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<\/a>Last week\u2019s blog was devoted to a question for leaders: \u201cAre you a founder, an inheritor, or a beneficiary?\u201d<\/p>\nBased on some reading that I did some years ago in The Harvard Business Review, <\/em>I suggested many enterprises (religious enterprises included) fail in the third generation, because their leaders treat the institutions and organizations that have been entrusted to their care as an entitlement. What are the characteristics of a third generation leader who avoids that temptation and becomes a benefactor instead?\u00a0 These are some of the things those leaders do and don\u2019t do:<\/p>\nOne: Benefactors continue to assume responsibility for vision, mission, and strategy.<\/em><\/p>\nOrganizations may grow in size and complexity.\u00a0 Those changes may demand that more people be involved in helping provide leadership for an organization at various levels.\u00a0 But a benefactor continues to take responsibility for vision, mission, and strategy.<\/p>\n
Two: Benefactors keep an eye on the environment in which the work is done.<\/em><\/p>\nOver time the mission and vision of an organization is transformed, challenged, and stretched by changing circumstances.\u00a0 A company like Kodak, for example, ignored this reality and continued making film, when the demand around them was for capturing and preserving images.\u00a0 Had they paid attention, Kodak would have enjoyed continued ascendancy in the marketplace.<\/p>\n
Three: Benefactors don\u2019t blame the environment or their predecessors.<\/em><\/p>\nBeneficiaries blame their environment and their predecessors for the challenges that they face.\u00a0 Benefactors recognize that there is no ideal environment.\u00a0 They see leadership as a responsibility to be shouldered, not an honor that they deserve, and they lead, whatever the circumstances might be.<\/p>\n
Four: Benefactors avoid defensive strategies that fail to address the challenges that their organization faces during their watch.<\/em><\/p>\nThey don\u2019t \u201csell the farm.\u201d\u00a0 They don\u2019t take refuge behind talk about \u201ca new normal.\u201d\u00a0 They don\u2019t flail and thereby increase the anxiety around them.\u00a0 The more difficult the circumstances, the more deliberative and focused they become.<\/p>\n
Five: Benefactors make the most spiritually important decision of all.\u00a0<\/em><\/p>\nBenefactors look beyond their lives, their tenure, and their legacy, looking instead to the task of entrusting a vital enterprise to the next generation. As such, benefactors care as much about the trajectory of an organization\u2019s life as they do about their moment as its leader.<\/p>\n
\u00a0<\/p>\n
Photo by\u00a0<\/span>sheelamohan<\/a>\u00a0used with permission from freedigitalphotos.net<\/p>\n<\/body><\/html>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Last week\u2019s blog was devoted to a question for leaders: \u201cAre you a founder, an inheritor, or a beneficiary?\u201d Based on some reading that I did some years ago in The Harvard Business Review, I suggested many enterprises (religious enterprises included) fail in the third generation, because their leaders treat the institutions and organizations that […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":240,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[117,219,217,215,118,16,17],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1509","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-authority","category-benefactor","category-beneficiary","category-founder","category-leadership","category-spiritual-direction","category-spiritual-perspectives"],"yoast_head":"\n
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