Leverage the Natural Strengths of Your Volunteer Leaders

1. Leverage the Natural Strengths of Your Volunteer Leaders Maryanne Ross, CFPIM, CIRM, CSCP, District Manager, APICS Mid-Atlantic District Sharon Rice, Executive Director, APICS Foundation

2. Leverage the Natural Strengths of Your Volunteer Leaders Great leaders focus on bringing out the best in their team members.  This session will explore how to engage volunteers and members based on their strengths and develop their hidden talents. Lessons learned by the presenters and concepts gleaned from the book StrengthsFinder 2.0 by Tom Rath will be applied.

3. Leverage the Natural Strengths of Your Volunteer Leaders • Today, we will discuss how you can • attract volunteers and leverage their strengths to build a stronger leadership team for the organization • create an environment where all members are given the opportunity to contribute.

4. Leverage the Natural Strengths of Your Volunteer Leaders • Our goal is to help you • create meaningful relationships within your organization • build stronger volunteer teams • address succession issues that result from a shallow bench of volunteer leaders • be more successful as an APICS partner.

5. But first … Why are you a volunteer leader? It is such a pleasure to meet with other professionals and work with volunteers who have different perspectives, personalities, and experiences. It is gratifying to help others take on new challenges and grow. It is fun working in a relaxed and supportive community. The productive work of an APICS leader is rewarding in and of itself. It is a great feeling when we have a successful event (PDM, class, conference). I learn new things from other people all the time. I feel like my contributions are welcomed and respected.

6. Why is it difficult to recruit new leaders? • People do not have the time. • Volunteering isn’t a priority for people these days. • People haven’t formed a close enough connection to our organization to make this kind of commitment. • We don’t make enough “space” for new people.

7. Believe this: People want to participate. • Introverts as much as extroverts • Working people as well as retired people • Young professionals as much as experienced professionals • Women as much as men • People of every culture in every country

8. Why People Volunteer Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs

9. Why People Volunteer

10. As APICS Leaders • We all have the responsibility to • develop new APICS volunteers • recognize their individual talents, abilities, and strengths • maximize the opportunities for individuals to contribute using these strengths • build high-functioning leadership teams

11. Strengths-Based Approach Tom Rath on the motivations of the Gallup scientists exploring what is right with people: “We were tired of living in a world that revolved around fixing our weaknesses. Society’s relentless focus on people’s shortcomings had turned into a global obsession. What’s more, we had discovered that people have several times more potential for growth when they invest energy in developing their strengths instead of correcting their deficiencies.”

12. Chances of Individuals Being Engaged… 9% 73%

13. Strength-Based Leadership • As leaders, you face the challenge of building an effective network of workers, be they volunteers or employees. • Determining the strengths you have and the strengths you need is critical to your satisfaction and your success as a leader. • Therefore you need to use your strengths to • plan for what the organization needs • engage people so that they discover what they have to offer • encourage all potential volunteers to act upon their strengths.

14. What Strong Teams Have in Common… • Conflict doesn’t destroy strong teams because strong teams focus on results. • Strong teams prioritize what’s best for the organization and then move forward. • Members of strong teams are as committed to their personal lives as they are to their work. • Strong teams embrace diversity. • Strong teams are magnets for talent.

15. Key Terms to Understand • Skills are your basic abilities to perform the fundamental steps of a task. Skills do not naturally exist within us; they must be acquired through formal or informal training and practice. • Knowledge is simply what you know. Knowledge does not naturally exist within us; it must be acquired through formal or informal education. • Talents are the ways in which you naturally think, feel, and behave. Talents come into existence naturally and cannot be acquired like skills and knowledge. We each have unique talents within us.

16. The Strength Equation

17. Four Domains of Leadership Strength

18. Four Domains of Leadership Strength • Executing strength • Leaders with dominant strength in the Executing domain know how to make things happen. • When you need someone to implement a solution, these are the people who will work tirelessly to get it done. • Leaders with a strength to execute have the ability to “catch” an idea and make it a reality.

19. Four Domains of Leadership Strength • Influencing strength • Those who lead by influencing help their team reach a much broader audience. • People with strength in this domain are always selling the team’s ideas inside and outside the organization. • When you need someone to take charge, speak up, and make sure your group is heard, look for someone with the strength to influence.

20. Four Domains of Leadership Strength • Relationship-building strength • Those who lead through Relationship-Building are the essential glue that holds a team together. • Without these strengths on a team, in many cases, the group is simply a composite of individuals. • In contrast, leaders with exceptional Relationship-Building strengths have the unique ability to create groups and organizations that are much greater than the sum of their parts.

21. Four Domains of Leadership Strength • Strategic-thinking strength • Leaders with great Strategic-Thinking strengths are the ones who keep us all focused on what could be. • They are constantly absorbing and analyzing information and helping the team make better decisions. • People with strength in this domain continually stretch our thinking for the future.

22. Case Study: Mid-Atlantic District Staff

23. How this Works • In groups of 4 or 5: • Create your fantasy volunteer team to plan and execute this campaign based on the domains and themes of StrengthsFinder. • Discuss what strengths you need and why you need them. • Be prepared to report on why and how you will use these skill sets/talents within your organization.

24. How this Works • You need to organize a membership drive to recruit new members (and potential leaders). • The campaign will have • a targeted direct mail/email campaign • a telethon • company visits • a meet-and-greet professional development meeting

25. Things to Consider Offer a professional development meeting based on StrengthsFinder as a way to encourage members to learn more about their strengths and share them with you. Ask new leaders to take StrengthsFinder, if they haven’t already, and keep a database of everyone’s strengths to leverage. Plan a leadership retreat early in the year to discuss plans and strengths needs to fulfill those plans.

26. Questions?