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.