I.D.2
FIVE KEYS TO EFFECTIVE EXECUTIVE LEADERSHIP
How do executive directors of thriving Samaritan Centers carry out their leadership and
management responsibilities? Here are five behaviors that characterize effective leadership.

The director sets the vision for the entire organization. The director “sees” what the
Center can become, and pictures for others, especially board and staff members, what this
potential is. The leadership of vision is not remote or abstract. As Peter Drucker puts it,
“Leadership is performance when vision and purpose degenerate into work.”

The director clarifies and simplifies organizational structures and procedures to the
degree possible. Management and organization are tools, not ends in themselves. Their
purpose is to enable the effective ministry of counseling and education for a particular
Center at a particular time, not to create an abstract administrative system. The director
is succeeding when management practices enhance the workplace, reducing rather than
increasing the stress of work, and making people more productive.

The director accepts the responsibility of being in charge and is viewed this way by
others. This includes the willingness to lead, competence in leading, and engagement
with others in the tasks of leading. The director strives for inner authority based on
actions that earn the trust of followers. Titles and status have less importance.

The director delegates to and empowers others. The effective director knows that his
or her skills and time are limited, and therefore finds others who can complement the
work. Empowerment means sharing responsibilities and tasks with others in ways that
build up their confidence and productivity, and that engender accountability.

The director never loses track of the bottom line. Revenues and costs are of course
bottom line considerations, but so are staff and board performance and the quality of
service. The director insists that those who share responsibility for the wellbeing of the
Center tell the truth to each other about financial and organizational realities. The
director wants to know about these things – to keep track of the bottom line.
The behaviors listed above do not require a particular model of organization, or a set leadership
style. Directors vary enormously in their talents, experience, and mindsets. Centers also differ
in what is needed for effective direction for their own locations and stages of development. Yet
these five behaviors are common to effectiveness whatever the structure.
Max DePree, in Leadership Is An Art, sums up the matter as well as any: “The first
responsibility of a leader is to define reality. The last is to say thank you. In between, the leader
is a servant.”
The Samaritan Institute
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