraising for new nonprofit staff and board
June 4 | Central Washington Conference for the Greater Good in Toppenish, WA
And don’t forget about the Nonprofit Radio Show podcast. Latest episodes:
- Nonprofit Finance: What Hat Are You Wearing?
- The Superpowers of Small Nonprofits
- Three Buckets of Board Learning
Please reach out if any of this connects with what you are working on. I would love to hear from you!