What I’ve Learned From Supporting Charity CEOs
… That Can Help You Navigate Current Challenges
What I have learned from supporting charity CEOs is that often there are so many people looking to you for direction and leadership. Even more so, during such an uncertain and challenging times.
The news relating to the charity sector is filled with articles about regulatory and compliance challenges. The cost of living crisis and an all-round reduction in funding to respond to increased societal needs. It’s all too easy to feel overwhelmed and defeatist. After all, the priorities have never been more challenging and the to-do list doesn’t seem to ease up.
What I have learned from supporting charity CEOs is that often it’s not about the technical skills, the qualifications or the core competencies that make highly effective CEOs. It is HOW they react and lead under pressure.
There is much written about leaders who excel under pressure facing the same level of stress and pressure found among top athletes and elite military leaders. One of the factors that differentiate great leaders from the rest is their ability to cope with pressure. How they leverage this to thrive under pressure, and lead people in high-pressure situations.
These leaders who thrive under pressure use it as a catalyst to bring out the best in themselves and in others around them.
Managing a charity for success is stressful and challenging, below are my interpretations on where the areas of focus should be for maximum impact:
Breathe Life Into Your Strategy
At times of crisis, it is easy to lose sight of the core mission, especially if the challenges over the past few years have required you to evolve your services. Now more than ever, it is important not to let your strategy sit in a corner gathering dust. It should not be a one dimensional and theoretical document. It should be the life and soul of your organisation: your plan; your road map. So review it, revise it, allow your team to connect with it. Let it help them reignite their passion for the work of your organisation and the impact it can have on service users.
Set Your Boundaries
It’s so easy when you have a small team to try and have a hand in everything, especially when you are navigating change. I know first-hand how easy it can be to work early mornings and late nights. But you and your team need boundaries. First in and last out sets the wrong standard and promotes a culture towards burn-out. Your organisation cannot flourish with a burned-out CEO. So set your boundaries in an unapologetic manner, delegate where you need to and get comfortable with it.
Get Comfortable with Courageous (and uncomfortable) Conversations
Whether it’s people or the financials – my learning is that you have to be willing to get comfortable with both. You have to understand the impact on your financials of the changes that you want to see or the changes that you cannot avoid, whether it’s increasing salaries in line with inflation, restructuring a function in your organisation or renegotiating your tenancy agreement.
Be willing and ready prepared for the performance management conversations. Get your head out of the sand and have that conversation. People will always prefer a tough conversation in the long run than being kept in the dark.
Fail Forward
Change is inevitable and things certainly won’t always go to plan. We all need to get better at taking risks and the potential consequences of that – failure.
In fact courageous leadership demands that we do. The key is to ensure that the risk is calculated, you mitigate where possible and you get buy-in from your board. If it doesn’t go to plan, don’t let that failure define you.
Take the learning, move on, strengthen your resolve, grow your resilience, pick yourself up and go again.
Work on Yourself Harder than you do on your business
It sounds counterintuitive, I know, when money is tight and you worry about spending the charity’s money, so remember why you were appointed, why they chose you! Always remember that you have to continue to focus on your own personal and skills development to navigate the challenges ahead. A stagnant CEO cannot create a thriving charity.
It’s tough at the top and yes it can be lonely – the great news is we can help!
You’re in good company because here at Clear Thinking Consultancy we can help you with all this. From supporting your strategic development and how you evidence your impact to helping you with understanding your finances and financial control. For the latter, we have an amazing tool in our toolbox, it’s called AMPACC
NEW for 2023
New for 2023 is our new Coaching Circle, expertly facilitated by Kita Ikoku. Fortnightly sessions provide a safe and confidential space for CEOs who are under-represented in the charity sector to come together to discuss common issues and problems without judgement. A small and exclusive group we discuss, debate and share best-practice, experience, and collectively problem-solve.
What I have learned from supporting charity CEOs, is that even CEOs need to be able to seek guidance, build connections and discuss their business challenges with like minded individuals in a safe and confidential space.
If you would like to discuss how we can help you in 2023 please get in touch by booking your complimentary call with Kita, simply click this LINK and let’s set up a time to talk.