The Only Constant is Change: Give Younger Generations the Chance to Create a Better Future for the Nonprofit Sector

"...What will ultimately happen is that new generations will simply create their own institutions to replace the old ways of doing business."
- comment by Michele Martin on this blog post

I have been thinking about Michele’s inspiring words a lot lately. Just think, younger leaders of Generations X and Y absolutely have the opportunity to change the face of the nonprofit sector and find new ways of fulfilling our missions smarter, faster, cheaper, and with more innovation to better our communities. Now I’m all for ditching the old models of working that are not working in our organizations, but for young nonprofit professionals, it’s just not that easy to envision. The question we are all asking ourselves is, how? We know there has to be a better way to serve more kids and battle hunger more effectively and fight poverty, etc. but we just don't know how it will work when our ideas for change aren't always welcomed in our current organizations. We feel the challenges every day concerning long hours and low pay, the lack of infrastructure, inefficient technology, and outdated modes of implementing programs that hinder us from doing our jobs well. So we know there are more effective ways of implementing social change, and we bring the energy and idealism to back it up. But how can things change if younger generations aren't a part of the solution in current organizations? How will our ideas help shape the invisible future of the nonprofit sector?

Frances Kunreuther of the Building Movement Project made a great presentation on generational leadership change in the nonprofit sector this week in DC, calling this the "hard to see ahead problem." Frances pointed out that in order to move forward, we as a nonprofit sector have to face the reality that:

1. There are new generations of leaders but they look and act differently than current leaders - they are younger, more racially diverse, and have differing views on organizational culture and leadership than baby boomers.

2. Organizations in the future will look and act differently than current nonprofits.

These are the hard facts, people, but we know that baby boomers and next generation leaders are having a hard time working together to address these trends toward the future. The two points that Frances mentioned imply that the entire nature of nonprofit leadership will change with the retirement of current executives. Instead of rewarding the status quo, it will be important to identify leaders who can reconceptualize how nonprofit organizations can be structured for maximum impact. In an increasingly crowded nonprofit environment where competition for resources and community support is fierce, the public will be looking at what kinds of leaders and nonprofits can fix the problem the best. Funders and donors especially are already more and more hungry for new approaches to social change since clearly the techniques we've been doing for a million years haven't made enough of a dent on the issues so far.

What does this mean for current baby boomer nonprofit leaders? If you care about your organizations, your mission to improve the world in some way, and your communities, it's critical that you involve and work closely with younger generations to help prepare them for the long road ahead. Instead of being skeptical of new ideas, it's important to realize that new ideas are the only thing that will help nonprofits to survive in the coming years, so it's in nonprofits' best interest to cultivate younger generations quick and in a hurry as the landscape changes. Like James Kouzes and Barry Posner assert in their seminal book, The Leadership Challenge, all you need to do is give potential leaders what they want, which is simply:

• the chance be tested to make it on one's own
• the chance to take part in a social experiment
• the chance to do something well
• the chance to do something good
• the chance to change the way things are

There is the challenge, and then there is the opportunity. The coming leadership deficit will not be a crisis unless we let it get to that point, and I'm saying let's work now to help shape future leaders rather than later. If the only thing constant in life is change, then let's get with the program and work it to our advantage to create a better future for the nonprofit sector. Are you with me?