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16. Scaling Capacity 7 – Key Lessons Learned
Filed Under:
Leadership and Governance
• Scaling is optimized by leaders and boards who can see what an organization needs to scale effectively and garner the necessary support to achieve the vision. Often times, this requires painful changes and difficult decisions. Making the right decisions for scaling does not always mean fostering greater growth. It can also mean limiting growth to ensure quality is maintained. What is paramount is decision-making based on what leads to greater mission achievement.
• Organizations often succeed by focusing on increasing the quality of governance practices rather than merely on trying to recruit different or more skilled board members. As Jo Luck of Heifer International learned, “You cannot attract the board members without good governance practices, and you do not want to grow so big that you are doing things without the proper leadership.”
• Organizations that thrive are those that expand leadership and governance responsibilities outwards. This means fostering leadership at all levels of the organization and delegating governance functions to the local communities in which the organization operates.
• Leadership and governance structures and membership must evolve with the organization. Scaling increases the demands placed on the organization’s leadership and governance capacity. Founding directors of a social entrepreneurship may need to assess their own abilities and limitations, and perhaps bring on new leadership if it serves the organization’s best interests. More often than not, organizations in our sample utilized leadership teams to provide balanced leadership. The role and value of the board or individual board members may shift as well. Paying close attention to changing needs is important to maintaining an effective and engaged board.
• Scaling is optimized by leaders and boards who can see what an organization needs to scale effectively and garner the necessary support to achieve the vision. Often times, this requires painful changes and difficult decisions. Making the right decisions for scaling does not always mean fostering greater growth. It can also mean limiting growth to ensure quality is maintained. What is paramount is decision-making based on what leads to greater mission achievement.
• Organizations often succeed by focusing on increasing the quality of governance practices rather than merely on trying to recruit different or more skilled board members. As Jo Luck of Heifer International learned, “You cannot attract the board members without good governance practices, and you do not want to grow so big that you are doing things without the proper leadership.”
• Organizations that thrive are those that expand leadership and governance responsibilities outwards. This means fostering leadership at all levels of the organization and delegating governance functions to the local communities in which the organization operates.
• Leadership and governance structures and membership must evolve with the organization. Scaling increases the demands placed on the organization’s leadership and governance capacity. Founding directors of a social entrepreneurship may need to assess their own abilities and limitations, and perhaps bring on new leadership if it serves the organization’s best interests. More often than not, organizations in our sample utilized leadership teams to provide balanced leadership. The role and value of the board or individual board members may shift as well. Paying close attention to changing needs is important to maintaining an effective and engaged board.
