As a neighborhood leader, you are a person of influence with great responsibility for the success of your neighborhood organization. Too often as a neighborhood leader, you are pressured by members and neighbors to know everything happening in the neighborhood, to access every City and County government resource to help the neighborhood and to serve as the neighborhood problem solver.
Some association leaders burn out because they allow their leadership responsibilities to be all consuming, taking up every bit of time they have. It is important to set aside time for each of the roles you have. Whether you are an employee, employer, a dad or mom, a son or daughter, a sister or brother, it is critical to balance all these roles. Be realistic with the amount of time and energy you have to devote to your association leadership role; stay focused on the realistic annual association goals. Give yourself permission to take time off; you may want to consider “setting hours” each week to do your association work and once you meet the total hour, you are done for the week. Be sure to include activities during the week that helps you relax, even if it is for five or ten minutes – go exercise, dance, sing, garden… do something that you find enjoyable.
Effective neighborhood leaders are individuals who have the ability to inspire confidence and support among members and neighbors who are needed to achieve association goals.
Being a neighborhood leader should be rewarding, after all you are volunteering your time, talent and skills to make your association stronger and your neighborhood a better place. As a volunteer leader, there are many tricks of the trade for you to use to make your experience as an association president, chairman or board member enjoyable, productive and successful.
One of your best resources as a neighborhood leader is the City of Orlando’s Office of Communications & Neighborhood Relations. Mayor Buddy Dyer created the Neighborhood Relations team to inform, connect and involve neighborhood leaders with City resources. This team of trained neighborhood outreach professionals is able to provide you with association management training, resources and best practices. Reach out to them at 407.246.2169 or at orlando.gov/ocnr.
Let’s look at some of the key attributes, skills and knowledge you may need to possess and demonstrate in order to maintain a healthy balance with all your roles and have a positive experience leading your association.
“Vision Without Action...Is Just a Dream. Action Without Vision...Just Passes the Time. But, Vision and Action...Can Change the World.” – Joel Barker, Leadership Consultant and Author.
Vision communicates who your association is and what the association wants to become. This attribute is important in keeping the big picture in focus and providing the leadership and direction to achieve the overall goals. According to the Center for Organizational and Personal Development, vision can be utilized to empower individuals to “take action” to realize high levels of contribution and achievement. The association vision needs to be adopted and owned by community and not just the leadership. It’s hard to realize a vision if the association members don’t see it or buy into the vision.
Tips:
- Write down your association’s vision and/ or mission statements; be sure the board and membership have buy in. All your association priorities, events and activities should fit with your vision and mission. Use these statements as a guide in setting your annual goals and priorities. If an idea, request, activity or event doesn’t fit your vision or mission statement, then don’t do it, you are wasting valuable time and association resources doing something that will not help the association achieve its vision or mission.
- Google “writing vision statements” and “writing mission statements,” there is a ton of free information on the Internet. Too often, people get confused between a vision and a mission statement. A vision statement is the optimal desired future state - the mental picture - of what your association wants to achieve over time. In other words, your vision is what your association aspires to be or do. A mission statement defines the purpose of the association.
- Use your vision to inspire yourself and members.
“Leadership is practiced not so much in words as in attitude and actions. The best way to inspire people to superior performance is to convince them by everything you do and by your everyday attitude that you are wholeheartedly supporting them.” – Harold S. Geneen, Author
Tips:
- Find someone who is positive and you respect that you can talk with in confidence-find a mentor. These talks will help you stay focused and your attitude positive
- Take a small break to assess and adjust your expectations of yourself and your role in the association. Are you being realistic?
- Stays focused on association annual goals and try not to take on anything else outside of the goals. This can help keep you and the association members from feeling overwhelmed.
- Have FUN! All work and no play will cause stress. Try to include fun in your association meetings, etc. Laugh a little…it does the heart good.
“Effective team leaders realize they neither know all the answers, nor can they succeed without the other members of the team.” - – Jon R. Katzenbach and Douglas K. Smith, Leadership Consultants & Authors
It is important for leaders to be aware of all members and do what they can to include as many members as possible in association decisions and projects. Too narrow of a focus and extreme positions can often alienate the very people you’d like to get involved. Including members in decisions and projects increases ownership and builds capacity of the association; it takes time and being strategic in promoting inclusiveness. Another advantage of when inclusiveness is expected is when a member wants a specific issue or suggestion addressed, they need to be willing to provide leadership and be a part of the issue. If the member isn’t willing, then the association should consider dropping the issue or idea or consider it in the future.
Tips
- Move from “I do things for you” to “we do things together.”
- Always ask yourself how you are going to include others in tasks, projects, etc., that need to be done – be strategic.
- It will take longer to be inclusive, but in the long run it is healthy for the association to be as inclusive as possible.
- Set the expectation that when members bring an issue to the association that the member is going to either provide the leadership and/or be a part of the solution. It is very easy for members to make recommendations and to ask the association to resolve an issue they have then step away expecting the association to handle it. Everyone is a volunteer and needs to help. Be careful about falling into the trap of members expecting you as their president or chair to address and resolve issues with little or no involvement from the member. This is not your full time job, you are also a volunteer.
“Never tell people how to do things. Tell them what to do and they will surprise you with their ingenuity.” – General George S. Patton
A strong association has clearly identified leaders who take charge and provide the leadership for the association to move forward and achieve its goals. Leading is a balancing act in a voluntary organization primarily because volunteer leaders have to motivate, cultivate and mentor other volunteers to complete tasks and achieve association goals.
Tips:
- Set annual goals and objectives for the association. Be sure to have membership involvement and buy in when creating the annual goals. These goals become your work plan for the year. Any ideas, activities, events or issues that will not help achieve an existing goal need to be considered for the future. Park these ideas in a “parking lot” that is a list of things for the association to consider in the future. With this being said, sometimes if an issue or opportunity comes up that needs to be addressed, then amend your goals. Stay focused on your current goals, this way you will achieve success and a sense of accomplishment at the end of the year.
- Know your role and your limitations – give yourself permission to say no when you have too much going on.
- Consider scheduling your neighborhood leadership time on a weekly basis to try to keep it manageable and setting a balance with the other parts of your life.
Get Away!
If things have built up too high, take some time off and do something you enjoy. Go see a movie, visit an art gallery, play miniature golf, walk in the park, or do anything else as different from your leadership position as possible.
“A leader, like an orchestra conductor derives his/her true power from his ability to make other people powerful.” – From The Art of Possibility
It takes time, experience, delegation and leadership to move a neighborhood organization from the president, officers or board members doing all the work to an organization where the detailed work is done by committees. Evolving into a member driven organization is one of the most effective ways to sustain your neighborhood organization and foster future leaders.
Delegating tends to be a hard task for officers in voluntary organizations. Too often the elected leadership: doesn’t take the time in the beginning to clearly and concisely outline the purpose, goals and outcome for the committee or members handling the tasks; decides it is easier to do the work or tasks themselves; has the attitude that the only way it will be done right is to do it yourself, and; “high jacks or goes around the committee assignment or project by handling the tasks before the committee has the chance. Working on a committee or on an individual assignment or project is a great way for members to be more engaged in the association. It gives the members a chance to demonstrate their skills and knowledge, learn new skills and knowledge, provides them with experience and may motivate them to become more involved in the association through an elected position.
Delegating builds confidence and ownership among members; it is about handing over authority. Successful delegating involves clearly defining what’s to be done and what the outcome should be before assigning the task to someone and clearly communicating this information to the person or committee handling the task or project. Another point to consider is often when people step up to the plate and become committee chairs or accept specific tasks or projects, it makes them think about their capabilities of becoming a leader.
Tips
- Spend time outlining in writing the assignment or task that you or the board needs done. Include deadlines, budgets, resources needed to handle the assignment; be sure the board is in agreement with the tasks prior to making the assignment.
- Move from “I do things for you” to “we do things together.”
- Identify the right committee and members to complete the assignment. Be sure the members are interested in handling the assignment verses “forced” to complete the assignment or task.
- Make sure the committee or member buy into the assignment, deadline and outcomes at the start so everyone know what is expected and are clear on the outcome needed.
- Let the committee and members handle the assignment their way --- be supportive without dictating or demanding the assignment to be done your way --- unless they are way off course.
- Remember, members that bring up an idea or issue they want the association to address, needs to be willing to take a leadership role in addressing the issue. Also, ask for other members’ help. If you are not able to recruit members to work on the idea or issue, then drop it. It is obvious that it isn’t important to the membership. It is too easy for the member to try to make their idea or issue your task, don’t let them do this. You will quickly become overwhelmed.
“A good leader is a person who takes a little more than his share of the blame and a little less than his share of the credit.” – Anonymous
Recognizing the accomplishments of members as well as the association is critical. People like being a part of success. Leaders need to remind the association of all the great successes it has had as a result of teamwork.
Tips
- When recognizing individual members, it is important to strive for a clear, unambiguous and well-communicated connection between accomplishments and recognition.
- Be sure people understand why they received the recognition; timing is crucial. Recognize individual and group contributions throughout a project or event. An immediate “thank you” or “great job” is much more important than a plaque or recognition six months later.
- Deliver recognition in an open and publicized way. If not made public, recognition loses much of its impact and defeats much of the purpose for which it provided. Do not however, think that public recognition will substitute for private, everyday, personal thank you and respect. What happens 365 days a year has much more impact than what happens at an annual recognition function.
Ask For Help!
“What separates those who achieve from those who do not is in direct proportion to one’s ability to ask for help.” – Donald Keough, former President of Coca-Cola
“The final test of a leader is that he leaves behind in other people the convictions and the will to carry on.” – Anonymous
One of the most important roles an association leader has is recruiting and cultivating members to assume association leadership positions. Good leaders are the life line of an association. Some of the characteristics leaders need to demonstrate in mentoring future leaders, whether it is association officers or committee chairs are: providing a vision; broad view; willingness to listen; sharing leadership experience; showing a genuine interest in others; recognizing and holding a belief in others’ capabilities; exhibiting patience and kindness; being sensitive to the needs and circumstances of others; having a sense of humor; and the ability to accept different points of view. Some of the traits to look for in identifying and mentoring new leaders include the ability to: inspire others, lead others, follow through, envision, plan and organize, motivate and mobilize, communicate, facilitate, mentor, make effective decisions and collaborate.
Tips:
- You are your best cheerleader for your position. Keep your attitude and actions positive.
- Use a standing nominating or leadership committee to help identify, recruit and mentor potential association leaders. People are more likely to say yes when approached personally.
- Be clear your intentions of how long you are willing to serve in your current leadership position and stick to your decision. Members are more likely accept a position when they know the current person serving in the position term is ending
It’s tough to be a volunteer leader, especially an association leader. Neighborhood organization members have high expectations of their leadership. An association leader isn’t supposed to get tired or frustrated, or want to throw their hands in the air and say, “To hell with this…I’m going home.”
When you’re an association president or board member, you are expected to be a pillar of inspiration and knowledge for your members and neighbors. After all, you’re the neighborhood’s “go to” person and are expected to serve as code enforcer, crime fighter and Neighborhood Watcher, mediator, traffic cop and animal catcher, which are just some of the many hats you are expected to wear. So, your members and neighbors turn you into the neighborhood super hero who is suppose to let stress and disillusionment roll off your shoulders. Sounds like a lot of pressure for a volunteer to handle on their own and a one way ticket to burnout.
What Causes Burnout?
The expression comes from electrical terminology. Burnout happens when a circuit or wire is carrying too much of an electrical load for its capacity. The result is everything gets fried. The metaphor is apt: human burnout occurs when a person is carrying too much load for her/his capacity. The result is the person gets fried. We can only take so much negative stress before we become physically, mentality, emotionally and spiritually exhausted. The cost of burnout is huge and diminishes our effectiveness and productivity. It damages our health and well-being. It strains relationships and it erodes our spirits and souls.
So What's a Stressed Neighborhood Leader to Do?
Ask for help! Let your other association leaders know you are on the edge and need time out. You are only human and can take just so much. No matter how committed and passionate you are about your association and neighborhood, you must take care of yourself physically, mentally and spiritually. You owe it to yourself, your family and the association to do your best to balance your role as a neighborhood leader and all your other roles. You know best what helps you relax and say balanced.
Find Another Association Leader "Friend"
There’s a good chance other association leaders are feeling the same way you are and just need someone to talk to about it. Find and cultivate a trusted friend who knows you well enough to call you out when you get whiny, and who you feel comfortable calling out when THEY get whiny. This type of support system can get you through some really trying and stressful situations. The City of Orlando Office of Communications & Neighborhood Relations maintains a list of association leaders and can help connect you with others. Call them at 407.246.2169.
Regularly Assess Your Commitments
It would be great that as a neighborhood leader you could use an on/off switch. Your leadership job can change often, sometimes minute to minute.
Decide If It's Worth It
If you’re constantly in the “about to go postal” range, and you aren’t getting the support you need, and you see no end in sight, it may be time for you to decide whether or not your leadership role is still right you.
You Have a Cheerleader - Reach Out
The City of Orlando Office of Communications & Neighborhood Relations understands what it takes to be a neighborhood leader. The Neighborhood Relations team has a variety of resources that will make your job easier. This team is also great at listening and maintaining confidence. Feeling overwhelmed, tired, ready to throw in the towel, call them at 407.246.2169 or visit orlando.gov/ocnr.