Leadership Program Shows Collaboration in Action

The for-profit and for-purpose sectors are being brought together to share knowledge and expertise in a bid to grow strong leadership skills.

The Growth Project, a not-for-profit organisation that supports small charities to maximise their impact on the world, has launched its leadership development program for 2017.

The program pairs an emerging charity leader with a business leader for a free 12-month professional development program in a bid to help sector leaders develop skills and ensure their organisations are in a position to continue to “do what they do best”.

The project, now in it’s third year in Sydney and being brought to Melbourne for the first time, aims to positively impact 100 charities and 100 business leaders over a five-year period to 2020.

Co-founder Larry Fingleson said the program was unique for encouraging strong collaboration between the business and not for profit leaders.

“The Growth Project was started in 2015 with a very deliberate aim to invest in the leadership of the not-for-profit sector,” Fingleson said.

“We are now in the third year of the program and are continually inspired by the impact the program is having on the social purpose sector.

“It is obviously very important for the social sector leaders to have investment in their leadership and it is equally as important for business leaders to invest in their leadership, but what we’ve found with The Growth Project is that the uniqueness of the program is the fact that you are blending leadership development for the social purpose as well as the business sector.”

Applications are now open for charity leaders to take part in this year’s program.

There are 10 positions available for charity leaders in Sydney with a further 10 positions in Melbourne. There is no cost to participate for the charity, just a time commitment of eight full days to attend the sessions throughout the year.

As part of the program charity leaders learn how to run more effective and efficient organisations whilst developing their leadership skills.

Fingleson said they were looking for applications from charities who were “doing what they said they were doing”.

“What we’re looking for is charity leaders that are turning over less than $2 million, that have shown some early signs of success, that have the ability to implement what they’ve learned, that are not necessarily or purely religious organisations, that they’re doing what they say they’re doing and that they’re not doing harm,” he said.

Each charity leader will be matched with a business leader from corporates including the Commonwealth Bank, Blackmores, Sage Foundation, Stuart Alexander & Co, Terrace Tower Group and other leading companies.

Fingleson said the businesses also benefited from the program which he described as “collaboration in action”.

“We’ve seen an emotional expansion experience for the business leaders as well as the charity leaders,” he said.

“So the mix of the business leaders coming to the table and learning about the social sector is changing their perspective of how they can help.”

He said at a purpose level The Growth Project was about bringing together leaders for a personal development journey with maximum positive social impact.

“How it is done is [by] helping those who help. And the axiom of that is who is helping who,” he said.

“So what we have seen is that ,what’s happening in the room that can’t be seen, is actually the impact.”

Jayne Meyer Tucker, The Growth Project board member and JMTinc founder, has been engaged to measure the impact of the program over five years.

“[She] is capturing all of these ripples of benefits that are coming from the 20 people being in a room together,” Fingleson said.

Applications for the project close 28 April 2017. For more information on how to apply see the website.