What makes a great leader? What can you do at your nonprofit organization to be the leader you always wish you could be?

BCACG and Volunteer BC – the organizers of Volunteer Futures & BCACG Symposium – September 26 & 27 in Richmond, BC – want to further dive into this important topic and equip and empower non-profits towards organizational success.

This event is cost-effective conference known for its inspiring keynote addresses, practical workshops and relevant sessions with plenty of opportunities to network with colleagues and volunteers from across BC. Everyone is welcome to learn more about volunteerism and the nonprofit/charitable sector.

We spoke with David Gouthro, about his keynote – the COURAGE TO LEAD – and what he hopes to achieve in supporting nonprofit leaders. David’s keynotes and workshops leave audiences feeling renewed and ready. His presentations are lively, light-hearted, engaging, liberally sprinkled with humor and always relevant to their needs.

You are a seasoned keynote speaker with over 40 years of experience. Your presentations weave the concept of “Courage” throughout them. So what is courage?

Everyone has acted with courage at least once and most people do so on a regular basis. In fact, there are lots of opportunities for each of us to act with courage on a much more frequent and conscious basis. Let’s examine the notion of courage and identify opportunities to exercise it!

I define courage as an inner quality that becomes evident whenever one takes action where each of the following three criteria are met: (i) there’s an uncertain or unpredictable outcome; (ii) there’s an emotion or feeling present that ranges somewhere between mild concern and terror (based on the perceived consequences of failure) and (iii) there’s a positive value or belief which consciously or unconsciously compels us to act.

What’s the focus of your Keynote – The Courage to Lead?

Virtually every time we have a tough decision to make as a leader, courage is required to shift from merely thinking about the right thing to do, to actually doing it. My fast-paced, interactive keynote will help you come to grips with how to access the courage you already possess…to lead regardless of the circumstances you find yourself in!

There are literally hundreds (perhaps thousands) of books written on how to be an effective leader, each offering some very useful advice on how to build the personal skills necessary to lead others. Yet there is little written specifically on courage. The purpose of our time together is to examine courage in depth and explore areas where exercising personal courage in the context of a non-profit or volunteer-based organization will have the greatest potential impact.

What do you hope to accomplish and what are the takeaways for attendees?

First, I hope attendees will appreciate that they actually have the capacity to exercise courage in whatever leadership role they find themselves in — regardless of whether it’s a formal or informal one. I hope they will see how curiosity, choice, connection, compassion and caring interact with each other in the exercise of courageous leadership. And I hope they commit to take at least one small step to exercise courageous leadership in spite of any discomfort they may feel — doing the right thing for the right reason, regardless of the consequence.

What are your top 3 tips on becoming a good leader?

First is to be clear on your personal values, motivation and source of passion. This makes it much easier to know what the right thing to do is when presented with a challenge. Trying to figure that out each time you face a difficult situation is unproductive, inefficient, leads to inconsistency and potentially erodes trust!

Second, of particular importance in a non-profit or volunteer-based organization is to ensure those folks you lead feel appreciated and valued. In my experience, people do not gravitate to these organizations to get rich — rather, it is to do something that is meaningful to them. If they do not feel appreciated, they may leave, or worse, they become dysfunctional and drag the rest of the organization down. Please make sure they know YOU appreciate their work and that their efforts are noticed by those for whom they are investing their volunteer hours!

Third, be clear on the higher purpose your organization serves (the ‘Why” as described in Simon Sinek’s TED talk). It is incredible to see how motivated people get by a clear, noble vision that is frequently, consistently and persistently reinforced though the words and actions of the organization’s leaders.

Finally, here are two phrases to guide you in every circumstance you may find yourself in, regardless of how easy or challenging: “Have Courage”, and “Be Kind”!

You can learn more about David Gouthro and get tickets to Volunteer Futures & BCACG Symposium – September 26 & 27 in Richmond, BC.

Lorelynn Hart is the Program Director at Volunteer BC, an organization working to raise the profile of volunteering, encourage investment in volunteer engagement and link the network of volunteer centres. Volunteer BC is the voice of volunteerism with the goal of promoting the value of volunteerism and building healthy BC Communities.