Management and Leadership in the Voluntary Sector
Nicky Adams
Just the title starts opening up all sorts of questions…what is the difference between management and leadership (practically and according to the academics)? Is there one? Does it matter? And what exactly do we mean by the voluntary sector? I will make some attempt to address these questions, as well as consider what the challenges are in the sector.
Firstly, what do we mean by the voluntary sector? It can be described and defined in a number of ways. Today the term ‘voluntary’ refers to organisations which are both dependent on and managed by volunteers as well as the sector itself, and can include organisations such as trades unions which may not fit the general view of a voluntary organisation. My interest lies in leadership, management and the development of these skills. I am specifically interested in those organisations which have staff, but where the activities which are the purpose of the organisation are carried out exclusively or predominantly by volunteers. Volunteers manage other volunteers; volunteers probably outnumber staff; staff roles are separate from those of volunteers and the organisations could be described as “volunteer-led”. This presents a range of issues which I will speak more about later.
Then there is the thorny question of leadership and management. There are broadly two schools of thought here: the first is that leadership (doing the right thing) and management (doing things right) are not equal in value, leading to comparisons and judgements about their relative merits and importance; the second is that leadership is part of a wider set of management skills, where both are valid and necessary to make an organisation function effectively. Much of the older literature focuses on the first position, usually with leadership being seen as the gold standard, but more recent leadership theories such as servant leadership, distributed leadership and situational leadership take a more balanced view on the beliefs, skills and behaviours required by those in senior positions. Management theories have been superseded by leadership theories, even though when you look at the content of these different theories, many include elements of what is agreed are management and leadership skills. From this it can be seen that development of the skills required to do the role of leader or manager is also likely to be a challenge.
The vast majority of the academic literature about leadership, management and the development of these skills is based on research carried out in businesses, often in the US and often not very current. There is a strong view that for-profit leadership approaches are not always suitable in the not-for-profit sector, but where there is research into leadership management in the sector, it is almost exclusively based on staff managing volunteers. Because volunteers engage with their voluntary organisation for a very different set of reasons and motivations compared to staff a different approach to leadership and management is required. Where there is research into volunteers managing other volunteers, this focuses on Board level interaction rather than at lower levels in the organisation. It also tends to focus on strategic level leadership skills (often transformational) rather than a broad spectrum of skills which could be used at all levels and may need a transactional approach. To summarise, leadership at all levels of third sector organisations is required, not just at the top and a framework specifically for this is critical and in need of urgent development.
But if that is what the literature says, what do the people in the sector itself actually think? In the last six months I have attended a number of events where leaders and managers in the voluntary sector have been talking about what they think is important. Getting volunteers to step up into leadership and management roles seems to be a recurring theme in many voluntary organisations. One suggestion made is that the sector should find different language to describe these roles and what they involve. Relationships between staff and volunteers provide challenges: staff often have to manage volunteers who come from backgrounds that staff have no understanding or experience of; both parties can find it hard to appreciate the other’s motivation and this can lead to friction. Volunteers often have skills gained outside their volunteering which they might not think to use in this environment, or perhaps they have latent leadership and management skills. Identifying these skills, encouraging and motivating volunteers to use and/or develop them is a significant challenge, particularly when working with a large, geographically dispersed volunteer group whose contact with staff can be minimal. Trust in the leadership/management relationship is critical and takes effort on both sides. Managing volunteers is a challenging role — often large groups with diverse demographics and geography. It is also emotionally demanding as the most effective volunteer is an engaged and motivated volunteer, and providing the right relationship to motivate and engage without pay takes emotional input. This last view perhaps is the most pertinent for me, since it really highlights the difference between managing and leading staff and volunteers.
Recent research carried out for the Royal Voluntary Service identified that volunteering is changing and noted some key contexts which impact on this. We are in a societal context where volunteering is seen as an opportunity, not a service as it used to be. Issues like changes in work patterns, pension age, student loans, low pay, workplace volunteering, changes in the public sector are part of a wider policy context and this drives the financial context for voluntary organisations.
The people who lead, manage and volunteer in the sector would seem to agree with the academic literature — leadership, management and development of these skills is needed even more in the sector given the changing social landscape. My research aims to contribute to this in the future.
