Nonprofits Falling Short In Leadership Development

Most nonprofit managers would agree that developing new leaders is one of the most important ways to ensure the success of the mission. Yet, according to a recent survey, many of these same leaders admit that they are falling short when it comes to taking a systematic approach to leadership development.

The findings from a Bridgespan Group leadership development diagnostic survey of more than 225 nonprofit leaders indicated that many organizations are still lagging behind when it comes to developing new leaders. Some of the results from the study include:

• Leaders are engaged but struggle to act. Only 36 percent say leaders are held accountable for leadership development and only 38 percent engage their boards in the process.
• Future needs are not well understood. Fewer than 30 percent say they have plans to address leadership gaps and only 37 percent have successions plans.
• Development of future leaders is not being linked to organizational needs. Only 50 percent evaluate employee potential as well as performance, and fewer than 29 percent say they have development plans for individuals.
• Leadership vacancies tend to be filled by external candidates. Only 25 percent are filled by internal candidates.
• Efforts to monitor and improve are relatively weak. Fewer than 30 percent have organization-wide goals for leadership development and only 23 percent are tracking progress.