organizations. Families may have difficulty making use of these organizations that seem impersonal, bureaucratic and puzzling.
When they were growing up, Jim and Marie did not have this problem, because they knew the family doctor, the minister and the teacher personally. Suddenly, these professionals now work under the umbrella of an organization that is usually big and growing. While the professionals are competent and caring, their systems are often stiff.
When Jim’s and Marie’s parents needed help, they sought it from familiar places. Now, there are waiting lists and appointments. When visiting a professional, sometimes Jim and Marie get the help they need. But too often the contact leads to a referral to another organization. This referral process proves difficult to navigate. They take their place on a new list. When they get an appointment, they have to tell their story all over again. Strangely, the first organization does not pass its information on to the next.
If their problem is about a child’s school performance, then after a school meeting, Jim and Marie might be referred to a reading specialist, a psychologist or a psychiatrist. This process can easily take three months.
The recommendation may be ultimately quite helpful, but the family realizes that often the helping organizations involve families in routines that are too slow, too complicated and too chancy. They see that all these organizations are not working together. Jim and Marie see the big gap, as families must travel from one organization to the next. When they finally get to the right services, there is no assurance that any agency will stick with them as long as they need it.
Our bizarre situation is that the family, the institution with by far the greatest impact on the character of children, is disconnected from its community sources of help. The leaders of our most vital institution, the family, have their hands tied behind their backs in their job of being parents. They have difficulty finding the help that they need. Nobody seems to focus on their roles and skills as family leaders.
Services offered to this family need to be accessible and connected. The agency’s range of services can include residential, school-based, counseling, home care training and information. The greater the range, the greater the family’s choice and ease of access. The most exciting new frontier is family wellness. The Complete Leader shows Joe and Marie new ways to lead the family in our complex society.
Section III: The Organization
Susan knows that the key to her leadership in the ward is found in her relationships with her nurses. Jim and Marie know that the client services they need must be easily available, uncomplicated and reliable.
These are significant challenges facing today’s human service organizations. The big question is leadership.
These organizations are overworked and under-financed but populated with competent, dedicated personnel. Facing these challenges will require new leadership styles that are based on proven records of achievement. The Complete Leader provides details of leadership practices that have come from reliable experiences.
Project New Hope, a successful human services project that took place in Atlanta, Georgia, is the working model:
• The mission clearly defines who is to be served and why.
• Long-range plans make for orderly growth, one step at a time.
• A range of services enable clients to access the help they need.
• Services and results are documented and measured.
• The organization is founded on mutuality and teamwork.
•The organization recognizes the vital place of faith in human affairs.
This handbook brings proven practices for leaders in human service organizations. It contains practices developed through years of professional practices. It is beneficial to professional, volunteer and family leaders.
Section I - The Leader
The human services leader leads an orchestra of professionals and volunteers whose combined purpose is to help families and individuals. She leads through her knowledge of sound leadership practices and through her very person.
This handbook offers leadership lessons from proven practice, illustrating essential practices and insights into the human processes of leading.
A practitioner wrote this handbook. Leadership is learned on the job—not through books and courses, and ultimately not even through this one. The Handbook can be useful. Leadership is tough, rewarding but only for those who would choose no other work.
Chapter 1 - Leadership in the Voluntary Services Organization
It is a pleasure to reflect on the nature of the voluntary organization and its leadership. It is a comfort to remember that in our society human services are in the hands of communities of volunteers, despite the ever presence of money madness in our world. Human services have their origins in the voluntary organizations. Their service purposes have not changed with time.
The mission of the organization is the cornerstone of leadership. Mission identifies those to be served, their special needs and the desired results.
The essence of leadership is enabling others to perform to their full capacity and satisfaction. And the very essence of the essence is trust.
In Canada, the beneficiaries of our human services number in the millions. Their special challenges range from a child adjusting to school to marital tension to spiritual confusion. The voluntary sector is blessed with highly competent volunteers and professionals.
From a cursory view of the organization, it is apparent that leadership is exercised at different levels in the human services organization.
There are at least four leadership levels:
• The board of directors holds total responsibility for policy, finance and community relations.
• The senior management level is responsible for the total operation.
• At the program level, the focus is on specific services.
• Responsibility for the welfare of the client is found at the direct service level.
With leadership operating at different levels with different roles, there is a need for common elements of leadership style. Incompatible styles lead to confusion and diminished services.
The first common element of leadership is a balance between the human relations and the performance sides of leadership. Some leaders favor the human relations side of leading; others prefer a “getting the job done” style. A balance is required. Too great a reliance on one style leads to service ineffectiveness.
Here is a real-life experience of contrasts in leadership styles.
James was the principal of a training college for leaders. He was posted to a local church congregation in western Ontario to become the lead clergyman. When meeting with the church council, James explained that he brought a good knowledge of leadership literature but no experience as a congregation leader.
James then took the unusual position that he would try no direct leadership efforts. He pointed out that the council members understood the congregation better than
