You work in a complex environment. During any given week, you have to interact with your employees and colleagues, your board members, and your donors. Your management skills will help you traverse this multitude of individuals. Good management requires respect for those with whom you interact, open communication with all, confidence in your own skills to manage and lead, and a belief in your organization’s mission and goals.

There are, however, challenges in nonprofit management. As the Executive director, you have to:

• Keep up on constantly changing outside regulations and policies.
• Be accountable for your outcomes to your board members and donors.
• Achieve a leadership balance and clarify your role, relationship, and expectations with board members, volunteers, and staff.
• Balance the planning for short-term needs as well as long term goals.
• Maintain a supportive environment for staff and volunteers when resources are limited.
• Advance the goals and functions of the entire organization.
• Work effectively with highly complex relationships and many different constituencies.

Whew, that is a lot to balance on a day-to-day basis! So, what is the greatest challenge you face as the Executive Director of your organization? What are some of the management tools that you utilize to lead and manage in your role? I look forward to hearing from you and will focus my next blog on addressing your comments.