One of the leadership qualities that we teach to our leaders at Lakeside is the concept of hope. It is essential that non-profit leaders understand and are able to instill hope into their associates and staff. I believe that in my decades of leading a non-profit the inspiration of hope has been key to our growth and sustaining momentum.
The level of adversity has been palpable to any non-profit organization that is attempting to provide programs and services that serve people, whether in education, mental health or other causes that are important to our society such as the arts. The challenges to help these causes to maintain their mission seems to be ever-changing. Leaders and organizations have had to be adaptive, creative and hopeful as we encountered continuous struggles over time.
Hope should be seen as being able to envision a positive future that does not yet exist. It is to have a vision of what we can be in spite of challenges, adversity or just normal obstacles. It sets the stage for growth, momentum and inspiration that leads to a new path for how we will fulfill tangible goals creatively. A hopeful leader inspires others to pursue new trajectories where they can join a journey that may be threatening but that will lead to opportunities for impactful and sustaining outcomes.
Any seasoned non-profit leader has faced these realities at one time or another. If they survive these challenges, they attain a well-developed resolve and resilience due to the depth of experience that they have endured. It prepares hopeful leaders to take the necessary and sometimes bold risks to dream and pursue a course of action that will facilitate solutions to the dilemmas that can jeopardize their mission.
I know these have been my experiences through the decades of Lakeside’s growth and development. There have been some key moments where we had to call on our strengths and commitments to shape the character of our next steps. If it weren’t for hope and faith in our mission and some significant creativity, we would not have survived.
I am writing this post because in these days of frozen funding, potential threats to many of our causes and budgetary cuts, non-profit leaders must call on their resilience, skills and innovation to navigate the devastating challenges we face. It is a time where we look beyond our limitations, instill hope into our staff members and work diligently to create ways to sustain our respective missions. We need to support each other as we strive to survive some of the more difficult consequences of the losses that are part of our current reality.
This all begins with a hope that we can continue to see a future in spite of what could be characterized as a dismal set of circumstances. Our non-profit leaders are the main caregivers for some of the best parts of our society. We all must use our experiences and capabilities to create new alternatives to help those who need our services! In so doing we can develop a future that will continue to sustain our mission and support to those in our care.
Gerry Vassar
President/CEO
