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Creating a Culture of Agility

Kristen Hayes

Owner and Management Consultant E: kristen@khayesconsulting.com

C: (415) 408-8279

KRISTEN HAYES C O N S U L T I N G

Creating a Culture of Agility Session Overview

This session will focus on:

• Characteristics of “Next Generation Organizations”

• Head Start leadership and management practices

• Hiring for “potential”

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Creating a Culture of Agility Learning Outcomes

Participants will:

• Be challenged to examine how well their program and agency are positioned to respond to change

• Identify opportunities to lead and manage from a position of agility

Reflections

• What brought you to the field of early education and family support?

• What brought you to your current position?

• What do you stay in your current position?

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Economic crisis and the

impact on the nonprofit sector

“At the forefront are two trends: a focus on mission impact including its measurement to articulate an organization’s effectiveness and

accomplishments, and transparency about the impacts organizations are actually achieving has

led to a better articulation of success.” - Compass Point, 2011

Next Generation Organizations

Are organizations behaving differently?

• Baby boomer retirements

• Succession planning

• Grass-root advocacy

Next Generation Organizations focus on

behavioral characteristics and organizational practices that demonstrate

adaptation

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Next Generation Organizations

1. Impact Driven

2. Finance and Business Savvy

3. Continuous Learning

4. Shared Leadership

5. Wired for Policy Advocacy

6. Multicultural and Culturally Competent

7. Ambiguity of Work-Life Boundaries

8. Constituents as Thought Partners

9. Boards as Value Add

Cornelius, Marla and Tim Wolfred, Next Generation Organizations: Nine Key Traits (San Francisco, CA: Compass Point Nonprofit Services, 2011)

Impact Driven

• “As organizations grow and mature, there is a natural tendency for structures to become rigid and for individuals to think and behave predictably.”

• “When leaders perceive that there is too much to lose, risk-taking diminishes”

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“Next generation organizations see risk aversion itself as the real risk”

Traditional Organization

Next Generation Organization

“We’ve been delivering this service forever; our clients rely on us”

“The community has changed, our clients rely on us to stay relevant”

Finance and Business Savvy

• Financial literacy is shared amongst those in decision-making roles

• Financial transparency

• Program staff understand budgets

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Continuous Learning

“Ultimately, the goal of a learning organization is to facilitate the learning of

an organization’s people so that it is continuously transforming itself.”

Shared Leadership

• Shared influence

• Participatory democracy

• Power is shared

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Wired for Policy Advocacy

• Public policy work

• Turning mission into advocacy

• Associations, professional groups, accreditation sources

It’s time to speak up and invite people in!

Multicultural and Culturally Competent

• Multicultural perspectives are embedded in – Governance

– Leadership

– Programs

It’s not about PIR numbers!

It is about people having a platform by which to share their unique experiences and

perspectives

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Ambiguity of Work/Life Boundaries

• Generational differences

• Personal vs. professional may not exist for many – and social media shows us this

Constituents as Thought Partners

• “Client is an asset”

What have you learned from your clients that have caused you to change your approach?

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Boards as Value Added

• Power struggle

• Thought partners

Are Head Start Grantees Next Generation Organizations?

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Common Head Start Leader Practices (ED, Director, CFO, HR)

– Likely came into their position from within the organization or another like-organization

– May have been a very skilled manager

– Value compliance and quality

Even Better Leader Practices

• Empower their staff to execute decisions and “own” their area

• Engaged in succession planning from the moment they arrive

• Skilled nonprofit executives:

– Board involvement, knowledge, and commitment

– Development ($)

– Personnel management

– Evaluation of systems

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Compass Point Recommendations for Executive Directors (2008)

– Replace data power structures

– Help staff build strong external networks

– Be a mentor

– Provide reasonable salaries and benefits

– Engage in succession planning

– Recognize generational differences

Common Head Start Manager Practices

– Longevity with the organization

–Know the community very well

– Service area plans, policies, and procedures

–Often have limited training in supervision, performance appraisal, professional development planning

– Spend time putting out fires

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Even Better Manager Practices

– Contribute to and read the grant application

– Training and coaching in: • soliciting, executing, and implementing MOU • professional development planning • performance evaluation

– Supported to create goals and performance metrics

– Participate in a local/city/county planning effort

– Deliver a presentation to the Board annually

Compass Point Recommendations for Managers (2008)

– Take control of your career

– Develop broad management expertise

– Join a board

– Find a mentor

– Work with a coach

– Recognize and respect generational differences

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Making decisions about “the bus”

Q: Who needs to be on the bus?

Q: Who needs to get off the bus?

Q: Who needs a different seat on the bus?

Q: Who needs to drive the bus?

The Tribes We Lead TED Talk with Seth Godin

“Go Make Something Happen”

https://blog.hubspot.com/marketing/ted-talks-nonprofit-social-media-strategy-list#sm.00001mt8ffcwdvdnjqw36a1udagnb

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“She has potential”

Harvard Business Review (June 2014) states hiring for potential has a predictive accuracy of

85%

#1 Indicator of potential: Motivation a fierce commitment to excel in the

pursuit of unselfish goals

“She has potential” #2: Curiosity A penchant for seeking out new experiences, knowledge, and candid feedback and an openness to learning and change #3: Insight The ability to gather and make sense of information that suggests new possibilities #4: Engagement A knack for using emotion and logic to communicate a persuasive vision and connect with people #5: Determination The wherewithal to fight for difficult goals despite challenge and to bounce back from adversity

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Why is assessing potential important?

“Most organizations, it seems, are filled with people who have the

power to endorse bad candidates and kill off the good ones.”

- Claudio Fernandez-Araoz, Harvard Business Review (June 2014)

Q: What types of questions do we ask of candidates to determine

their POTENTIAL?

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How do you determine if someone has potential?

Sample questions from Harvard Business Review (June 2014)

• How do you react when someone challenges you?

• How do you invite input from others on your team?

• What do you do to broaden your thinking, experience, or personal development?

• How do you foster learning in your organization?

• What steps do you take to seek out the unknown?

What comes after potential? • Intelligence

• Values

• Leadership ability – Strategic orientation

– Market insight

– Results orientation

– Customer impact

– Collaboration and influence

– Organizational development

– Team leadership

– Change leadership

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Head Start’s million dollar question….

HOW DO WE KEEP THE RIGHT PEOPLE ON THE BUS?

• Provide mentoring opportunities to younger employees through your colleagues or board members

• Allow work time to be used for mentoring

• Give junior employees tangible leadership opportunities such as leading a meeting, managing an important project from start to finish, or supervising an intern or volunteer

• Encourage all staff to pursue learning opportunities outside of their job description

• Involve staff in major decision-making (i.e. strategic planning process)

- Stanford Social Innovation Review (December 19, 2007)

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Organizational Coaching

“Coaching and Philanthropy: An Action Guide for Coaches”

• Focus on leader within the organization’s needs

• Support for high performers

• Coaching readiness

“A program must implement a research-based, coordinating coaching strategy for education staff that assesses all education staff to identify strengths, areas of needed support, and which staff would benefit most from intensive coaching.”

Keeping Others on the Bus

• Delegate agencies

–Entities that deliver the full range of comprehensive services (classroom, family, health)

• Partners

–Entities that deliver the classroom-based early childhood services

• EHS-Child Care Partnerships

–Partnerships with child care centers, family child care homes, or another division within your own agency

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What is the Grantee Responsibility?

To develop:

–A contract that clearly lays out the expectations for performance

–Systems at the grantee level to support oversight and accountability

–Tools that can be used by grantee and delegate and partner staff

–An approach to professional development that comprehensively addresses service delivery

Effective Oversight: Questions That Need Answers

1. How will changes from the initial proposal/contract be addressed?

2. Who is responsible for ensuring compliance?

3. How will compliance be documented?

4. How will the need for support be documented?

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Effective Oversight: Questions That Need Answers

5. What is the delegate/partner’s role in: 1. Setting priorities

2. Creating systems

3. Participating in Self-Assessment?

6. How will the grantee and delegate/ partner define quality? 7. What are the terms for exiting the arrangement?

8. How will success be celebrated?

9. How do we decide that the delegate/partner needs to get off the bus?

Conclusion

• Do agency practices inhibit the program from leading with agility?

• What does it take to change the agency practice?

• What will it take for you to be a change-agent?