Guest Post - Jenn Dysart

When I think of moments when I’ve experienced true leadership - the kind that strikes you as though you’ve seen an artist at work - several faces come to mind: my grandfather, a community activist, a Haida elder. I have witnessed leadership displayed in very different ways, and I have learned that specific situations call for a specific leadership style.

A few years ago, while living in Zambia, I met Mr. Noah Hamapa. Mr. Hamapa was a tall, gentle middle aged man and father of 9 children. His family took me in as their own while I lived in their community, feeding me, showing me how to wash my clothes by hand, and teaching me about life in their country. Mr. Hamapa was a well respected man, not because of wealth, but because he was calm and wise. Often you could find people from the church at his house, looking for advice. One story that stands out for me when asked about a time when I’ve experienced leadership, involves Mr. Hamapa and his best friend Mr. Mbewe.

The two men saw each other almost every day. Mr. Mbewe was treated like he was a part of the family. They had known each other for years, and their children and wives were also close friends. Neither family had very much money, but each would offer support when the other was in need. That’s why, when Mr. Hamapa realized that Mr. Mbewe had stolen money from him one day, people were shocked. Mr. Hamapa had an entire household to feed, and couldn’t afford to have money taken from him. But, instead of accusing his friend and demanding his money back, Mr. Hamapa stayed quiet. He sat his family down and explained to them why they would be short on money that week, but they never saw a change in his attitude toward his old friend. When one of his children asked him about this, Mr. Hamapa told him, “No amount of anger from me could match the shame that Mr. Mbewe feels. He had his reasons for doing what he did, and I have faith in his character”. I couldn’t believe his response. I realized that I had just witnessed a leader choosing to exercise compassion and faith and acting as a model for his family.

I think the main reason that this story stayed with me is that I feel a leader often has to make difficult decisions they feel are right – regardless of other’s reactions to them.

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Jenn Dysart is an alumni of the 2009 21 Leaders program

Happiness vs Satisfaction

I attended the Sobey Leadership Forum last Friday in Halifax where the speakers spoke a lot about motivating people.

One of my key takeaways was the difference between happiness and satisfaction. My job as an organizational leader, they said, is not to make people happy. Unfortunately, we (and I) get trapped in the very human desire of wanting to make people happy. Satisfaction happens from a job well done, by pushing people to do more than they realized. The process of accomplishing a task may actually evoke quite the opposite emotion to happiness – especially when pushing someone beyond their comfort zone.

Thinking about it from a nonprofit context is interesting too. Unlike a private company, the people I think about are not only staff but volunteers and participants. The democratic nature of leadership required in nonprofits is critical as satisfaction is greater when someone is involved from the inspiration ideation stage to final product or service. Often this isn`t possible or necessary, but there are times when it`s an absolute must.

I've been thinking about the role of self-awareness and social intelligence in satisfaction. If one thinks they are being pushed beyond their limits and does a good job, than satisfaction is apt to be high. If one feels underutilized, they will be frustrated, even if the job is done well.

The leader needs to have an acute understanding of not only the abilities of team members but also the perception of abilities. Not an easy task. Probably why it`s better instead to create a process with checks along the way to refine self-awareness, increase competency and do a great job.

Social Tech Training 2009 at MaRS

If you’re following my twitter feeds you would have noticed a spike in productivity last week. I was “live tweeting” from Social Tech Training, a conference sponsored by Web of Change and the Social Innovation group at MaRS.

This conference happened at a good time for 21inc. We’re about to select the next 21 Leaders from over 100 applicants. We’ve launched this new site and are aiming for the fall launch of an exciting program aimed at providing leadership opportunities to young people in communites across New Brunswick and Atlantic Canada.

Through social media there’s an opportunity to engage all these folks in ways unavailable even 5 years ago. Social media isn’t a panacea despite what the proselytizers out there say it is. It’s a communications tool. In a meeting today we joked about the tendency of boomers to become utopian about Facebook, YouTube and their kin. "All the kids are doing it, we need to be there." There are serious limitations to these tools. When done half-assed it's underwhelming. Hence the post on why social media is like teen sex.

But when done well the upside is ginormous. This is exactly the point Sam Dorman makes in this short video, where I asked him to talk about the link between leadership and social media.





A better understanding of how to provide value to friends, supporters and members is the major reason organizations should be thinking about social media. Creating a Facebook fan page is a start, but no where near enough. The fact that most people attending the conference had job titles like Director of Social Media or E-marketing Manager shows that nonprofits, who represented 99 percent of attendees, are starting to get it.

A big shout out to the McConnell Foundation who sponsored our attendance!!