Long Term Executive Leadership

In this episode of Charity Executive TV, David Hutchinson discusses the benefits of healthy long term executive leadership in the non-profit sector.

Synopsis:
The next 10 years are going to be a challenge for many Canadian charities from a talent perspective. Many organizations have not taken the time they've needed to determine what their talent needs are going to be over the next few years. The statistics don't lie: 10,000 baby boomers will turn 65 per day over the next 19 years.

The other piece is that charities - especially if established - have long-term leadership who have become the executive leadership but haven't practiced mentorship or leadership development with the next generation of leaders. Most organizations with a CEO or executive director don't have a number two and from a risk management perspective, this leads to unhealthy executive leadership. For a charity to have longevity, this needs to be carefully considered.

How Millennials Can Excel as Leaders

In this episode of Charity Executive TV, David Hutchinson talks about the value of millennials and how they can excel as leaders in non-profit sector.

Synopsis:

Today, the significant opportunities in charities and charitable organizations are in fundraising. So, if somebody has the mindset for resource development, sales, marketing and communications - the ability to tell a story and develop relationship with donors - they have an incredible opportunity to excel. This is a huge area of growth where millennials and young adults can easily excel in the non-profit sector. Another area is in wisely provided leadership roles with responsibilities that will grow their management skills and capacity. Many millennials are great leaders and we're going to need a significant number of great leaders in the charitable space.

What to Look For In Hiring: Performance Vs Skills

In this episode, David Hutchinson shares his opinion on the benefits of Lou Adler's performance based hiring over skills based hiring.

Synopsis:
Are we hiring for skills only or are we hiring for performance? Lou Adler is professional in the search executive sector that is advocating for the importance of performance based over skills based hiring processes. Performance based hiring gives people the opportunity to excel and succeed based on what we already know they are good at because they have demonstrated it in the past.

How to Hire The Right Staff - Dave Addison

In this episode of Talking with Charities, Dave Addison, Executive Director of Toronto City Mission, discusses why hiring the right staff is important and gives his tips on how to hire successfully.

Synopsis:
Dave Addison has developed a simple approach on how to hire the right person and how to hire successfully. He uses two internal criteria for hires: aptitude and attitude.

The attitude section asks: Does the candidate have the desire to learn? Are they eager? Does their personality fit the workplace culture? 

The aptitude part handles the problem that you can't teach someone to learn easily. A candidate doesn't have to be fully equipped in the field but they do need to have the ability to learn effectively. Do they have the ability to learn in your business? With these two criteria, it's easy to know how to hire the right person.

The Importance of Giving Younger Talent Leadership Opportunities

In this video, David Hutchinson discusses the importance of giving leadership opportunities earlier to younger talent in the non-profit sectors.

Synposis:
Many talented young Baby Boomers and Gen X's are not given the authority to lead or the chance to engage in leadership in the non-profit sector. It is certainly seen in the corporate and private sector, many younger people assume quite responsible roles in those areas. The non-profit sector should carefully consider using this technique for longevity in the charitable space?

Transitioning from Corporate to Non-Profit - Lisa Lalande

In this episode of Talking with Charities, Lisa Lalande, CEO of LIFT Philanthropy Partners, talks about her experience and insight transitioning from a corporate environment to the non-profit sector.

Synopsis:
Shifting from the corporate sector to the social sector was not easy for Lisa Lalande. Leaving behind a world focused entirely on the bottom line - where efficiency, focus, and discipline are second nature, to a passion driven environment requires an entire shift in career mentality. The social sector although staffed with high performing, dedicated teams often lacks the resources, network, and structure encompassed by the corporate sector. When the mindset remains, lets do this because it is the right thing to do, it can be tough to adjust your corporate frame of mind to an ultimately passion driven environment.

Working With A Non-Profit Board - Dave Addison

In this episode of Talking with Charities, Dave Addison, Executive Director of Toronto City Mission, shares his experience and advice on interacting with a board effectively in the non-profit sector.

His three keys to working effectively with a board are:

1. understand the roles and expectations of members, 
2. communicate effectively with the board, and
3. know how to use in camera sessions with a board effectively. 

Knowing who is responsible for a task or what expectations the board has on the executive director will ensure board meetings are successful and constructive. Sometimes when communicating with a board its important to make a decision between knowing when to involve or when to inform the board of a decision. Another way this is put is by putting a decision or issue through a review process including executive advisors or in camera sessions. For example, the Toronto City Mission board will have in camera session during a meeting. Then after the in camera session, they will discuss openly the important issues with the executive director. This leads to open, constructive discussions with real results.

How Charities Should Move Forward

In this instalment of Charity Executive TV, David Hutchinson provides insightful advice for how charities and non-profit organizations should move forward with hiring and executing their missions in the future.

For a charity to be successful in the future, their mission be done with proper measures and assessments. The opportunities needs to be opened to talented people from other sectors that have the skills to assume the executive roles but perhaps have never done it there. And then these people need to be given leadership opportunities - to lead and to success, to fail and pick up the pieces - and those are going to be important aspects of charitable and non-profit growth going forward.

Transitioning From Corporate to Non-Profit - Dave Addison

In the corporate sector, it's not always easy to find a job that you love. Dave Addison share his story of how he transitioned from the private sector to working for the not-for-profit organization, Toronto City Mission.

Before moving into the non-profit sector, Dave Addison did not believe that finding a job that he would love was possible.  When he considered non-profit options, he was unsure of if his current goals and skills would be transferable. Furthermore, he was concerned that to make a transition would mean starting over in an entry-level position and giving up a senior leadership role.

This was not the case and he now works as the executive director of the Toronto City Mission. To his surprise, sales, marketing and general management skills were exactly what Toronto City Mission needed. But most of all, he found a love, excitement and comfort in his role because his co-workers, as with most people in the non-profit sector, are helpers by nature. Everyone is there for a passionate purpose.

His advice on to how to transition from corporate to non-profit: be patient and seek the help of your professional network to find the not-for-profit work that matches your skill level, expertise and above all, your passion.

The Difference Between Baby Boomers and Gen X

In this episode of Charity Executive TV, David Hutchinson discusses the difference between Baby Boomers and Gen X in the job market.

Synopsis:
Many of the Baby Boomer generation came into the job market when competition was high. Because of the job market competition, many of these workers stayed in the same corporation or private business for 40 to 45 years. However, Generation X differs with the new emphasis on work and life balance and so job flow has become more passion driven and fluid. With the retirement of the baby boomers, more and more executive opportunities are becoming available and allow for this balance to take place.