Where are the new leaders?

Howard Lake | 3 July 2007 | Blogs

We talk a lot about professionalisation in the sector, and a good thing too.  But I worry that as a consultant I’m coming across more and more very competent managers, but fewer and fewer real leaders.
 Let me explain.  Managers are great for enabling people to do things: leaders are great for inspiring people to do great things.  Managers tend not to be risk-takers, but assess the options and adopt a cautious approach.  Leaders will encourage innovation and risk.  They are not afraid of failing and they are not afraid of being laughed at.  It was Ghandi who said “First they ignore you, then they laugh at you, then they fight you, then you win.”
The levels of competence in fundraiding management have never been higher, but the levels of innovation and risk appear to me to be lower than ever.  This is partly to do with the whole “risk assessment” culture that has appeared in the UK over the last 10 years, with the resulting risk aversion that trickles down from trustees.
As a sector, we need to do more to encourage leadership – we need to celebrate leaders at all levels – leaders after all are often not found in the higher echelons of management where they’ve had their leadership beaten out of them.  Come on Institute of Fundraising, let’s have some leadership awards recognising those people who’ve really shone and made things happen.

About Howard Lake
Howard Lake is consultant editor of UK Fundraising. He founded the site in 1994 and successfully sold it in 2022. As director of Giving X Ltd he is exploring growing giving on a massive scale. He is the founder of Fundraising Camp and co-founder of GoodJobs.