Organizational Leadership Analysis: United Way Of America
1
Organizational Leadership Analysis: United Way of America
Melna K. Wilson
Western Kentucky University
Dr. Stacy Edds-Ellis
LEAD 500 Effective Leadership Studies
November 30, 2014
UNITED WAY OF AMERICA
2
Organizational Leadership Analysis: The United Way
Introduction
This paper examines the organizational leadership of the United Way of America. The questions answered include an identification of the values of the organization, the vision, the mission statement, the leadership style, the authenticity of the senior leaders, the leadership model, the ethical climate, and the effects of diversity on the organization. The values, vision, and mission statement of the UWA organization and local United Way organizations are similar;
leadership …show more content…
styles and models vary in order to be adaptive to the climate of individual communities. Each member of the United Way of America is bound by the organization’s Code of Ethics which was implemented as a result of corrupt leadership. In recent years, the United
Way of America has focused business imperatives toward diversity and inclusion in order to reach out to more people in terms of race, gender and sexual orientation.
Organization Overview
The United Way of America is a non-profit organization that includes more than 1,400 local United Way offices linked together with countless charitable organizations across the country. Their purpose is to pool resources for fundraising and support in order to resolve community issues and make notable changes in those communities. According to the UWA website, issues facing local United Way groups are defined by the diversity of the communities served. Areas of main focus are education, income, and health which encompass common themes such as:
Helping children and youth succeed through engagement
Strengthening and supporting families
Improving access to health care
UNITED WAY OF AMERICA
Promoting financial stability (http://www.unitedway.org/).
History
In the late 1800’s in Denver, Colorado, church leaders began a mission and named it the
Charity Organization Society. The first leaders were a diverse group and consisted of a woman, a priest, two ministers, and a rabbi. The organization was founded in response to the need to actively cooperate and address Denver’s welfare problems. This group coordinated support services and raised funds for 22 agencies. The Charity Organization Society not only raised funds to distribute to local agencies, they coordinated relief services, counseled clients, and made emergency assistance grants in some cases. In 1887, $21,700 was raised and thus began the nationwide movement that eventually became the United Way of America. The ultimate focus of the UWA is still, 127 years later, to enhance the caring power of local communities and make a difference in people’s lives (http://www.unitedway.org/).
The early 1900’s welcomed the first Community Chest Organization which was founded in Cleveland, Ohio. The leadership of this group consisted of executives from fund-raising federations. By the middle of the twentieth century, the number of Community Chest
Organizations had surpassed 1,000 and was headquartered in New York City. The term United
Way was adopted in 1963, although not all agencies chose to use it. The organization moved to
Alexandria, Virginia, in 1971 and was renamed United Way of America.
The United Way of America organization has seated leaders of varying profiles. Scandal affected leadership of the UWA in 1992 and William Aramony resigned as president and CEO as he was accused of defrauding hundreds of thousands of dollars from the United Way. Elaine L.
Chao was then selected as president and CEO. She was the first Asian-American and first female in this position. In 1996, Betty Stanley Benne took over as the new UWA president and CEO;
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the second female to hold the chief position. She concluded her service as president in January
2001 and handed the gavel to the current chief officer, Brian Gallagher. He has been instrumental in developing new membership standards and updating the organization’s Standards of Excellence. Under Gallagher’s leadership, the United Way of America has introduced goals for the common good which are focused on education, income and health. LIVE UNITED calls for everyone to participate and to take an active part in achieving these goals of creating opportunities for a better life for all (www.unitedway.org/pages/history).
Analysis of Leadership
Values
Effective leaders play key roles in establishing the values in a non-profit organization.
Value statements define a certain expected mannerism of the people affiliated with each unit.
They provide a standard of measure for evaluating actions and behaviors. Core values are sometimes used to recruit and retain employees and volunteers. Potential candidates often look to answer the question, “does this organization hold the values I consider important?”
Value Statement of the United Way of America
“United Way strives to be a model of diversity and inclusion, and our Board of
Trustees, staff, and volunteers reflecting the many faces, cultures and walks of life, which proudly make up our nation. We respect, value, and celebrate the unique attributes, characteristics and perspectives that make each person who they are. We also believe that bringing diverse individuals together allows us to collectively and more effectively address the issues that face our communities. It is our aim, therefore, that our partners, strategies, and investments reflect these core values” (http://www.unitedway.org/).
UNITED WAY OF AMERICA
United Way of America developed a “Standards of Excellence” in order to enhance the effectiveness of the individual agencies in their respective communities. The intended benefit of the standards is to create impact in communities by providing concrete direction as to how a
United Way should operate and be recognized as an effective community leader. In order to channel resources in a uniform manner, the core values of the UWA promote oneness and encourage communities to support prosperity and expand their cultures.
The core values of the United Way of America are:
Accountability: the responsibility of actions that influence the lives of others.
Inclusiveness: an environment must be created where people feel supported and listened to.
Teamwork and Communication: working in coordination with community groups to distribute information about the services offered by a United Way group.
Volunteerism: change won’t happen without you.
Impact: to have a direct effect on the improvement in the quality of life for others.
Community Leadership: a sense of responsibility and contribution to society that defines existence (http://www.unitedway.org/).
In response to allegations of inappropriate use of funds and criminal behavior on the part of an existing president, in January of 2002, Brain A. Gallagher was appointed president and
CEO of the United Way of America. He called for an overhaul of the Standards of Excellence and validated the organization’s confirmation to its stated values. As a result of the overhaul, more than 50 United Way organizations were disaffiliated. For each agency that remained, the values of transparency, accountability and disclosure through compliance were reaffirmed with
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UNITED WAY OF AMERICA the new standards. Gallagher stated, “The United Way needed a wakeup call and we have taken the necessary steps to restore trust” (Baltimore Sun, 1992).
Vision
One of the most important jobs of a leader is to navigate the direction of the group by establishing a vision. It is the principle that determines where an organization would like to …show more content…
be.
Vision is developed from core values; and the core values of the UWA are centered around improvements in community and environment. The important thing about a vision statement is to make it relevant, communicate it, and make it consistently visible so people remember it.
Vision Statement of the United Way of America
“United Way envisions a world where all individuals and families achieve their human potential through education, income stability and healthy lives”
(http://www.unitedway.org/).
The United Way of America vision statement was adopted in 2008 as a result of responses to the impact of 9/11 and the devastating hurricanes of 2005. It is a shared vision statement and its attributes are common across all local and national United Way chapters. The
UWA vision statement invites others to act toward a common goal. The characteristics of the statement are an important pathway for planning and strategizing. Collins and Porras (1994) define vision as “what we stand for and why we exist that does not change the core ideology and sets forth what we aspire to become, to achieve, to create that will require significant change and progress to attain the envisioned future.”
When Brian A. Gallagher took the lead position at the United Way of America in January of 2002, he at once proposed a better way to make a difference. In order to support the UWA mission, he focused on the results of a long-term vision for improving the lives of millions of
6
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Americans. Instead of raising money and giving it away, Gallagher envisioned changing the
UWA into a community conspiracy to help solve social problems. His proposal is based on the organization’s core values of diversity and inclusion. Large enterprises believe that a more focused approach will keep the vision of the United Way more conforming (Little, 2002).
Mission/ Purpose Statement
According to Falsey (1989), “a mission statement tells two things about a company: who it is and what it does.” The mission statement of the United Way of America identifies those two components: “United Way improves lives by mobilizing the caring power of communities around the world to advance the common good” (http://www.unitedway.org/).
Who it is refers to “communities.” What it does refers to “mobilizing the caring power.”
The mission statement of the United Way of America supports the organization’s values and vision through its current campaign entitled “Goals for the Common Good: The United Way
Challenge to America” (http://www.unitedway.org/pages/goals-view). This 10-year challenge was presented by UWA President and CEO Brian A. Gallagher in 2008 in response to the millions of hard-working families in America who fell short of the primary elements of a good life: education, financial security, and good health. In order to succeed with this mission, the
United Way of America defined the following goals: cut the number of students who drop out of school by one half; reduce the number of financially unstable working families by one half; and increase the number of healthy youth and adults by a one-third percentage.
(http://www.unitedway.org/).
The organizational purpose of the UAW is a definition of why the organization currently exists. Employee and volunteer actions demonstrate the mission statement in action.
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Purpose statement of the United Way of America
Assess on a continuing basis critical community needs for human service programs.
Allocate United Way financial support so as to meet the greatest and most urgent needs of the community.
Encourage and develop the management efficiency of both the United Way enterprise and the agencies supported through it.
Unite people from across the community to work together to identify and address the issues that matter most, change conditions and improve lives by: raising awareness; raising money, goods and services; matching resources to needs; and creating initiatives to fill the gaps. (http://www.unitedway.org/).
Leadership Style
The United Way of America engages in a team leadership approach for fund raising efforts and for decisions regarding distribution of funds raised. The following framework is an example of the structure of the United Way of America fund raising team:
Board of Directors: provides the COMPELLING DIRECTION for decisions regarding the identification of the areas in a community where there is compelling reason for facilitating change.
Officers: provide the ENABLING STRUCTURE to ensure that all functions critical to task and team maintenance are completed.
Staff: provide EXPERT COACHING for the development and motivation of team members and ensure a supportive organizational context exists so that access to resources is provided.
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Volunteers: provide TEAM LEARNING to enhance productivity and effectiveness of the mission of the group. Burke, C.S., Stagl, K.C., Klein, C., Goodwin, G.F., Salas, E.,
Halpin, S.M. (2006)
As noted in an article published in The Leadership Quarterly (2006), the preceding framework assumes the team has the knowledge, skills and resources (KSR) to enable leadership functions to be established.
Applying Hill’s Model of Team Leadership to the United Way of America is most applicable to smaller, local organizations. The staff members at the local/ regional level are the monitors for the organizations participating in fund raising campaigns as well as the advocates for the nonprofit community groups. At the internal level, the leadership team responds to requests from organizations for training and goal setting during campaign periods. External leadership teams network with participating groups to share information, advocate for causes, and negotiate support for many need-based groups. When these pieces are put together, the performance standards can be effectively developed and evaluated to determine strengths and weaknesses.
Authenticity
The definition of an authentic leader, according to Avilio, B.J. and Gardner, W.L. (2005) is that they are “people of extraordinary integrity, with a profound sense of purpose and willingness to live by their core values. They are confident, hopeful and optimistic and remain committed to building an organization through purpose. Those who are deeply aware of how they think and behave and are perceived by others as being aware of their own and others’ values/moral perspectives, knowledge and strengths; aware of the context in which they operate; and who are confident, hopeful, optimistic, resilient, and of high moral character.”
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On April 5, 2005, United Way of America President and CEO, Mr. Brian A. Gallagher delivered a statement to the United States Department of Finance outlining his plans to make changes in accountability measures for the organization. One of the focal points in his address was restoring trust in the non-profit sector. The UWA operates in the spotlight of the public eye and focuses on paying a great deal of attention to the ethics of its operations. Many of the financial reports that were voluntary were made mandatory and reviewed by an expert committee. If any local United Way chapter did not follow the new initiatives, they were not allowed to use the United Way brand. These measures demonstrated the commitment of UWA leadership to validate their integrity and appreciate the context of the climate in which they operate (Strom, 2003).
United Way organizations, along with hundreds of other groups in the charitable sector, are beginning to learn from these painful lessons. CEO Gallagher recognized the challenges that faced the UWA: operating effectively and efficiently and with the highest level of integrity. In reality, there are bad people who make bad choices and charitable organizations must work with a higher level of integrity and eliminate the challenges of wrongdoing (Gallagher, 2003).
Model of Leadership
The United Way of America organization’s leadership model is transformational.
Followers are inspired to “achieve extraordinary outcomes and, in the process, develop their own leadership capacity,” as pointed out by Bass and Riggio (2006) in Transformational Leadership.
The model of leadership must also be adaptive due to the vast differences in community cultures that the organization serves. Ronald Heivetz (2010) describes the conditions for adaptive leadership as “challenges that demand leadership that can engage people in facing challenging
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UNITED WAY OF AMERICA realities and then changing at least some of the priorities, attitudes, and behavior in order to thrive in a changing world.”
When current president and CEO Brian Gallagher addressed the United States Committee on Finance, April 5, 2005, he immediately outlined his plans for change in the UWA organization. Gallagher’s message was forthright:
“Why should we change? Because our helping systems were built for a different economic time and a different set of social conditions. In the U.S. we have evolved from an agrarian economy to an industrial economy, to a service economy, and finally an information and technology economy. And we are now in a global marketplace which changes how money is earned and how wealth and income is accumulated and distributed. It is why during one of the longest macroeconomic expansions in our history during the 1990’s we did not make real progress on some of our most difficult social issues” (Gallagher, 2005).
Transformational leaders are able to develop people in order to channel their energy into strategies. Leadership in the UWA organization employs all four of the core components of transformational leadership: idealized influence, inspirational motivation, intellectual stimulation and individualized consideration. The concept of idealized influence exists where leaders are expected to serve as role models. Inspirational motivation is delivered in team spirit building conferences and a demonstration of their commitment to team goals. Leaders invite new ideas and creative problem-solving solutions in order to foster intellectual stimulation in local United
Way organizations. At the local levels, mentoring and coaching as well as two-way communication demonstrate the individualized consideration component of transformational leadership. 11
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In order to meet the ever-changing needs and demographics of local communities, United
Way organizations must exercise adaptive leadership traits. It is necessary to respond to problems requiring solutions outside current guidelines. Adaptive leadership requires acceptance of shared responsibility and continued learning. For example, the United Way of Southern
Kentucky recently invited community members to participate in a survey to identify issues that were most important. The purpose of the survey was to model a plan to create real and lasting change within the community (http://www.uwsk.org/).
This type of leadership has an important influence on the ethical climate of the United
Way of America.
Ethical Climate
Authentic transformational leadership is based on altruistic principles. Altruism shows concern for the best interests of others (Northouse, 2012, p.443). Ethical climate includes a group or organization’s moral normative structure, referent others’ behavior, expectations about obedience to legitimate authority, and the group or organization’s encouragement of employees to be responsible for their actions (Zhu, W., Avolio, B.J., Riggio, R.E., Sosik, J.J., 2011).
Generally speaking, the ethical climate of any non-profit organization is expected to be morally strong; and such a climate influences the moral conduct of its members and especially its board of directors (Laratta, 2009) In the past several years, many non-profits have discovered toxic leadership at the highest rank. In 1992, William Aramony, CEO of the United Way of
America, served seven years in a federal prison camp as he was convicted of conspiracy to defraud, filing false tax returns, and stealing hundreds of thousands of dollars from the UWA
(Lipmar-Bluman, 2010).
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The story of Aramony caught lying, cheating, and stealing is at odds with how charitable organizations and those who lead and manage them (Kellerman, 2010). As a result of this scandal, the UWA appointed an ethics committee and established a Code of Ethics in order to restore public trust to the organization. Many of the ideas outlined in the code were developed by a joint force of volunteers and employees of the UWA and local United Way organizations.
Leadership of the UWA believes that the organization has a responsibility to uphold the highest of ethical standards for themselves as well as the communities they serve. They help to establish and reinforce organizational values within an ethical climate. It is through the actions of member volunteers, staff and representatives setting examples for one another as they work to achieve excellence in high standards of performance and ethical conduct. The Code of Ethics was developed as a way of connecting the values and ideals with the work the UWA does
every day. Diversity
UWA President and CEO, Brian Gallagher, has this to say about diversity:
“Diversity has always been a workforce imperative across the United Way system but the United Way Inclusion Roundtable is focused on making diversity and inclusion initiatives a business imperative that will spur greater outreach to diverse audiences and constituencies in terms of gender, racial and sexual orientation.” He continued: “The United Way Inclusion Roundtable will launch the United Way Inclusion Council which will devise diversity activities to incorporate into the business imperatives outlined by the United Way Standards of Excellence” (United Way of America, 2005).
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Diversity and inclusion are at the heart of what it means to LIVE UNITED
(www.unitedway.org/pages/diversity-and-inclusion).
The United Way of America organization utilizes diversity as a means of building the capacity of individual communities to meet its needs. Staff members and volunteers engage in conversations with communities and invite them to get involved in developing cultural skills to engage diverse parts of the population. The effect of diversity on the United Way creates the challenge of attracting diverse talent. For example, in the cultural composition of the United
States of America, persons of multilingual capacity are in high demand. The diversity in languages and cultural values need consideration when building strategic relationships in these communities. The United Way Inclusion Council was developed in order to assist with their diversity and inclusion strategy to lead business resource groups such as: African American; Asian/Pacific
Islander; Latino/Hispanic; Gay, Lesbian, Bisexual and Transgender; Native American; Persons with Disabilities; White Engagement; Women and Youth. At the Inclusion Roundtable of 2006, the United Way of America gave notice to United Way of America’s National Women’s
Leadership Council and the Women’s and Minority Staff Task Force
(www.unitedway.org/pages/diversity-and-inclusion).
The worldwide council of the United Way has accelerated change in its leadership ranks.
Currently, 62 percent of the chief executives are women and 80 percent of the entire workforce is comprised of women. The Leadership Council offers mentorship programs and leadership education in order to identify and develop female talent for recruiting women board members
(Donovan, 2013).
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The United Way builds partnerships and shares ownership in local community United
Way groups through inclusion. It is important to establish opportunities to allow all areas of a community to give, advocate, and volunteer to improve its conditions. The United Way views diversity as those perspectives that make individuals unique. This outreach is important in order to create necessary answers to address complex community issues.
Conclusion
The organizational leadership of the United Way of America has experienced several changes since its beginning in the late 19th century. Most of those changes were necessary in order to grow the vision and mission into what the UWA is today. The organization evolved from community leaders raising funds and distributing to those in need, to a workplace-based contribution drive centered on assisting local agencies in their charitable endeavors. Rules and regulations were invoked in order to establish accountability and uphold the ethical climate of the United Way. The organization has survived several corrupt leaders, but only through the appointment of leadership committed to upholding its core values. Today’s United Way of
America, as well as the nearly 1,400 local United Way chapters, thrive due to the continued efforts of leadership to be transformational and adaptive in finding ways to serve the needs of others. UNITED WAY OF AMERICA
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References
Avilio, B.J. and Gardner, W.L. (2005). Authentic leadership development: Getting to the root of positive forms of leadership. The Leadership Quarterly, 16 (3). Retrieved October 27,
2014, from: www.sciencedirect.com
Author Unknown, (1992, February 27). Public Trust and the United Way. The Baltimore Sun,
Retrieved on November 1, 2014 from: http://articles.baltimoresun.com/1992-0227/news/1992058047_1_united-way-organizations-central-maryland-reputation
Bass, B.M. and Riggio, R.E. (2006). Transformational Leadership. Mahwah, NJ: L. Erlbaum
Associates
Burke, C.S., Stagl, K.C., Klein, C., Goodwin, G.F., Salas, E., Halpin, S.M. (2006). What type of leadership behaviors are functional in teams? The Leadership Quarterly, 17, p.290.
Collins, J.C. & Porras J.I. (1994) Built to last: successful habits of visionary companies.
London: Century. In G. Robinson Hickman. Leading Organizations: Perspectives for a new era (pp.262).
Donovan, D. (2013, September 22). Women remain rare in the ranks of top-earning nonprofit
CEO’s. The Chronicle of Philanthropy. Retrieved November 25, 2014 from www.lexisnexis.com. Falsey, T.A. (1989). Corporate philosophies and mission statements; A survey and guide for corporate communicators and management. Westport, CT: Greenwood.
Gallagher, B.A. (2003, October 2). When self interest trumps mission, disgrace often results. The
Chronicle of Philanthropy. Retrieved November 25, 2014 from www.lexisnexis.com
Gallagher, B.A. (2005). Statement of; Hearing before the United States Senate Committee on
Finance, April 5, 2005. Retrieved November 1, 2014, from www.unitedway.org
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Heifetz, R.A. (2010). Adaptive Work. In G. Robinson Hickman. Leading Organizations:
Perspectives for a new era (p. 505). Thousand Oaks: SAGE Publications, Inc.
Kellerman, B. (2010). Making meaning of being bad. In G. Robinson Hickman. Leading
Organizations: Perspectives for a new era (p. 391). Thousand Oaks: SAGE Publications,
Inc.
Laratta, R., (2009). “Ethical climate in nonprofit organizations: a comparative study”,
International Journal of Sociology and Social Policy, Vol. 29 I-7/8, p. 359. Retrieved
November 11, 2014, from EBSCO database
Lipmar-Bluman, J. (2010). Toxic leaders; they’re plentiful. In G. Robinson Hickman. Leading
Organizations: Perspectives for a new era (pp.379). Thousand Oaks: SAGE Publications,
Inc.
Little, D. (2002, March 18). A better way to make a difference: United Way of America CEO
Brian A. Gallagher proposes changes in charity’s mission. Business Week, I-3774, p.66
Northouse, P.G. (2012) Leadership theory and practice, Sixth Edition. Thousand Oaks: SAGE
Publications, Inc.
Strom, S. (2003, January 23). Tighter standards voted for local United Ways. The New York
Times, Section A; Column 1, pg. 19. Retrieved November 25, 2014, from www.nytimes.com United Way of America. (2006). United Way of America Inclusion Roundtable Bills Diversity as a Business Imperative. PRNewswire (July 12, 2006). Retrieved October 29, 2014, from http://search.proquest.com/docview/451151867?accountid=15150 17
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Zhu, W., Avolio, B.J., Riggio, R.E., Sosik, J.J. (2011). The effect of authentic transformational leadership on follower and group ethics. The Leadership Quarterly, 22 (801). Retrieved
October 24, 2014, from www.sciencedirect.com
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Organizational Leadership Analysis: United Way of America
Melna K. Wilson
Western Kentucky University
Dr. Stacy Edds-Ellis
LEAD 500 Effective Leadership Studies
November 30, 2014
UNITED WAY OF AMERICA
2
Organizational Leadership Analysis: The United Way
Introduction
This paper examines the organizational leadership of the United Way of America. The questions answered include an identification of the values of the organization, the vision, the mission statement, the leadership style, the authenticity of the senior leaders, the leadership model, the ethical climate, and the effects of diversity on the organization. The values, vision, and mission statement of the UWA organization and local United Way organizations are similar;
leadership …show more content…
styles and models vary in order to be adaptive to the climate of individual communities. Each member of the United Way of America is bound by the organization’s Code of Ethics which was implemented as a result of corrupt leadership. In recent years, the United
Way of America has focused business imperatives toward diversity and inclusion in order to reach out to more people in terms of race, gender and sexual orientation.
Organization Overview
The United Way of America is a non-profit organization that includes more than 1,400 local United Way offices linked together with countless charitable organizations across the country. Their purpose is to pool resources for fundraising and support in order to resolve community issues and make notable changes in those communities. According to the UWA website, issues facing local United Way groups are defined by the diversity of the communities served. Areas of main focus are education, income, and health which encompass common themes such as:
Helping children and youth succeed through engagement
Strengthening and supporting families
Improving access to health care
UNITED WAY OF AMERICA
Promoting financial stability (http://www.unitedway.org/).
History
In the late 1800’s in Denver, Colorado, church leaders began a mission and named it the
Charity Organization Society. The first leaders were a diverse group and consisted of a woman, a priest, two ministers, and a rabbi. The organization was founded in response to the need to actively cooperate and address Denver’s welfare problems. This group coordinated support services and raised funds for 22 agencies. The Charity Organization Society not only raised funds to distribute to local agencies, they coordinated relief services, counseled clients, and made emergency assistance grants in some cases. In 1887, $21,700 was raised and thus began the nationwide movement that eventually became the United Way of America. The ultimate focus of the UWA is still, 127 years later, to enhance the caring power of local communities and make a difference in people’s lives (http://www.unitedway.org/).
The early 1900’s welcomed the first Community Chest Organization which was founded in Cleveland, Ohio. The leadership of this group consisted of executives from fund-raising federations. By the middle of the twentieth century, the number of Community Chest
Organizations had surpassed 1,000 and was headquartered in New York City. The term United
Way was adopted in 1963, although not all agencies chose to use it. The organization moved to
Alexandria, Virginia, in 1971 and was renamed United Way of America.
The United Way of America organization has seated leaders of varying profiles. Scandal affected leadership of the UWA in 1992 and William Aramony resigned as president and CEO as he was accused of defrauding hundreds of thousands of dollars from the United Way. Elaine L.
Chao was then selected as president and CEO. She was the first Asian-American and first female in this position. In 1996, Betty Stanley Benne took over as the new UWA president and CEO;
3
UNITED WAY OF AMERICA
4
the second female to hold the chief position. She concluded her service as president in January
2001 and handed the gavel to the current chief officer, Brian Gallagher. He has been instrumental in developing new membership standards and updating the organization’s Standards of Excellence. Under Gallagher’s leadership, the United Way of America has introduced goals for the common good which are focused on education, income and health. LIVE UNITED calls for everyone to participate and to take an active part in achieving these goals of creating opportunities for a better life for all (www.unitedway.org/pages/history).
Analysis of Leadership
Values
Effective leaders play key roles in establishing the values in a non-profit organization.
Value statements define a certain expected mannerism of the people affiliated with each unit.
They provide a standard of measure for evaluating actions and behaviors. Core values are sometimes used to recruit and retain employees and volunteers. Potential candidates often look to answer the question, “does this organization hold the values I consider important?”
Value Statement of the United Way of America
“United Way strives to be a model of diversity and inclusion, and our Board of
Trustees, staff, and volunteers reflecting the many faces, cultures and walks of life, which proudly make up our nation. We respect, value, and celebrate the unique attributes, characteristics and perspectives that make each person who they are. We also believe that bringing diverse individuals together allows us to collectively and more effectively address the issues that face our communities. It is our aim, therefore, that our partners, strategies, and investments reflect these core values” (http://www.unitedway.org/).
UNITED WAY OF AMERICA
United Way of America developed a “Standards of Excellence” in order to enhance the effectiveness of the individual agencies in their respective communities. The intended benefit of the standards is to create impact in communities by providing concrete direction as to how a
United Way should operate and be recognized as an effective community leader. In order to channel resources in a uniform manner, the core values of the UWA promote oneness and encourage communities to support prosperity and expand their cultures.
The core values of the United Way of America are:
Accountability: the responsibility of actions that influence the lives of others.
Inclusiveness: an environment must be created where people feel supported and listened to.
Teamwork and Communication: working in coordination with community groups to distribute information about the services offered by a United Way group.
Volunteerism: change won’t happen without you.
Impact: to have a direct effect on the improvement in the quality of life for others.
Community Leadership: a sense of responsibility and contribution to society that defines existence (http://www.unitedway.org/).
In response to allegations of inappropriate use of funds and criminal behavior on the part of an existing president, in January of 2002, Brain A. Gallagher was appointed president and
CEO of the United Way of America. He called for an overhaul of the Standards of Excellence and validated the organization’s confirmation to its stated values. As a result of the overhaul, more than 50 United Way organizations were disaffiliated. For each agency that remained, the values of transparency, accountability and disclosure through compliance were reaffirmed with
5
UNITED WAY OF AMERICA the new standards. Gallagher stated, “The United Way needed a wakeup call and we have taken the necessary steps to restore trust” (Baltimore Sun, 1992).
Vision
One of the most important jobs of a leader is to navigate the direction of the group by establishing a vision. It is the principle that determines where an organization would like to …show more content…
be.
Vision is developed from core values; and the core values of the UWA are centered around improvements in community and environment. The important thing about a vision statement is to make it relevant, communicate it, and make it consistently visible so people remember it.
Vision Statement of the United Way of America
“United Way envisions a world where all individuals and families achieve their human potential through education, income stability and healthy lives”
(http://www.unitedway.org/).
The United Way of America vision statement was adopted in 2008 as a result of responses to the impact of 9/11 and the devastating hurricanes of 2005. It is a shared vision statement and its attributes are common across all local and national United Way chapters. The
UWA vision statement invites others to act toward a common goal. The characteristics of the statement are an important pathway for planning and strategizing. Collins and Porras (1994) define vision as “what we stand for and why we exist that does not change the core ideology and sets forth what we aspire to become, to achieve, to create that will require significant change and progress to attain the envisioned future.”
When Brian A. Gallagher took the lead position at the United Way of America in January of 2002, he at once proposed a better way to make a difference. In order to support the UWA mission, he focused on the results of a long-term vision for improving the lives of millions of
6
UNITED WAY OF AMERICA
Americans. Instead of raising money and giving it away, Gallagher envisioned changing the
UWA into a community conspiracy to help solve social problems. His proposal is based on the organization’s core values of diversity and inclusion. Large enterprises believe that a more focused approach will keep the vision of the United Way more conforming (Little, 2002).
Mission/ Purpose Statement
According to Falsey (1989), “a mission statement tells two things about a company: who it is and what it does.” The mission statement of the United Way of America identifies those two components: “United Way improves lives by mobilizing the caring power of communities around the world to advance the common good” (http://www.unitedway.org/).
Who it is refers to “communities.” What it does refers to “mobilizing the caring power.”
The mission statement of the United Way of America supports the organization’s values and vision through its current campaign entitled “Goals for the Common Good: The United Way
Challenge to America” (http://www.unitedway.org/pages/goals-view). This 10-year challenge was presented by UWA President and CEO Brian A. Gallagher in 2008 in response to the millions of hard-working families in America who fell short of the primary elements of a good life: education, financial security, and good health. In order to succeed with this mission, the
United Way of America defined the following goals: cut the number of students who drop out of school by one half; reduce the number of financially unstable working families by one half; and increase the number of healthy youth and adults by a one-third percentage.
(http://www.unitedway.org/).
The organizational purpose of the UAW is a definition of why the organization currently exists. Employee and volunteer actions demonstrate the mission statement in action.
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Purpose statement of the United Way of America
Assess on a continuing basis critical community needs for human service programs.
Allocate United Way financial support so as to meet the greatest and most urgent needs of the community.
Encourage and develop the management efficiency of both the United Way enterprise and the agencies supported through it.
Unite people from across the community to work together to identify and address the issues that matter most, change conditions and improve lives by: raising awareness; raising money, goods and services; matching resources to needs; and creating initiatives to fill the gaps. (http://www.unitedway.org/).
Leadership Style
The United Way of America engages in a team leadership approach for fund raising efforts and for decisions regarding distribution of funds raised. The following framework is an example of the structure of the United Way of America fund raising team:
Board of Directors: provides the COMPELLING DIRECTION for decisions regarding the identification of the areas in a community where there is compelling reason for facilitating change.
Officers: provide the ENABLING STRUCTURE to ensure that all functions critical to task and team maintenance are completed.
Staff: provide EXPERT COACHING for the development and motivation of team members and ensure a supportive organizational context exists so that access to resources is provided.
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Volunteers: provide TEAM LEARNING to enhance productivity and effectiveness of the mission of the group. Burke, C.S., Stagl, K.C., Klein, C., Goodwin, G.F., Salas, E.,
Halpin, S.M. (2006)
As noted in an article published in The Leadership Quarterly (2006), the preceding framework assumes the team has the knowledge, skills and resources (KSR) to enable leadership functions to be established.
Applying Hill’s Model of Team Leadership to the United Way of America is most applicable to smaller, local organizations. The staff members at the local/ regional level are the monitors for the organizations participating in fund raising campaigns as well as the advocates for the nonprofit community groups. At the internal level, the leadership team responds to requests from organizations for training and goal setting during campaign periods. External leadership teams network with participating groups to share information, advocate for causes, and negotiate support for many need-based groups. When these pieces are put together, the performance standards can be effectively developed and evaluated to determine strengths and weaknesses.
Authenticity
The definition of an authentic leader, according to Avilio, B.J. and Gardner, W.L. (2005) is that they are “people of extraordinary integrity, with a profound sense of purpose and willingness to live by their core values. They are confident, hopeful and optimistic and remain committed to building an organization through purpose. Those who are deeply aware of how they think and behave and are perceived by others as being aware of their own and others’ values/moral perspectives, knowledge and strengths; aware of the context in which they operate; and who are confident, hopeful, optimistic, resilient, and of high moral character.”
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On April 5, 2005, United Way of America President and CEO, Mr. Brian A. Gallagher delivered a statement to the United States Department of Finance outlining his plans to make changes in accountability measures for the organization. One of the focal points in his address was restoring trust in the non-profit sector. The UWA operates in the spotlight of the public eye and focuses on paying a great deal of attention to the ethics of its operations. Many of the financial reports that were voluntary were made mandatory and reviewed by an expert committee. If any local United Way chapter did not follow the new initiatives, they were not allowed to use the United Way brand. These measures demonstrated the commitment of UWA leadership to validate their integrity and appreciate the context of the climate in which they operate (Strom, 2003).
United Way organizations, along with hundreds of other groups in the charitable sector, are beginning to learn from these painful lessons. CEO Gallagher recognized the challenges that faced the UWA: operating effectively and efficiently and with the highest level of integrity. In reality, there are bad people who make bad choices and charitable organizations must work with a higher level of integrity and eliminate the challenges of wrongdoing (Gallagher, 2003).
Model of Leadership
The United Way of America organization’s leadership model is transformational.
Followers are inspired to “achieve extraordinary outcomes and, in the process, develop their own leadership capacity,” as pointed out by Bass and Riggio (2006) in Transformational Leadership.
The model of leadership must also be adaptive due to the vast differences in community cultures that the organization serves. Ronald Heivetz (2010) describes the conditions for adaptive leadership as “challenges that demand leadership that can engage people in facing challenging
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UNITED WAY OF AMERICA realities and then changing at least some of the priorities, attitudes, and behavior in order to thrive in a changing world.”
When current president and CEO Brian Gallagher addressed the United States Committee on Finance, April 5, 2005, he immediately outlined his plans for change in the UWA organization. Gallagher’s message was forthright:
“Why should we change? Because our helping systems were built for a different economic time and a different set of social conditions. In the U.S. we have evolved from an agrarian economy to an industrial economy, to a service economy, and finally an information and technology economy. And we are now in a global marketplace which changes how money is earned and how wealth and income is accumulated and distributed. It is why during one of the longest macroeconomic expansions in our history during the 1990’s we did not make real progress on some of our most difficult social issues” (Gallagher, 2005).
Transformational leaders are able to develop people in order to channel their energy into strategies. Leadership in the UWA organization employs all four of the core components of transformational leadership: idealized influence, inspirational motivation, intellectual stimulation and individualized consideration. The concept of idealized influence exists where leaders are expected to serve as role models. Inspirational motivation is delivered in team spirit building conferences and a demonstration of their commitment to team goals. Leaders invite new ideas and creative problem-solving solutions in order to foster intellectual stimulation in local United
Way organizations. At the local levels, mentoring and coaching as well as two-way communication demonstrate the individualized consideration component of transformational leadership. 11
UNITED WAY OF AMERICA
In order to meet the ever-changing needs and demographics of local communities, United
Way organizations must exercise adaptive leadership traits. It is necessary to respond to problems requiring solutions outside current guidelines. Adaptive leadership requires acceptance of shared responsibility and continued learning. For example, the United Way of Southern
Kentucky recently invited community members to participate in a survey to identify issues that were most important. The purpose of the survey was to model a plan to create real and lasting change within the community (http://www.uwsk.org/).
This type of leadership has an important influence on the ethical climate of the United
Way of America.
Ethical Climate
Authentic transformational leadership is based on altruistic principles. Altruism shows concern for the best interests of others (Northouse, 2012, p.443). Ethical climate includes a group or organization’s moral normative structure, referent others’ behavior, expectations about obedience to legitimate authority, and the group or organization’s encouragement of employees to be responsible for their actions (Zhu, W., Avolio, B.J., Riggio, R.E., Sosik, J.J., 2011).
Generally speaking, the ethical climate of any non-profit organization is expected to be morally strong; and such a climate influences the moral conduct of its members and especially its board of directors (Laratta, 2009) In the past several years, many non-profits have discovered toxic leadership at the highest rank. In 1992, William Aramony, CEO of the United Way of
America, served seven years in a federal prison camp as he was convicted of conspiracy to defraud, filing false tax returns, and stealing hundreds of thousands of dollars from the UWA
(Lipmar-Bluman, 2010).
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The story of Aramony caught lying, cheating, and stealing is at odds with how charitable organizations and those who lead and manage them (Kellerman, 2010). As a result of this scandal, the UWA appointed an ethics committee and established a Code of Ethics in order to restore public trust to the organization. Many of the ideas outlined in the code were developed by a joint force of volunteers and employees of the UWA and local United Way organizations.
Leadership of the UWA believes that the organization has a responsibility to uphold the highest of ethical standards for themselves as well as the communities they serve. They help to establish and reinforce organizational values within an ethical climate. It is through the actions of member volunteers, staff and representatives setting examples for one another as they work to achieve excellence in high standards of performance and ethical conduct. The Code of Ethics was developed as a way of connecting the values and ideals with the work the UWA does
every day. Diversity
UWA President and CEO, Brian Gallagher, has this to say about diversity:
“Diversity has always been a workforce imperative across the United Way system but the United Way Inclusion Roundtable is focused on making diversity and inclusion initiatives a business imperative that will spur greater outreach to diverse audiences and constituencies in terms of gender, racial and sexual orientation.” He continued: “The United Way Inclusion Roundtable will launch the United Way Inclusion Council which will devise diversity activities to incorporate into the business imperatives outlined by the United Way Standards of Excellence” (United Way of America, 2005).
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Diversity and inclusion are at the heart of what it means to LIVE UNITED
(www.unitedway.org/pages/diversity-and-inclusion).
The United Way of America organization utilizes diversity as a means of building the capacity of individual communities to meet its needs. Staff members and volunteers engage in conversations with communities and invite them to get involved in developing cultural skills to engage diverse parts of the population. The effect of diversity on the United Way creates the challenge of attracting diverse talent. For example, in the cultural composition of the United
States of America, persons of multilingual capacity are in high demand. The diversity in languages and cultural values need consideration when building strategic relationships in these communities. The United Way Inclusion Council was developed in order to assist with their diversity and inclusion strategy to lead business resource groups such as: African American; Asian/Pacific
Islander; Latino/Hispanic; Gay, Lesbian, Bisexual and Transgender; Native American; Persons with Disabilities; White Engagement; Women and Youth. At the Inclusion Roundtable of 2006, the United Way of America gave notice to United Way of America’s National Women’s
Leadership Council and the Women’s and Minority Staff Task Force
(www.unitedway.org/pages/diversity-and-inclusion).
The worldwide council of the United Way has accelerated change in its leadership ranks.
Currently, 62 percent of the chief executives are women and 80 percent of the entire workforce is comprised of women. The Leadership Council offers mentorship programs and leadership education in order to identify and develop female talent for recruiting women board members
(Donovan, 2013).
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The United Way builds partnerships and shares ownership in local community United
Way groups through inclusion. It is important to establish opportunities to allow all areas of a community to give, advocate, and volunteer to improve its conditions. The United Way views diversity as those perspectives that make individuals unique. This outreach is important in order to create necessary answers to address complex community issues.
Conclusion
The organizational leadership of the United Way of America has experienced several changes since its beginning in the late 19th century. Most of those changes were necessary in order to grow the vision and mission into what the UWA is today. The organization evolved from community leaders raising funds and distributing to those in need, to a workplace-based contribution drive centered on assisting local agencies in their charitable endeavors. Rules and regulations were invoked in order to establish accountability and uphold the ethical climate of the United Way. The organization has survived several corrupt leaders, but only through the appointment of leadership committed to upholding its core values. Today’s United Way of
America, as well as the nearly 1,400 local United Way chapters, thrive due to the continued efforts of leadership to be transformational and adaptive in finding ways to serve the needs of others. UNITED WAY OF AMERICA
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