Who should be on the Leadership Team and what qualifies them for the role?

Not everyone on the agency staff or Board is a good candidate for membership on the Leadership Team, although most people think they would make effective Team members. For this reason, Team members are specifically recruited and not added on a volunteer basis. People are invited to join the Team, not simply asked to sign up.

Below is a series of questions to use when screening potential Team members. As we decide who to recruit, keep in mind we are not recruiting sales people or cheerleaders. We are recruiting people who can establish meaningful, stable connections with stakeholders and who can sustain those connections over the long term. Sales people and agency cheerleaders may meet these requirements, but their success with sales or cheerleading does not necessarily mean they would be successful Leadership Team members. Similarly, a person's position from the Management Perspective does not mean he or she would necessarily be an effective Leadership Team member. Successful leadership connections require a specific set of skills not distributed equally among those associated with the agency. Here are the questions, with comments about each. …

Is he or she culturally competent? "Cultural Competence is the capacity to respond appropriately to the various cultural environments in which we may participate, enabling us to strengthen our relationships and accomplish our mutual purposes. Cultural competence is both a value and an essential set of skills in our mobile, fluid society." Homan, 2008, page 14

Does he treat people the way we want agency stakeholders to be treated? Agency staff members treat clients and stakeholders about as well or as badly as they treat each other. Attention should be given to all of the potential Team member's relationships with other staff. Even if all but one or two of those relationships are fine, attend closely to the one or two that are not. A good Team member has effective, acceptable relationships with everyone associated with the agency. For any potential Team member, use his or her worst relationships as the reference point. If this is how he relates with stakeholders, is it acceptable? If not, he is not a good candidate for Team membership.

Is he consistent from relationship to relationship and situation to situation? Good Team members are consistent. Their behavior, attitudes, demeanor, and self-presentation change little from person to person, from situation to situation. They do not run hot and cold, on again off again. They are predictably themselves most anywhere we encounter them.

Is he friendly and interested in people? This does not mean all Team members are outgoing and extraverted. However, it does mean Team members are comfortable meeting new people and in being in new or somewhat novel situations. Also, they enjoy getting to know people and learning about their experiences and interests.

Does he take his good manners along everywhere he goes? This is not a minor point. There is never a good excuse for bad manners and behaving rudely, inappropriately, or insensitively are guaranteed ways to offend or otherwise alienate stakeholders. Effective Team members exhibit their good manners with everyone, every time, wherever they are. If a potential Team member exhibits bad manners or inappropriate behavior with anyone, anywhere, assume they will probably behave similarly with stakeholders, sooner or later. This is a risk not to be taken.

Is he helpful and cooperative? This too is not trivial. An important element of a leadership connection is the Team member's being seen by the stakeholder as helpful and cooperative. A goal of the connection is to support the stakeholder's success specifically as it relates to agency success but more generally as it relates to the stakeholder's interests and pe...