Executive Coaching Could Be the Best Way to Improve Nonprofit Leadership Efforts

A people-centered, rights-based approach to support today’s nonprofit executives

Because of the nature of nonprofits and community work, organizations require quick thinking and rapid adaptation. Leaders need to constantly change to sharpen their management skills, develop new ways of inspiring their staff, and evolve to meet their work’s changing requirements to meet their organizations’ changing needs and the communities they serve. However, constant change does not come without challenges.

Today’s nonprofit leaders are stressed, exhausted, and vastly overworked through no fault of their own. They are less likely than their private-sector peers to receive the resources or support needed to thrive in such a demanding position. With leadership offered only limited support and a staff that is too often overworked and undertrained, you have a formula for a failing organization, even more so in these challenging times.

Executive directors of nonprofits need support. They tend to burn out at a high rate, and — despite their passion and vision — often they lack training in the skills required to lead and develop a nonprofit organization. — Center for Executive Coaching

What are the best ways to support nonprofit executives, aiding them in their leadership-building and change management efforts? In the past, large-scale workshops, conventions, and conferences were the traditional means for support. These well-meaning approaches tended to be limited to oversized, impersonal, fast-paced training methods, including peer-to-peer cohorts, web-based courses, and in-person training conferences. However, research shows that these methods may not be the best way to prepare our executives and emerging leaders to meet future challenges. These approaches may be harming the very organizations they intend to support.

In contrast to the one size fits all approach noted above, this article will examine how executive coaching that focuses on a people-centered, rights-based approach may be the best way to support today’s nonprofit executives. In fact, private sector executives have already moved in this direction.

In a reported survey of 48 organizations, 43 percent of CEOS and 71 percent of senior executives had worked with a coach, and 63 percent of organizations stated they plan to increase their use of coaching in the next five years. — Fast Company

Executive Coaching Principles and Human Rights-Based Approaches

Leaders within organizations are catching on and are beginning to seek out solutions to prepare them for the demands of operating a successful nonprofit. They are walking away from the traditional capacity-building methods and into a new, targeted, personal approach: the executive coach. Unfortunately, nonprofit leaders are rarely offered executive coaching as a resource.

Over 60 percent of nonprofit leaders who want leadership coaching are not getting it. In contrast, surveys reveal that 89 percent of nonprofit leaders and 71 percent of foundation funders favor executive coaching to promote leadership development. Yet, only 6 to 31 percent of nonprofit leaders have received coaching services in the past few years. — Journal of Nonprofit Management

What is a Human Rights-Based Approach to Executive Coaching?

The leaders of nonprofit organizations have dedicated themselves to a specific mission that serves the public good. They adjust their mission and work throughout their lifetime to meet the needs of the communities they serve, focusing on individuals’ rights and lives within their communities. Indeed, the values and implementation strategies of nonprofits embody the core foundation of a rights-based approach. They empower people “to know and claim their rights and increasing the ability and accountability of individuals and institutions who are responsible for respecting, protecting, and fulfilling rights.” This action is the very definition of a human rights-based approach, illustrating why executive coaching is ideal for supporting their efforts.

In short, the human rights-based approach to coaching is as it sounds: a system that prioritizes human rights, accountability, participation, and transparency. And a growing number of executive coaches are choosing to use this style.

Statistical surveys and anecdotal evidence repeatably show that executive coaching is an excellent platform for enhancing nonprofit leadership and improving nonprofit organizational impact. — Center for Nonprofit Management

The PANEL Principles of Human Rights-Based Coaching

A rights-based coaching approach will look different for each organization and each leader, depending on the needs involved. However, many executive coaches are choosing to build their programs on the following PANEL principles:

Participation

The participation principle gives everyone involved and affected an opportunity to voice their opinion and participate in a solution. Participation should be easy and accessible, using language that everyone can understand.

Accountability

An organization’s values and standards should be written out, monitored, and used for accountability purposes.

Non-discrimination/equality

All forms of discrimination and bias within the organization should be eliminated. Marginalized and vulnerable individuals should also be given high priority.

Empowerment

Those served should be empowered and fully supported to the fullest extent of the nonprofit’s capacity.

Legality

Nonprofit organizations are encouraged to work with legal entities to ensure that these values and standards are upheld in the eyes of the law.

Executive Coaching Could be the Greatest Investment for Your Nonprofit

The most outstanding leaders have mentors. And their most productive, meaningful mentorship sessions do not come in the form of large-scale conventions. While those events might be fantastic for networking and gaining general insight into a topic, they are not ideal for fully understanding or learning how to operate and lead a nonprofit organization. Instead, mastering these skills requires growth, feedback, continuous learning, and being pushed outside comfort zones, demanding the gradual development of skills, constant empowerment, and new perspectives on old topics.

In other words, nonprofit leaders can leverage a laundry list of advantages when working with an executive coach using a human rights-based approach. Most notably:

● Heightened Empathy

Executive coaching is excellent at helping leaders become more self-aware, observing their emotional responses, and becoming better leaders. In turn, this helps them understand the way their actions affect others. In nonprofits, empathetic leadership is essential for improving performance and community impact.

● Increased Motivation

Coaches are beneficial in helping nonprofit executives discover their motivation, talents, and passions within their organizations. Coaches help them find the areas that light their souls on fire and drive them to change the world. This purpose, in turn, increases the overall productivity, inspiration, and drive within the organization as a whole.

● Healthier Company Culture

The benefits of executive coaching do not end with the leader. Executives receiving coaching can improve the workings of the entire organization. Human rights-based coaching principles can help executives instill a coaching culture” within their nonprofit, benefiting and improving every staff member within the organization, top to bottom.

Tired of doing things as “we have always done them,” nonprofit executives have begun to realize that change is required. They are seeking out new solutions, new approaches, and new ways to achieve success. Traditional capacity-building strategies are no longer yielding the results needed to sustain the impact of today’s nonprofits and community-based groups. This is why human rights-based executive coaching is an answer for success and the future.