Executive Certificate in Nonprofit Leadership
Executive Certificate in Nonprofit Leadership
October 15-19, 2012
R. David Thomas Executive Conference Center, Duke University
Program Agenda (some agenda items may change)
- Monday, October 15
- Tuesday, October 16
- Wednesday, October 17
- Thursday, October 18
- Friday, October 19
8:00 – 9:15am | Opening Session
Nancy J. Love, MPA, Director, Nonprofit Management Program, Duke University Continuing Studies
Matthew T.A. Nash, Managing Director, Center for the Advancement of Social Entrepreneurship (CASE), Duke’s Fuqua School of Business
Following a welcome by course leaders, introductions, and an on-boarding activity, we will discuss participants’ expectations for the Executive Certificate Program and identify norms and standards for our learning community. We will conclude with an overview of the curriculum with special reference to the expectations identified earlier.
9:15 – 10:30am | Effective Leadership and the Nonprofit Executive
Matthew T.A. Nash, Managing Director, CASE at Duke
In this session, we will engage in a lively discussion of what leadership means for each of us. Together, we will examine the special challenges of leadership in the nonprofit sector. Finally, we will share the leadership development goals that we each bring with us to the Executive Certificate program. Working in breakout groups throughout the program, participants will have an opportunity to develop action plans to address these goals.
10:30 – 10:45am Break
10:45am – 12:00pm | Promising Practices of High-Impact Nonprofits
Matthew T.A. Nash, Managing Director, CASE at Duke
Nonprofits occupy a unique position in the organizational landscape of the United States. Although many of the fundamental principles and practices of effective leadership apply across all sectors and forms of organization, nonprofit leaders face a distinctive set of opportunities and challenges in comparison with their counterparts in the business and government sectors. Moreover, recent research has revealed a set of promising practices applied consistently to positive effect in many high impact nonprofits. In this session, we will engage in an interactive discussion of what leadership means for the participants, and the special challenges of leadership in mission-driven organizations. We will also consider how nonprofit leaders can implement internal and external practices aimed at improving the effectiveness with which the organization achieves its mission.
12:00 – 1:15pm Lunch
1:15 – 3:15pm | The Landscape of Leadership
In this session, participants will explore the broad body of literature and theory on leadership, including current leadership practices that are prevalent in the nonprofit sector, and will consider where they fit into this “landscape.” Participants will examine their preferred leadership and learning style(s) and implications for their effectiveness in various situations that may arise in the nonprofit workplace, with special emphasis on emphasizing strengths.
3:15 – 3:30pm BREAK
3:30 – 5:30pm | Entrepreneurial Leadership
Today's nonprofit organizations cannot compete without the entrepreneurial edge. Is your team ready? Entrepreneurial leaders seek to integrate their life, work, and purpose through distinctively entrepreneurial behavior—and, in so doing, create extraordinary lives of significance. Are YOU ready? Discussion will focus on the entrepreneurial path, including awakening to opportunity, envisioning the future, developing entrepreneurial goals and strategies, and taking action and making a difference. We will provide vivid examples, frameworks, and strategies for helping participants create a life of service and fulfillment.
5:30 – 5:45pm | Overview of Breakout Groups
Matthew T.A. Nash, Managing Director, CASE at Duke
6:00 – 7:00pm Dinner
7:15 – 8:45pm Breakout Groups
Tuesday, October 16
8:00 – 8:15am | Morning Check-In Session
Love & Nash
8:15 – 10:30am | Coaching Your Staff towards Organizational Success
This session is designed to give nonprofit executives a clear and actionable organizational management framework that attracts, motivates, and retains the top talent, and that empowers the executive to get the greatest results out of their team. During this session, you will learn how to cultivate the “Seven Characteristics of a Highly Effective Team.” We will outline a clear process you can use to successfully coach your staff to accomplish organizational objectives on time, with the resources given, and with exceptional results. As a result, participants will have an increased ability to foster and maintain a team dynamic that helps create results greater than the sum of each individual’s contribution.
10:30-10:45am Break
10:45-12:00pm | Preparing for the Next Generation of Leaders
Matthew T.A. Nash, Managing Director, CASE at Duke
Given the impending exodus of nonprofit leaders over the next five years, it is imperative for present leaders to cultivate those who will succeed them. In this session, a panel of emerging leaders will engage the participants in a dialogue on the motivations, ways of working, and aspirations of the rising generation. As a result of this discussion, participants will be better equipped to develop strategies for fostering a diverse cohort of new leaders in our organizations.
12:00-1:15pm Lunch
1:15-2:45pm | Cultivating Effective Relations with the Board of Directors
Effective leadership in the nonprofit sector is the result of a strong partnership between nonprofit executives and volunteer members of the board of directors. Moreover, in the past decade, the overall landscape of nonprofit governance has changed as regulators and the public demand increased accountability for ensuring that organizations achieve results. Through an interactive dialogue, we will consider promising practices for forging effective relationships between board and staff given the asymmetries in the knowledge, information, authorities, and incentives that characterize both groups.
2:45-3:00pm Break
3:00-6:00pm | The Courage to Lead
Participants will explore, individually and collectively, the inner realm of leadership, where they find the courage to make hard choices, and what it means to lead from a place of integrity. The session will introduce a “circle of trust” discernment model developed by author and activist Parker J. Palmer, and described in his most recent book Hidden Wholeness: The Journey Toward an Undivided Life. Individuals will engage in reflective practices (listening without fixing, suspending judgment, surfacing assumptions, observing silence) and learn how to ask open, honest questions. This discernment model is one being used by educators, nonprofit leaders, human services providers, and practitioners in the medical field throughout the nation.
6:00-7:00pm Dinner
7:00-8:45pm | Celebrate What’s Right with the World
An attitude of celebration unleashes energy and creativity and helps us focus on opportunities in the midst of a changing landscape. Yet when was the last time we paused to celebrate what is right with our programs, volunteers, organization or communities? Trained to see problems and search for solutions, many of us move from one challenge to the next, viewing life through a single lens. In this session, participants will see National Geographic photographer DeWitt Jones’ video Celebrate What’s Right with the World. In small groups, they will then explore seven key concepts the film presents to help approach our day-to-day lives with an attitude of celebration. Participants will also be asked to develop a personal vision statement; for when vision is clear, passion and creativity follow.
Wednesday, October 17
8:00-8:15am | Morning Check-In Session
Love & Nash
8:15-11:45am | Strategic Planning
How do you ensure that your vision and mission continue to thrive? How do you maintain your original goals and also provide flexibility for future expansion and changes? Clear evaluation of your organization’s vision, mission and goals, its products and services, customer perceptions and market evaluation help to set a strategic direction and revitalize your organization. In this session, you will learn to use well-developed strategic planning tools to create a framework for your organization that incorporates your original vision, considers future directions, and revitalizes your organization.
12:00-1:15pm Lunch
1:15-4:15pm | Managing Strategic Change
Nonprofit leaders must seek to bring about change every day—change in their teams, organizations, and communities—but implementing change is downright difficult, as any seasoned leader would agree. In this session, we will consider the management tactics required to create and communicate a vision for change, structure an effective process of managing change, identify and work with change agents, prepare affected individuals to embrace change, and drive the change effort to a successful conclusion that results in the increased impact of the organization.
Nonprofit leaders face unprecedented challenges and emerging opportunities as they engage their organizations in preparing for the future. Building on the leadership style conversation, we will explore a six-step model of adaptive inquiry (the 6Q method) that focuses executive and board leadership on the most essential questions for advancing their mission. The 6Q method provides a practical framework for designing and managing change within an organization.
4:15-6:00pm | Emerging Issues in the Nonprofit Legal Landscape
Laws and regulations relating to the nonprofit sector have been evolving over the past decade, and nonprofit leaders must stay abreast of these trends. In this session, we will highlight some of the emerging legal issues that may affect your organization. Participants will also have an opportunity to raise general legal questions for responses by an expert in nonprofit law.
Thursday, October 18
8:00-8:15am
Morning Check-In Session
Love & Nash
8:15-10:15 | Introduction to Social Entrepreneurship
Matthew T.A. Nash, Managing Director, CASE at Duke
What is social entrepreneurship? Universities, the media, nonprofits, and even the White House seem to be increasingly using this term, but what does it really mean? In this interactive session, nonprofit leaders will explore the core concepts of social entrepreneurship through a case study example of 2006 Nobel Peace Prize Winner and microfinance pioneer Muhammad Yunus and his Grameen Bank. What can we learn from this powerful story of an entrepreneurial leader who identified an opportunity, mobilized resources, and achieved significant social impact? What can we learn from leading edge research in the emerging field of social entrepreneurship if we are seeking to have greater impact? How can participants apply the principles of social entrepreneurship in their lives and work?
10:15-10:30am Break
10:30-12:00pm | Cultivating an Entrepreneurial Nonprofit Culture
The complicated challenges facing contemporary nonprofit organizations demand a dynamic brand of leadership. An entrepreneurial outlook can help to transform the culture of nonprofits by meaningfully engaging the abilities, talents, and passions of board, staff and supporters. This session will explore how key entrepreneurial concepts and skills that make for-profit businesses competitive can be applied to nonprofit organizations to help make them more sustainable and successful. This session will provide nonprofit leaders with an understanding of the basic elements of an entrepreneurial mindset and will offer a practical framework for entrepreneurial activities.
12:00-1:15pm Lunch
1:15-2:45pm | Cultivating an Entrepreneurial Nonprofit Culture, continued
2:45-3:00pm Break
3:00-5:45PM | Social Enterprise: Is Earned Income for Your Organization?
In the face of increasing competition for limited and volatile philanthropic funding, many nonprofits are turning to earned income ventures as a potential alternative to traditional nonprofit fundraising strategies. In this session, nonprofit leaders will learn to identify and evaluate strengths through an organizational audit and how to translate these strengths into social enterprise opportunities. Participants will also engage in a process to evaluate the identified opportunities in an effort to determine which should be studied in more detail through a feasibility assessment.
6:00-7:00pm Dinner
7:15 – 8:45pm Breakout Groups
Friday, October 19
8:00-8:15am | Morning Check-In Session
Love & Nash
8:15-10:15am | Ethics Issues in Nonprofit Organizations
Maintaining the public's trust is crucial to a nonprofit's continued work and yet the misdeeds of a few have eroded the public's trust in nonprofit agencies. Nonprofits rely heavily on their good reputation to raise money and develop services in the community. As such, nonprofit managers must be aware of the various ethical dilemmas that may face nonprofits and be prepared to have frank conversations with their boards and staff about how to address and resolve these dilemmas. This session will give nonprofit managers the tools to develop deliberative processes for resolving ethical dilemmas. It will also explore some of the steps nonprofits can take to avoid ethical pitfalls.
10:15-10:30am Break
10:30am-12: 30pm | Leaders as Continuous Learners
With the current avalanche of information and knowledge about future trends, how do I know what is crucial for leadership effectiveness? What tools do I need to be an effective leader in the knowledge age? We need to re-tool for new rules. We will explore how to engage in “just in time” learning and the keys for motivation and effectiveness from an individual perspective as well as an organizational perspective. Alternatively, this can be viewed as organizations as learning communities. This session will enable participants to embrace continuous learning as a way of life (a way of leading) and how to accomplish this personally and professionally.
12:30-1:30pm Lunch
1:30-3:00pm | Finding My Voice
Finding my voice is about truth telling. It is about telling myself the truth as an entry point to embracing the joy and pain of whom I really am in my bid to make a difference in the world. In this session, through story, we will consider ideas and concepts about finding your voice and the personal liberation that comes with it.
3:00-3:15pm Break
3:15-4:00pm | Closing Session
Love & Nash