I have been coaching nonprofit leaders for over twenty years. Most of the agencies I work with are headed by women. I had this sense that there are issues they have to deal with which are unique to their gender and I wanted to know more.
I went on a listening tour. I wanted to learn what the issues women nonprofit Executive Directors face, and if their challenges were disproportionately due to the fact that they were women leading their organization.
It was not a scientific approach, I reached out to my network to identify women nonprofit leaders from across the country who were willing to talk with me. These women leaders generously gave me their time and thoughts about,
- what they loved about their jobs,
- what challenges they face,
- the skills they possessed to navigate the rocky waters, and,
- what they wished for, for themselves, their staff, their boards, their agencies and community.
These women covered the spectrum of age, ethnicity, types of nonprofits and size of their agencies, but they had so much in common.
I found that there are issues which are not exclusive to but are more pronounced for women leaders. These interviews motivated me to start Relish Your Role as they convinced me that women do face unique challenges in running their agencies.
Today’s podcast will identify five unique challenges I heard repeatedly from women nonprofit leaders.
Five Unique Challenges for Women Nonprofit Executive Directors
Based on my experience and listening tour, women nonprofit leaders face five major unique challenges:
- They often feel their expertise is minimized.
- They have discomfort when exercising authority.
- They feel pressure to adopt a performative rather than authentic stance in aspects of their job.
- They juggle their executive director roles with that of a primary caretaker.
- They struggle with a sense of Isolation in their role.
This is not to say men never experience these challenges, only that these five issues are experienced acutely and repeatedly by women nonprofit leaders.
If we want the best for these women and help them be effective in their work, it is vital to talk about these concerns and make the changes necessary to lessen their impact.
1.Minimized Expertise
Hard as it is to believe in 2023, women are still questioned that they really are ‘the boss’.
An accomplished leader of a multimillion-dollar nonprofit told me a story of being addressed as ‘little lady’ by an architect who suggested they wait for the person in charge to arrive at their first meeting for the planning of an addition to her agency’s headquarters.
A male Board chair from the private sector told the women leading the agency that their services were comforting but hardly ‘rocket science’. This woman ran a cutting-edge agency piloting a ground-breaking multi-generational intervention program for Alzheimer patients.
Many women spoke of the dismissive manner in which men in the community, and sadly sometimes on their own board spoke of the work of their agencies. They were dismissed their content expertise.
Whether their agencies addressed financing low-income housing, environmental justice, educational enrichment, increasing medical access, these leaders brought substantial content and organizational leadership expertise to the table.
Yet they continually had to deal with comments which questioned, belittled or minimized the value of their knowledge.
It is so draining to continually have one’s leadership and expertise second guessed.
2.Discomfort with Exercising Authority
It takes drive and ambition to lead an agency. The very attributes which propelled women to the head of their organization are often gets cast in a misogynous light. They hear whispers of the b word when they come down hard on a team member or are told to lighten up – that they take things too seriously.
The hard-wired desire to be liked and not to make waves gets in their way when they know they have to act decisively.
Women nonprofit leaders often squash their reactions for fear that they will be seen negatively when they assert themselves.
I heard stories from these women of being aware of being labeled as being difficult to work with when they establish high standards for work performance. Often, against their better instincts they defer to other partners for fear of being seen as too controlling.
This leads them into a second-guessing loop where they begin to mistrust their instincts for fear of being labeled as too aggressive, too power hungry, too, masculine.
So, they expend extra energy rethinking and often moderating their response, so it is palpable to their audience.
3.The Performative Element
This fear of judgement results for many women in adopting a form of persona based on the messages they are given on how they should act. This sense of performing plays out with their Board, with state and city leaders, with funders, with partners.
It is this struggle of, as one women ED put it, ‘how you show up”.
This adaptive approach robs them of their sense of authenticity, and it chips away at their confidence.
4.Juggling Leadership and Caretaker Roles
Most of the women leading agencies are also leading their household. In addition to their professional responsibilities, they are also the ones with the primary responsibility for scheduling and transporting children, looking after an aging parent and/ or relatives and maintaining the social calendar of their family.
They are burning the candle at both ends. They constantly feel like they are letting one area of their life down for the other. They are always playing catching up.
In a word these women are exhausted.
5.Being a Nonprofit Executive Director is Isolating
This is not an issue specific to women but perhaps they feel the impact more acutely.
As responsible Executive Directors, they know they cannot share everything with their staff. Their Boards have an incomplete view of the demands of the job.
Few had professional partners that they felt they could be totally candid with. While they spoke with their friends and family, grateful that they could vent their professional frustrations, they were aware these people did not really understand their work world.
Few have true circles of support and express feeling lonely and isolated in their roles.
Many fear that this isolation will hasten their burnout with the job they love.
A Call to Action
These may not be all unique to women nonprofit leaders. I do not deny that male leaders experience many of these challenges.
But according to recent statistics, women make up 75% of the nonprofit workforce and 45% of nonprofit leadership, and these women have unique needs.
It is time we recognize these issues and partner with women leaders to develop actionable solutions empowering them to lead with authenticity and confidence. Doing so will allow us to benefit from their brilliance.
A shout out to my friend Alison who runs a nonprofit who prompted me to share what I learned from my listening tour in this episode.
We will talk soon.