Nonprofits
A new vision
How to get everyone on the same path
By Meredyth McKenzie
Smart Business Pittsburgh | November 2008
Page 1 of 2
Frederick A. Massey Jr.
CEO, FamilyLinks Inc.
When Frederick A.
Massey Jr. came to
FamilyLinks Inc. in 2005, he had a tough road
ahead of him.
Two nonprofit agencies had
recently merged to form the
social services agency, which
focuses on individual and family social services. And Massey
not only had to help merge the
two organizations, but he also
had to craft a new vision, communicate it and get everyone
working on the same page.
“I analyzed what was the
best of both organizations and
put that together in a common thread and then started
to articulate that to everyone,” says the CEO of the
$23.2 million organization.
Smart Business spoke with
Massey about how to craft a
vision.
Q. What are the keys to
creating a vision?
The part of the vision that
you want to put to an organization is not something that is
separate from the individual or
leader. That leader walks,
leaps and believes in that
vision. It has to be real and a
part of you; it can’t be something you’re going to learn or
adapt to.
People bring their own passions to the table. The leader
has to make sure he articulates, ‘This is the single vision
that we’re going to move that
passion to so that we can keep
moving versus being stagnant
and everyone doing their own
thing.’ It’s important to do that
because if you don’t ... they’re
going to start articulating their
own, and you’re going to have
a stagnant organization.
Leadership is framed from
the character of the person.
Life experiences help an individual to view certain situations. One has to be able to
look at themselves in a mirror
and feel comfortable in making decisions based upon what
they feel is right.
Q. How do you craft the vision?
You have to start with your
board of directors or stakeholders or shareholders who need to
have a clear mission of what
they want from the organization
and expect out of leadership.
Then the leader has to come
with their vision that’s part of
them and be able to tap
out and see key leadership — senior leadership
— and also in the
employee base people
who are going to be your
cheerleaders at carrying
out and driving other individuals. You need to pull
those individuals in and
work with them so you
clearly articulate to them
so they can be your voice
as they go out within the
work force.
You must have
patience. Human behavior is resistant to change.
You have to communicate your vision as often
as you can to as many
people as you can.
