Better Governance For Nonprofits: Leadership That Works

Better Governance For Nonprofits: Leadership That Works

Dec 1, 2024 | Leadership, Transformation

In the nonprofit world, governance often clings to outdated, top-down leadership models, emphasizing hierarchy, control, and directive authority. These approaches may have served organizations in the past, but they are increasingly inadequate in addressing today’s complex challenges. Nonprofits operate in a world of interconnected systems, shifting cultural values, and growing demands for equity, collaboration, and innovation. Many boards and leaders, however, remain entrenched in traditional leadership concepts, failing to adapt to the participatory and relational approaches that modern times demand.

The Need for Transformative Leadership
At the heart of this issue lies a fundamental misunderstanding of leadership. Too often, leadership is viewed as a static quality embodied by a select few rather than a dynamic, relational process that involves all system members.

Scholars like Peter Senge (1990), however, argue that leadership is about building systems and fostering organizational learning to respond effectively to complexity. This approach contrasts with traditional, top-down models of leadership that emphasize individual authority. Transformative leadership offers a much-needed alternative to outdated models because it shifts the focus from individual authority to collective participation, creating a context where all voices are valued, relationships are nurtured, and creativity thrives.

Transformative leaders understand that effective governance is not about exerting control but fostering collaboration. They embrace the idea that leadership is not a one-way street but a mutual process where leaders and followers engage in a shared journey. James MacGregor Burns (1978) introduced the idea of transformational leadership as a mutual stimulation and elevation that converts followers into leaders. Building on this notion, transformative leadership emphasizes mutual growth and the creation of generative contexts where all members of an organization contribute meaningfully.

This shift is essential for nonprofits. While hierarchical structures might offer a sense of order, they often stifle creativity, marginalize diverse perspectives, and fail to address systemic issues. Research by scholars such as Margaret Wheatley (1992) highlights the limitations of control-based systems and the power of collaborative, adaptive approaches.

However, resistance to change persists. Boards and executive teams often cling to hierarchical models out of habit or fear of losing control. This mindset is counterproductive, as traditional governance frameworks may provide a veneer of stability, but they are ill-suited to the interconnected and unpredictable challenges nonprofits face today.

Reimagining Nonprofit Governance
To overcome these limitations, nonprofits can reimagine governance through the lens of transformative leadership. Leaders must engage in self-inquiry—a practice emphasized by thinkers like Parker Palmer in The Courage to Lead (1998)—to reflect on their assumptions about power, identity, and relationships. Boards, too, must evolve, shifting from oversight and gatekeeping to active partnerships with staff and stakeholders.

Transformative leadership is not just a theoretical ideal but a practical necessity. As Otto Scharmer argues (2007), effective leadership requires letting go of old patterns and embracing the co-creative potential of the present moment. Nonprofits that adopt this approach can move beyond the inadequacies of top-down governance and become true agents of systemic change.

The question is not whether transformative leadership is needed in nonprofit governance—rather, it is why we still cling to outdated models. By embracing participatory and relational leadership, nonprofits can align with the complexities of the world they seek to change, fostering equitable, sustainable, and impactful futures.

The time for transformative leadership is now. Are we ready to answer the call?

References

Burns, J. M. (1978). Leadership. New York: Harper & Row.

Palmer, P. J. (1998). The Courage to Lead: Exploring the Inner Landscape of a Leader’s Life. Jossey-Bass.

Scharmer, O. (2007). Theory U: Leading from the Future as It Emerges. Berrett-Koehler Publishers.

Senge, P. M. (1990). The fifth discipline : the art and practice of the learning organization. New York :Doubleday/Currency,

Wheatley, M. (1992). Leadership and the New Science: Discovering Order in a Chaotic World. Berrett-Koehler Publishers.

Unstorying the Self: Exploring Personal Narratives and Collective Responsibility

Unstorying the Self: Exploring Personal Narratives and Collective Responsibility

Oct 13, 2024 | Transformation

As I reflect on my responsibilities as a human being to others, which include people, the more-than-human world, and the planet, I cannot help but question my story. Whose story is this?

Unstorying My Self
Recently, I embarked on Unstorying™ Practitioner Training. Developed by Nicole Miller, PhD, this training teaches a process and practice of self-actualization shadow work grounded in depth psychology, which focuses on exploring the unconscious and subconscious aspects of the mind.

According to proponents of depth psychology, which would include Carl Jung if he were alive, these unconscious and subconscious aspects of the mind drive much of human behavior. To understand human behavior, then, I must look not just within myself, but rather at the narrative arc of how I make meaning out of my own experiences.

The question, ‘Whose story is this?,’ is neither rhetorical nor easily answered by merely pointing the finger at myself (or someone else). Rather, this question invites me to explore myself in relation to the stories I craft when trying to make sense of phenomena.

Unearthing The Self
Dr. Miller uses the term ‘unearthing’ to describe her process of self-inquiry, whereas I might prefer the term, excavate.’ However, our respective characterizations are similar in that we focus on our selves – not the constructed self  we often imagine through our stories, but the inside self that remains outside the stories that seemingly captivate us.

Who am I outside of my stories – and are these really ‘my’ stories? These questions are pregnant with assumptions, none of which are truth in the way Western society might present.

Unearthing the self is not so much an effort to re-narrate an individual life’s meaning to reveal a truth. Rather, it is an opportunity to reimagine the self outside the bounds of linearity and cognition. To inquire into the self is therefore not (and not not) anything other than exploration through the catacombs of our respective consciousnesses, which are portals to what exists within (and outside) ourselves.

Widening The Self
These ruminations lead me back to my initial reflection, which is to what extent am I responsible to others? Indeed, if my focus is exclusively on my self, how can anything I do have value for others?

From an ecopsychological point of view, the answer may be to widen (and deepen) my concept of self to include identification not just with other humans and society but also with nature and the world itself (Naess, 1987).

When we identify with something larger than ourselves, whether that be our family, a circle of friends, a team, or a community, that becomes part of who we are. There is so much more to us than just a separate self; our connected self is based on recognizing that we are part of many larger circles. (Macy & Johnstone, 2012, p. 90)

If our stories and metaphors (and our responses to them) represent ancient forms of innate human knowledge that exist within the collective unconscious (Jung, 2010), unstorying myself has ethical implications. For whom? Precisely.

In the words of Heinz von Foerster, the Ethical Imperative is to “act always so as to increase the number of choices” (2018, p. 13). And stories.

References

Jung, C. G. (2010). Four archetypes. In G. Adler (Ed.) & R. F. C. Hull (Trans.), Collected works of C. G. Jung (Vol. 9, Part 1, pp. 7–44). Princeton University Press. (Original work published 1969)

Macy, J., & Johnstone, C. (2012). Active hope: How to face the mess we’re in without going crazy. New World Library.

Naess, A. (2005). Self-realization: An ecological approach to being in the world. In A. Drengson (Ed.), The selected works of Arne Naess (Vols. 1–10, pp. 2781–2797). Springer. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4020-4519-6

von Foerster, H. (2003). Understanding understanding: Essays on cybernetics and cognition. Springer.

Marketing’s Role in Shaping Self-Perception

Marketing’s Role in Shaping Self-Perception

Sep 15, 2024 | Marketing

Marketing is deeply intertwined with our worldview because it shapes and reflects how we perceive ourselves, others, and the world around us.

Identity and Self-Perception
Marketing shapes how people see themselves by promoting lifestyles, behaviors, and choices that reflect desirable or attainable identities. Marketing can also be aspirational in its appeal to various consumers’ desires, equating success and happiness with acquiring certain products or experiences.

These desires to which marketers appeal mirror a culture’s values, beliefs, and social norms. Therefore, advertisements, branding, and messaging are designed to resonate with the target audience’s prevailing worldview.

For example, marketing campaigns in different countries often emphasize values like individualism in the U.S. or community in Japan. Brands also use symbols, language, and imagery, all of which hold significance within a specific culture, reinforcing or challenging existing worldviews.

Inclusivity and Representation
Effective marketing can broaden worldviews by representing diverse cultures, identities, and experiences. By understanding and addressing different groups’ unique needs and experiences, marketers have the unique opportunity to develop (and demonstrate) empathy, which is crucial in a world in active ecological crisis.

Can marketers help address the ecological crisis and the issues that face us as a planet? Yes, especially if marketers can embrace the notion that they are storytellers and that the stories they craft have the potential to not just foster brand-consumer connections but also bridge gaps between different perspectives and tap into shared human emotions and experiences.

Thoughts to Consider
Ultimately, marketing and our worldviews have a profound and reciprocal relationship. Marketing not only reflects the values and beliefs of our culture but also shapes our perceptions and identities. Stated simply, our worldview represents these values and beliefs.

As consumers, the next time we are presented with a marketing message while scrolling through Facebook or YouTube, for example, perhaps we can self-reflect and collectively ask ourselves what is actually being sold (and what we think we are buying).

For marketers, the opportunity lies in exploring how our messaging can genuinely promote (and champion) the diverse ways in which people think, feel, and express their needs and desires.

Beyond the Hero’s Journey: Rethinking Our Worldview to Address the Ecological Crisis (Part III)

Beyond the Hero’s Journey: Rethinking Our Worldview to Address the Ecological Crisis (Part III)

Jul 27, 2024 | Transformation

To some extent, the hero’s journey reflects and perpetuates a colonizer mindset, leading to the subjugation of entire cultures. Simpson (2011) noted that the current generation of Indigenous people “has been repeatedly told that individually we are stupid, and that collectively our nations were and are devoid of higher thought” (p. 32).

Time and Cultural Perspectives
Moreover, the linear nature of time, often central to hero narratives, is not a given for many cultures (Yunkaporta, 2021). The traditional hero myth may also not resonate with people of color, including Black women. Stein (1984) cited Black author Toni Morrison as one example:

Unlike the stock epic tale, in which the hero, driven by inner compulsion to leave society in search of knowledge and power, undertakes a dangerous but successful journey and returns in triumph to transform a fallen world, Sula presents a tale of courage in the face of limitation and powerlessness, of self-knowledge wrested from loss and suffering, of social amelioration eked out of hatred and fear. (Stein, 1984, p. 146)

Postmodern Critiques and Western Thought
The limitations of the hero’s journey are more evident in a postmodern world. Schieffer and Lessem (2016) note that many myths no longer carry their initial power to interpret the world and the cosmos or provide us with guidance.

In these complex times, a new hero must consider nature, humanity, and the more-than-human world in context. Analyzing complex phenomena out of context exemplifies disjunction, a conceptual pillar of Western thought. Morin (2014) defined disjunction as an investigatory principle whereby objects are divided into basic components without regard for their connections.

This thinking style is apparent in the Western focus on individual parts of nature (or humanity) over which control can be exercised. Westerners are not trained to think systemically, or use context, in their interpretations of the world.

Nisbett et al. (2001) note that “inferences rest in part on the practice of decontextualizing structure from content, the use of formal logic, and avoidance of contradiction” (p. 159). We cannot, however, avoid contradictions in today’s world, which calls into question the usefulness of the hero’s journey and its framing of problems in linear ways.

Besides its limitations for overcoming complex crises, the hero’s journey is inadequate given advances in our understanding of consciousness and its connection to transformation.

Rethinking Transformation and Consciousness
According to Mezirow (1978), transformation is a permanent change in an individual’s worldview.

However, the hero myth tends to reinforce a prior worldview and what is already suspected as truth. The boons of success referenced by Campbell (2008) could be seen as a false truth leading to a false self, especially when humans, particularly in the European-American world, separate their identities from the natural world (Canty, 2014).

This ability to separate one’s identity from the natural world is endemic to a larger European-American worldview. In popular mythology, the habitats, creatures, and processes of the natural world are ancillary characters in the story of humanity, as humans are unable (or unwilling) to see beyond their perspective.

Shorb (2012) suggested that humans harbor an innate need to affiliate with the natural world. Called biophilia, this need is “the genetic legacy that is a portal between the psychic landscape that inhabits us and the physical landscape that we inhabit” (p. 3). However, this may not be a portal through which the archetypal hero is inclined (or equipped) to walk.

In future files, I will explore alternatives to the hero’s journey as a metaphor for transformation.

 References

Canty, J. M. (2014). Walking between worlds: Holding multiple worldviews as a key for ecological transformation. International Journal of Transpersonal Studies, 33(1), 15–26, Article 4. http://dx.doi.org/10.24972/ijts.2014.33.1.15

Mezirow, J. (1978). Perspective transformation. Adult Education Quarterly, 28(2), 100–110. https://doi.org/10.1177/074171367802800202

Morin, E. (2014). Complex thinking for a complex world—About reductionism, disjunction and systemism. Systema: Connecting Matter, Life, Culture and Technology, 2(1), 14–22.

Nisbett, R. E., Peng, K., Choi, I., & Norenzayan, A. (2001). Culture and systems of thought: Holistic versus analytic cognition. Psychological Review, 108(2), 291–310. https://doi.org/10.1037/0033-295x.108.2.291

Schieffer, A., & Lessem, R. (2016). Integral development: Realising the transformative potential of individuals, organisations and societies. Routledge.

Shorb, T. L. (2012, Summer). Exploring the twin landscapes of biophilic learning. Green Teacher, No. 96, 3–7. https://www.proquest.com/openview/dbeb7979afbe3b91f57e4601da9e3709/1.pdf?pq-origsite=gscholar&cbl=33544

Simpson, L. B. (2011). Dancing on our turtle’s back: Stories of Nishnaabeg re-creation, resurgence and a new emergence. Arbeiter Ring.

Stein, K. F. (1984, December). Toni Morrison’s Sula: A Black woman’s epic. Black American Literature Forum, 18(4), 146–150. https://doi.org/10.2307/2904289

Yunkaporta, T. (2021). Sand talk: How Indigenous thinking can save the world (Illustrated ed.). HarperOne.

Beyond the Hero’s Journey: Rethinking Our Worldview to Address the Ecological Crisis (Part II)

Beyond the Hero’s Journey: Rethinking Our Worldview to Address the Ecological Crisis (Part II)

Jul 23, 2024 | Transformation

Technology, profit, productivity—these are hallmarks of what is often construed as progress within the Western worldview? Progress for whom?

These thirsts are fueled by a belief shared by many in the Western world that nature is little more than a machine. According to Rout and Reid (2020), the machine metaphor “delineates nature as predictable, controllable, mindless matter that is separate from and does not matter as much as culture” (p. 948).

Seen through this metaphor, the ecological crisis is little more than a structural problem, a proverbial chink in the system that is nature that can be “fixed” by the hero.

Humanity’s “Needs”
In framing any aspect of the ecological crisis through the lens of its impact on humanity’s needs and wants, the Western world supports the importance of humanity over nature.

Extending this worldview, the machine metaphor lauds progress versus balance and the primary of globalization compared to local phenomena, all of which have helped turn nature into a commodity, a machine built for human use (Sullivan, 2010).

Metaphors such as “steward” are equally problematic. Whereas “steward” implies a moral obligation to care for the Earth, this term also suggests the Earth is inanimate with humans somehow its master (Flint et al., 2013).

Ubiquity of the Hero’s Journey
One way to better understand the machine metaphor (and ecological crisis) is to look at the rationale that supports the narrative structure and sequence of hero’s journey myths. Within these myths, presented similarly throughout the world, “a hero ventures forth from the common day world into a region of supernatural wonder” (Campbell, 2008, p. 28).

Campbell described the universality of the classic hero narrative as a monomyth, a single hero story with which all humans resonate (Allison & Goethals, 2016). According to Campbell (2008), this story follows a trajectory with three primary sequential stages: “A separation from the world, a penetration to some source of power, and a life-enhancing return” (p. 33).

Humans have always been drawn to hero stories, the evidence of which “can be found in the earliest known narratives that describe stirring accounts of the exploits of heroes and heroic leaders” (Kerényi, 1978, as cited in Allison & Goethals, 2016, pp. 188–189).

Rank (1952) said these heroes, found in different nations and “widely separated by space and entirely independent of each other,” present “a baffling similarity, or in part a literal correspondence” (p. 1). Homer’s Odyssey, written 2,700 years ago, is widely regarded as one of the first and best examples of the hero’s journey in the Western world (Allison & Goethals, 2016).

Hero’s Journey Examples
Examples of other ancient hero stories from across the world include “Hesiod, Vishnu, Gilgamesh, Etana, Sundiata, Beowulf, Samson, Thor, Leonidas, Guan Yu, among others” (Durant, 2002, as cited in Allison & Goethals, 2016, p. 189). The hero’s journey is also found in today’s movies, including “Harry Potter, Superman, James Bond, Luke Skywalker, and The Lion King’s Simba” (Singh, 2021, p. 183).

The hero’s journey is not simply a metaphor experienced as entertainment. Rather, it is explicitly used in numerous professional domains: counseling (Lawson, 2005), education (Brown & Moffett, 1999), transformational tourism (Robledo & Batle, 2017), and leadership (Goethals & Allison, 2019) among others.

Despite its ubiquity, tales of a single (usually male) hero armed with superior intelligence do not resonate with all people—a concept that will be explored at great length in the next file in this series.

References

Allison, S. T., & Goethals, G. R. (2016). Hero worship: The elevation of the human spirit. Journal for the Theory of Social Behaviour, 46(2), 187–210. https://doi.org/10.1111/jtsb.12094

Brown, J. L., & Moffett, C. A. (1999). Hero’s journey: How educators can transform schools and improve learning. Association for Supervision & Curriculum Development.

Campbell, J. (2008). The hero with a thousand faces (Vol. 17). New World Library.

Flint, C. G., Kunze, I., Muhar, A., Yoshida, Y., & Penker, M. (2013). Exploring empirical typologies of human–nature relationships and linkages to the ecosystem services concept. Landscape and Urban Planning, 120, 208–217. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.landurbplan.2013.09.002

Goethals, G. R., & Allison, S. T. (2019). The romance of heroism and heroic leadership. Emerald.

Lawson, G. (2005). The hero’s journey as a developmental metaphor in counseling. The Journal of Humanistic Counseling, Education and Development, 44(2), 134–144. https://doi.org/10.1002/j.2164-490X.2005.tb00026.x

Rank, O. (1952). The myth of the birth of the hero: A psychological interpretation of mythology (F. Robbins & S. E. Jelliffe, Trans.). R. Brunner.

Robledo, M. A., & Batle, J. (2017). Transformational tourism as a hero’s journey. Current Issues in Tourism, 20(16), 1736–1748. https://doi.org/10.1080/13683500.2015.1054270

Rout, M., & Reid, J. (2020). Embracing Indigenous metaphors: A new/old way of thinking about sustainability. Sustainability Science, 15(3), 945–954. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11625-020-00783-0

Singh, M. (2021). The sympathetic plot, its psychological origins, and implications for the evolution of fiction. Emotion Review, 13(3), 183–198. https://doi.org/10.1177/17540739211022824

Sullivan, S. (2010, Summer). “Ecosystem service commodities”-a new imperial ecology? Implications for animist immanent ecologies, with Deleuze and Guattari. New Formations, 69, 111–128. https://www.ingentaconnect.com/content/lwish/nf/2010/00000069/00000069/art00009