How do you measure and improve your non-profit leadership skills?

1 Define your goals and outcomes

The first step to measure and improve your non-profit leadership skills is to define what you want to achieve and how you will measure it. This means setting clear and realistic goals and outcomes for yourself, your team, and your organization, aligned with your mission and vision. You can use frameworks such as SMART (Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Relevant, and Time-bound) or OKR (Objectives and Key Results) to help you create and track your goals and outcomes. By defining your goals and outcomes, you can focus your efforts, communicate your expectations, and evaluate your progress.

2 Seek feedback and input

The second step to measure and improve your non-profit leadership skills is to seek feedback and input from various sources, such as your staff, board, donors, partners, beneficiaries, and mentors. Feedback and input can help you identify your strengths and weaknesses, understand your impact and challenges, and learn from your successes and failures. You can use tools such as surveys, interviews, focus groups, performance reviews, or 360-degree feedback to collect and analyze feedback and input. By seeking feedback and input, you can gain insights, perspectives, and suggestions to improve your skills and performance.

3 Develop a learning plan

The third step to measure and improve your non-profit leadership skills is to develop a learning plan based on your goals, outcomes, feedback, and input. A learning plan is a document that outlines what you want to learn, why you want to learn it, how you will learn it, and when you will learn it. You can use sources such as books, articles, podcasts, webinars, courses, workshops, or coaching to support your learning plan. By developing a learning plan, you can prioritize your learning needs, set your learning objectives, and track your learning outcomes.

4 Apply your learning

The fourth step to measure and improve your non-profit leadership skills is to apply your learning to your work and practice. This means taking action on what you have learned, experimenting with new ideas, implementing changes, and evaluating results. You can use methods such as action learning, reflection, peer learning, or mentoring to apply your learning. By applying your learning, you can test your assumptions, improve your solutions, and demonstrate your competencies.

5 Celebrate your achievements

The fifth step to measure and improve your non-profit leadership skills is to celebrate your achievements and recognize your growth. This means acknowledging your efforts, accomplishments, and improvements, as well as the contributions of others who have supported you along the way. You can use ways such as gratitude, recognition, rewards, or storytelling to celebrate your achievements. By celebrating your achievements, you can boost your motivation, confidence, and satisfaction, as well as inspire others to follow your example.

7 Here’s what else to consider

This is a space to share examples, stories, or insights that don’t fit into any of the previous sections. What else would you like to add?