Leadership: A Nonprofit Self-Assessment
Reading Bill Murphy Jr.’s article for Inc., If You Can Honestly Say Yes to These 5 Questions, You’re a Much Better Leader Than You Think, gave me pause. My answers to these questions went beyond a simple and straight-forward “yes” or “no;” they prompted a self-assessment of my strengths, recent areas of growth, and where I still have room to improve.
These are the three questions from the list that stood out the most for me:
1. Do you know how to delegate?
This is where I’m currently working to improve. I ask myself these three questions daily:
Is this the best use of my time? Is it important to our client that I be the one to do this task? Am I better at this than others on my team, or in my network?
If the answer to any of these is yes, I continue forward. If the answer to any of them is no, then I either delegate or at least ask for help! I also like Bill’s distinction between simply delegating tasks and delegating them effectively. Equipping my team with clear objectives and deadlines sets us up for success as a whole.
2. Do you respect people’s time?
This is my most recent area of growth. Although I still have room for improvement, I now try to keep the author’s final point in mind: time is the only 100% non-renewable resource, and employees respect bosses who respect their time.
3. Do you have a sense of humor?
This is where I am probably the most competent! I learned to have a sense of humor, especially when things get rough, from great leadership examples like Beth Karnes Huffman, CPA. Having emotional balance and celebrating wins – even celebrating losses because of the lessons that can be found in them – goes a long way with my team.
What does your self-assessment as a leader look like? What are your strengths? Where have you grown the most? Where can you stand to improve? I encourage all leaders to check in with themselves on these and the article's other points periodically. Self-assessment is a great method to monitor continual growth in your leadership abilities.
