Leading from the Center

PHILANTHROPIES MEMBERSHIP

SOCIAL YEARBOOK

PROGRAM BYLAWS

WAYS & MEANS/ RECIPROCITY

FUNDRAISING

Place new members in positions of leadership.

Allow flexibility and ingenuity within your committees.

Create a team spirit.

Change job positions often.

Provide for the growth and development of all members.

President

Vice President

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A Leadership Model for Your Local Chapter: “Leading from the Center”

We often think of a leader as someone who is the head of a group of followers. However, the

concept that I gained the most from at the seminar was the idea of leading from the center. Dr. Rogers

described a web like structure with the leader in the center and drawing on the capabilities of each

member of her team. This fits very well into the structure of the local chapter as you can see from the

handout. One of my favorite quotes on leadership was by General George Patton. He was thought of as

a rather hard-nosed and demanding leader yet he said “Don’t Tell People what to do, tell them what you

want done and let them surprise you with their ingenuity.” Help people to realize what they do well and

release them to do it. Let problems become opportunities to serve in new ways.

Quotes from On Becoming a Leader by Warren Bennis.

Interesting information about the state of organizations today. Much of it was based on

corporate organizations but also discussed the problems faced by non-profit organizations

today.

Too many organizations have hunkered down defensively. “In recent years, many non-profit

organizations have seen their missions challenged. They must not be afraid to embrace change.

Change cannot be viewed as the enemy- instead it is the source of both personal growth and

organizational salvation. Only by changing themselves are struggling organizations able to get

back in the game and to the heart of things.”

Organizations walk a tightrope between stability and change, tradition and revision.

Leaders are made by experience. Leadership should be offered to all would be leaders early in

their careers because they build drive, trigger a can-do spirit, and inspire self-confidence. Be

open to new blood and fresh ideas.

Don’t be afraid to take risks. Aviator Brooke Knapp said “There are two kinds of people: those

who are paralyzed by fear and those who are afraid and go ahead anyway. Life isn’t about

limitations, it is about options.

Job rotation is another means of affording would-be leaders an opportunity to learn more about

the organization as well as to see it from another perspective.

The notion of mentors is a nice idea, but does not always work very well. It may be more

effective for the organization itself to serve as mentor with it’s behavior, tone, positivity, vision

and values.

The release and full use of the individual’s potential is the organization’s true task, all

organizations must provide for the growth and development of their members and find ways of

offering them these opportunities. This is the one true mission and principal challenge to

today’s organizations.

Look to the future. Short term thinking is the societal disease of our time- Norman Lear

Leadership Styles

There is no one recipe for leadership. There is a diverse spectrum of those who are capable of leading.

Dr. Rogers described four leadership styles for us:

1) Charismatic leader : Charismatic leaders have a profound influence on their followers. They are

magnetic motivators and communicators. They are able to distill complex ideas into simple

messages. An example would be Dr. Martin Luther King, Gandhi, & Hitler.

2) Servant Leader: Servant leaders are motivated by their interest in serving others and making a

difference. They are generally empathetic and respected for their dedication to their vision or

cause. An example would be Pope Francis.

3) Authentic Leader: This should be the goal of every leader. An authentic leader is genuine and

transparent and establishes leadership characteristics over time. They are grounded, positive,

future focused, confident and know who they are and what they believe in. They possess

integrity and an ability to inspire trust and loyalty. They tend to deal with problems openly and

immediately.

4) Women Leaders: A resource that Dr. Rogers recommended to us is a book called “The Female

Advantage” and “The Web of Inclusion” both by Sally Helgesen. In the first book she describes

women as sometimes having unique advantages in the areas of creativity, cooperation and

interconnectedness, and the ability to draw others in. Women also tend to be more

collaborative and intuitive. Women generally see power in a different way. They don’t see any

need for personal power over people and are generally more empathetic. Many women

continue to feel comfortable in a caretaking role. They are likely to know all the names of the

people they work with, their children’s names, who has been sick, and what to ask and not ask.

Bennis, Warren. On Becoming a Leader

Collins, Jim. Good to Great

Helgesen, Sally. The Web of Inclusion

Helgesen, Sally. The Female Advantage