To learn more about Leadership Development

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Check out this video about Leadership from AFS-USA:

Best practices – Board Development Program

When we think of leadership development, one of the first group of AFS stakeholders that comes to out mind is Board Members.

  • Do you know how many Board Members we have in the AFS Network?
  • And how do they learn to perform their roles as Board Members?

We have close to 600 Board Members in the AFS Network. And the majority of them never attended a Governance training workshop neither were Board Members before (in any other organization). In order to close this gap, we developed a Network-wide development program called Governance that Builds Value.

The Governance that Builds Value program provides practical steps that Board members and Partner Directors can take to make their collaborative leadership more efficient. Specifically, this program is based on four pillars:

  1. Creating a common governance language around three types of situations:
    1. When Boards should take charge;
    2. When Boards should work in partnership with the Partner Director or other stakeholders;
    3. When Boards should get out of the way.
  2. Developing a central idea that is clear and compelling, helping to inform a long-term vision as well as short-term business plans;
  3. Effectively engaging and motivating stakeholders, particularly volunteers and staff, and defining criteria for accountability and board evaluation;
  4. Managing and evaluating the Partner Director in consideration of latest HR practices.

The Program consists of:

  • an online module;
  • an in-person 3-4 day event customized to the needs of the different audiences;
  • several resources available in our World Cafe platform.

The online module can be translated into any language and the in-person workshops are fully customizable to different audiences. We are in the process of creating standard Training Session Outlines after a few pilot experiences.

Why Leadership at AFS?

Organizations have been becoming less hierarchical and more collaborative for decades, of course, as globalization and the growing importance of knowledge work have required that responsibility and initiative be distributed more widely. Moreover, it is now possible for large groups of people to coordinate their actions, not just by bringing lots of information to a few centralized places but also by bringing lots of information to lots of places through ever-growing networks within and beyond the organization. The sheer complexity and ambiguity of problems is humbling. We ask our volunteers to make more and more decisions in the context not only of program operations but sometimes of changing financial, social, political, technological, and environmental forces. Different stakeholders all have claims on organizations. As it is hard for one person could stay on top of everything, managing such complexity requires a particular set of skills.

Therefore, a few questions for you:
  • What for leadership is needed today in AFS?
  • What do volunteers need to learn concerning leadership skills?
  • What is working regarding leadership development in AFS?
  • What is not working regarding leadership development in AFS?

Best Practices – Leadership Development for Key Volunteers

Given numerous requests from the AFS Network, the OD Team at INT included in its Strategic Framework 2015-2018 a whole area dedicated to Volunteer Leadership Development.

This is our promise:
We will accelerate the development of leadership within the organization. We will offer developmental programs for leaders, both volunteers and staff, so they are confidently leading their organizations with the right strategies to make the biggest difference they can. We will develop and strengthen the leadership skills of three groups: Board Members, Partner Directors, and local groups/chapter leaders. Building on successful Network experiences we will design leadership programs for local groups emphasizing how to build a diverse and inclusive team, how to enhance the visibility of the organization, and how to better deliver the AFS Mission.

Our next priorities:

  • Revamp and expand the Board Development Program;
  • Create a leadership acceleration program targeted at local group/ chapter leaders.

We are currently designing and piloting the Leadership Acceleration Program. We will have more information to share very soon! Stay tuned!