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choice and ease of access. The most exciting new frontier is family wellness. The Complete Leader shows Joe and Marie new ways to lead the family in our complex society.

      Section III: The Organization

      Susan knows that the key to her leadership in the ward is found in her relationships with her nurses. Jim and Marie know that the client services they need must be easily available, uncomplicated and reliable.

      These are significant challenges facing today’s human service organizations. The big question is leadership.

      These organizations are overworked and under-financed but populated with competent, dedicated personnel. Facing these challenges will require new leadership styles that are based on proven records of achievement. The Complete Leader provides details of leadership practices that have come from reliable experiences.

      Project New Hope, a successful human services project that took place in Atlanta, Georgia, is the working model:

      • The mission clearly defines who is to be served and why.

      • Long-range plans make for orderly growth, one step at a time.

      • A range of services enable clients to access the help they need.

      • Services and results are documented and measured.

      • The organization is founded on mutuality and teamwork.

      •The organization recognizes the vital place of faith in human affairs.

      This handbook brings proven practices for leaders in human service organizations. It contains practices developed through years of professional practices. It is beneficial to professional, volunteer and family leaders.

      Section I - The Leader

      The human services leader leads an orchestra of professionals and volunteers whose combined purpose is to help families and individuals. She leads through her knowledge of sound leadership practices and through her very person.

      This handbook offers leadership lessons from proven practice, illustrating essential practices and insights into the human processes of leading.

      A practitioner wrote this handbook. Leadership is learned on the job—not through books and courses, and ultimately not even through this one. The Handbook can be useful. Leadership is tough, rewarding but only for those who would choose no other work.

      Chapter 1 - Leadership in the Voluntary Services Organization

      It is a pleasure to reflect on the nature of the voluntary organization and its leadership. It is a comfort to remember that in our society human services are in the hands of communities of volunteers, despite the ever presence of money madness in our world. Human services have their origins in the voluntary organizations. Their service purposes have not changed with time.

      The mission of the organization is the cornerstone of leadership. Mission identifies those to be served, their special needs and the desired results.

      The essence of leadership is enabling others to perform to their full capacity and satisfaction. And the very essence of the essence is trust.

      In Canada, the beneficiaries of our human services number in the millions. Their special challenges range from a child adjusting to school to marital tension to spiritual confusion. The voluntary sector is blessed with highly competent volunteers and professionals.

      From a cursory view of the organization, it is apparent that leadership is exercised at different levels in the human services organization.

      There are at least four leadership levels:

      • The board of directors holds total responsibility for policy, finance and community relations.

      • The senior management level is responsible for the total operation.

      • At the program level, the focus is on specific services.

      • Responsibility for the welfare of the client is found at the direct service level.

      With leadership operating at different levels with different roles, there is a need for common elements of leadership style. Incompatible styles lead to confusion and diminished services.

      The first common element of leadership is a balance between the human relations and the performance sides of leadership. Some leaders favor the human relations side of leading; others prefer a “getting the job done” style. A balance is required. Too great a reliance on one style leads to service ineffectiveness.

      Here is a real-life experience of contrasts in leadership styles.

      James was the principal of a training college for leaders. He was posted to a local church congregation in western Ontario to become the lead clergyman. When meeting with the church council, James explained that he brought a good knowledge of leadership literature but no experience as a congregation leader.

      James then took the unusual position that he would try no direct leadership efforts. He pointed out that the council members understood the congregation better than he ever would. He reserved the right of approval of council decisions. James would not attempt any service initiatives but would leave those responsibilities with the council members.

      In taking that stand, James showed his trust of the council and relegated his role to mainly a coach. He provided a balanced sense of responsibility and caring in his leadership.

      After five years, James was posted elsewhere. At the time of his leaving, that congregation was known for having the strongest lay leadership in the denomination.

      Paul became the new church leader—a dear man who took his clerical responsibilities very seriously. This led him into a very active role in all aspects of the congregation. His style was micro management. Within a matter of months, leadership activities of the council had diminished to their earlier dormant state.

      The essence of leadership is enabling others to serve at their full potential.

      A balance must be achieved between the human relations and performance sides of others.

      Leaders come with motivation, knowledge and skills from their previous service and training. In most cases the leader instinctively favors the human relations side of leadership. Within the voluntary organization, however, these instincts must operate within a common leadership framework. That framework includes such processes as delegation, supervision and teamwork. People working together for a common purpose must appreciate each other’s interpersonal and organizational styles.

      It is no small task for a leader trained in one profession to adjust to other professions in order to achieve common organizational styles. This knowledge cannot come from books and courses. The leader must learn as she goes with a new focus on the best combination of professional and organizational practices, rather than those from her own profession. This learning and transition comes from experience on the job.

      On the performance side, the adjustments to organization frameworks are even more demanding. Just imagine the steps needed to arrive at a common understanding of recording and statistical methods of performance and accountability for both a social worker and an information systems person. Yet the client needs to experience consistency of practices from the organization.

      Fortunately, the voluntary human service organization has an acid test for its definitions of good human relations and helpful performance styles. As with any question, the answer is found in the mission.

      What shapes the nature and character of the organization is what works for the client. Human relations styles for the client shape the human relations styles of the organization. Performance styles helpful to clients shape the performance practices of the organization.

      If Paul had pondered his best counseling styles with his new parishioners, he could then have seen how he should have led.

      Keys to Leadership

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