Pro Roundup for Volunteer Coordinators: Empowered Volunteer Leadership & Communications
Volunteer leadership has always been a challenging topic for staff at all kinds of organizations — from direct service to membership to event-based and more.
No matter what context, volunteer leaders are needed to help scale the effort. Without them, nonprofit employees are stretched too thin, and results are limited.
But how do you grow an engaged and committed group of volunteer leaders? How do you encourage existing volunteers to take on increasing levels of responsibility, authority, and autonomy?
It all starts with you.
While we may think it’s all about the inherent leadership capacity of high potential people, it’s more often about how leaders are led.
In order to empower volunteers to become leaders at your organization, it requires a vision of what’s possible, fueled by the conviction that it can be done with the help of volunteers.
In addition, it requires a commitment to promoting a positive workplace and rooting out toxic behavior that can bring your leaders down, or make them less likely to step up to leadership roles in the first place.
At VolunteerPro, we are big on mindset. We know that it is the foundation of the successful leadership of others.
However, no matter how much mindset work you do, if you are dealing with toxicity or negativity in the workplace, it will hamper your ability to foster volunteer leadership and your work will suffer.
Transparency and clarity are what drive successful leaders.
In this Roundup, we are sharing resources that will help you build an empowered volunteer leadership mindset, some resources for identifying and overcoming toxic workplaces and people, and resources on how you can improve communications and manage difficult conversations with grace.
You can use these resources to both boost your own leadership confidence and also inspire and develop your team of volunteer leaders.
When you can address what may be holding back your teams, you can build trust and greater buy-in and support for new initiatives.
Does addressing toxicity head on sound a bit terrifying? That’s a sure sign that you just might need this encouragement in your life at the moment!
Dive in and face your fears head on!
Empowered Volunteer Leadership
When you feel empowered, you increase your ability to develop the same feelings of confidence in other people. A very important trait for volunteer managers to have!
If you are feeling a bit rocky in developing or growing your leadership skills, check out some of the following tips.
Find Meaning in Your Work – Harvard Business Review
While we’d venture to say that nonprofit staff typically join the sector because they know their work will have meaning, sometimes it’s hard to keep that in mind when you are in the trenches. Especially when there is a lot happening in the world that is tearing at the very fabric that keeps nonprofits running effectively.
If you are feeling uninspired about your job, it’s going to impact how you lead your volunteers.
So, take time to read this HBR article and learn some tips that will help you find your purpose in life (and work) again!
Build your EQ – MindTools
Research shows that people with a high EQ or high emotional intelligence experience a wide range of benefits from developing better communications, to reducing anxiety and stress, to learning how to defuse conflicts, to empathize and build authentic relationships with others, and to overcome any of life’s challenges.
Having some emotional intelligence is essential to your success as a leader of volunteers.
Want to learn more about the five elements of emotional intelligence and how you can cultivate them in your work? Read this MindTools article.
Don’t Just be a Manager, Be a Leader! – Forbes
If you have fallen prey to the very traditional views of management, you might just be a manager, not a leader!
Here’s a quick self-assessment to see where you fall on the scale between manager and leader:
- Are you goals based on needs vs. desires?
- Are you stuck in the past, not wanting to change anything about your volunteer program because “we’ve always done it this way”?
- Do you avoid potential risks all together?
- Do you simply assign tasks with a detailed process on how to get the job done?
If you answered yes to any (or all, no shame here!) of these questions, you might just be a manager.
Want to develop into a leader? Learn how with this Forbes article.
Ask Empowering Questions – How We Lead
Traditionally, workplaces are structured as top-down. Meaning, we often think of our boss as our authority and we are not able to challenge that authority because we would be stepping out of line.
However, there are ways to challenge this thinking internally that will allow you to empower your leadership development.
For example, instead of asking, “What does my boss want me to do?” what if we asked, “What can I do to help my company succeed.” Empowering questions find authority within and do the right thing accordingly.
Want to learn more? Check out this insightful article.
How to Solicit and Receive Feedback You Might Not Want to Hear – VitalSmarts
One of the core tenants of empowered volunteer leadership is being self-aware. However, if you are too afraid of asking for feedback on your leadership skills, you’ll likely never know where you can improve.
Feedback is the monster we’re all afraid of, right? As a leader of volunteers, giving feedback is hard, asking for it might be even harder.
This article will help you facilitate those necessary occasions that call for self-awareness and purposeful growth.
Toxic Workplaces and People
Everyone has a bad day, week, or even month. However, when toxicity and negativity are so engrained in someone’s personality, it can start to impact nearly every facet of work and life in everyone else they encounter.
And this toxicity is not just limited to people. Workplaces can be toxic too. So, what do you do as a leader of volunteers if you think your organization and/or colleagues are toxic?
Read on for some helpful insights to learn how to identify and overcome toxic traits. Your volunteer leadership skills depend on this knowledge!
Is Your Workplace Toxic? – Business Insider
If you have to ask this questions, it’s likely that your organization is toxic. However, it could just be a phase or general work stress.
Not sure how to tell the difference?
Check out this Business Insider article to learn some subtle traits of toxic workplaces.
When Your Colleagues (or, *gasp*, your volunteers) are Toxic – Fairy God Boss
Did you know that there are different types of toxic people?
Well, now you do!
As it this topic wasn’t delicate enough, if you think you are dealing with toxic people at work, you now have the added challenge of figuring out what kind of toxic they are so you can develop strategies to cope or overcome the challenges that will arise.
Read this article by Fairy God Boss to learn about 6 toxic people you might encounter at work and what you can do about them.
When Toxic Behaviors Affect Your Organization – Inc.
You how when you throw a rock into a still pond you see ripples? That’s exactly what it’s like when there are toxic behaviors running rampant in a workplace. The ripple effects extend past employee performance and materialize in personal lives and mental health.
Don’t let your organization fall victim to toxicity.
Learn about how toxic cultures will impact an organization’s bottom line in this Inc. article and employ some leadership strategies to help mitigate the risks.
Feeling Brave? Find Out if YOU are a Toxic Person – MindBodyGreen
Here’s the thing about toxic people, usually they don’t know that they are toxic! Or life circumstances turn a usually positive and helpful person into someone no one wants to be around.
Don’t let that happen to you!
If you are at all concerned that you are a toxic person, or might be harboring a toxic trait or two, read this article to find out. If you find yourself relating to some of the traits, have no fear. In that same article you will learn some tactics to overcome any toxic behaviors.
How to Address and Overcome Toxicity in Your Life – The Muse
Even if after you discover that your workplace and/or colleagues are toxic, but you still want to stick around, (hey, we get it! Your work matters and is likely very important to you on a personal level.), you are going to need some help getting by.
There are some techniques that can help you reduce the affects of working in a toxic environment.
Read this The Muse article to learn 4 strategies to employ that can help you relieve some of that stress.
For more of our writing on volunteer leadership, check out our Top 10 Volunteer Leadership Development Posts for 2020
Navigating Difficult Conversations and Minimize Conflict
When you experience conflict in your life outside of work, you may know how to respond or you may not care how you respond because it’s a one-time interaction with a passerby that you will never see again (think, a rude person you encounter at the grocery store).
However, when you encounter the same situation at work, you might struggle with knowing the appropriate way to confront a problem head on. And, in your volunteer leadership role, you’re likely to encounter challenging behaviors throughout your career.
Read on for tips on how you can handle difficult situations at work with grace.
How to Maintain Your Composure During Difficult Conversations – FastCompany
When you are a leader it’s important that you remain calm and composed during times of stress. After all, your volunteers and colleagues are looking to you for support and how to respond to difficult situations, so you must model healthy behaviors to minimize the impacts of stress.
If you feel like frustration, anger, and anxiety take over when you face difficult situations, it’s time to learn about a practice called emotional regulation. Having this skill will allow you to regulate your internal and external responses to stressful situations.
Here’s an article with more information on how you can build this important leadership skill.
When a Volunteer is “OK,” but not OK – Volunteerplaintalk
You know when volunteers say they are fine with a new change, then you hear them grumbling under their breath or constantly complaining? Not only is this a toxic behavior, but it can undermine your volunteer leadership abilities!
Want to know how to address these volunteers without inciting anger or defensiveness?
Volunteerplaintalk shares five tips in this article that will help you navigate these tricky conversations.
Can You Be Decisive — Without Being Divisive? – Serve to Lead Group
A lot goes into making decisions as a leader: motivation, necessity, emotion. Often, it is difficult to come to a conclusion without dividing some part of your team. Serve to Lead turns to historical figures for some actionable advice.
Setting Clear Expectations to Minimize Volunteer Conflict – Flutterbye
Conflict is impossible to escape when people work together. But, as a leader of volunteers, you can take certain steps to minimize conflict and provide clarity to your team. Flutterbye gives us four management areas that with a bit of adjustment will decrease overall conflict.
Level Up Your Volunteer Leadership Skills with This Free Tool
That wasn’t so scary, was it? What was your #1 takeaway? Let us know in the comments.
And, if you are looking for more, grab our FREE Values Clarification Leadership Philosophy Tool.
In this worksheet you will be encouraged to build your own nonprofit leadership philosophy. Use this worksheet to brainstorm and hone in on the personal values that drive your work and describe what you stand for.
The clearer you are about your values, the more credible you will be to those you lead.
This tip sheet will help you brainstorm and pinpoint the unique PERSONAL VALUES that drive your work.
