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How can nonprofit leaders successfully navigate through disruptive times?
One of the essential conversations to effective business strategizing is consideration to disruptive times. For nonprofit organizations, disruption can be a defining line between success and failure, and if not appropriately acknowledged, leaders and their organizations can be left without the proper resources to address the disruptions head on and successfully navigate through the disruptive times. While it is not possible to plan for every possible disruption that could present for an organization, it is essential to have effective resources and strategies to turn to when they do present; when an organization is able to establish these, as staff and executive leadership turnover occurs there are trusted strategies to turn to and rely on.
The National Center for Family Philanthropy and S.D. Bechtel presents one of the strongest arguments for how to equip an organization with the ability to navigate through disruption is by building up their ideal characteristics of a resilient organization. The NCFP lays out 7 characteristics that make for a solid foundation for a resilient organization “purpose driven, clear eyed, future oriented, open [in their communication], empowered, committed to self-renewal, connected” (Bechtel 2020). With these characteristics in mind, an organization can build strong grounds to support themselves through disruption.
On a similar point Michael Tomlinson speaks on the benefits of having not just a resilient organization but also a resilient leader. Tomlinson argues that a resilient leader that is “visionary, understood, courageous and agile (‘VUCA’) are best positioned to not only navigate storms but charge through them”. Tomlinson offers seven key disciplines of a resilient leader in successful and thriving organizations including “thoughtful communication, imperfect decision-making, proactive collaboration, unquestionable authenticity, discernment in fast risk-taking, enhancing a strategic mindset, and deeply empathetic”. With a combination of both Bechtel’s and Tomlinson’s takes on resilience, an organization will have the proper foundation to successfully navigate through disruption.
Arguably before an organization can establish resilient leaders, they may first want to embrace Jim Collins concept of identifying “level 5 leadership” and “having the right people on the bus”. This concept of “having the right people on the bus” brings light to the importance of ensuring that an organization has quality leadership passionate about what they do and driven to continue to make an impact for the organization. As Collins explains “you cannot possibly predict what’s coming around the corner but best ‘strategy’ is to have a busload of people who can adapt to and perform brilliantly no matter what comes next", confirming that quality leadership assists is establishing the essential factor of resilience for an organization.
Collins establishes a powerful point about organizations needing to empower themselves through strategy and planning. Lindsey Waldron and Preeta Nayak reason that “establishing a clear set of decision-making principles can help leaders steer their organizations through crisis and beyond” (Waldron et al., 2020) as an effective strategy for navigating disruption. To a similar tone, Lee Klumpp argues that “success hinges on identifying these externalities and having a plan to navigate them”. In addition to having a solid foundation of resilience deeply embedded in the organization, starting with the leaders of the agency, organizations must have a specific plan and strategy to respond to the disruption. With these powerful tools organizations can be well equipped and successfully navigate through disruptive times.
Katrina Brass is a spring 2025 Graduate of the Master's of Nonprofit Leadership and Management program at Arizona State University, She is currently the Quality Improvement Director for Yolo Community Care Continuum, a nonprofit mental and behavioral health and social service agency that serves various areas of California, and aspires to own her own nonprofit organization to help other organizations build up their quality assurance departments and strategies for effective program delivery.
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