Episode Overview
If you’ve ever felt like your nonprofit team is pulling in different directions, you’re not broken. According to Ronesha Jackson, you’re also not alone. In this episode of Nonprofit 2.0, Cherry and Ronesha walk through what people-first leadership actually looks like, and why the fix usually starts with listening before anything else.
Key Takeaways
Prioritize listening for the sake of team alignment. Ronesha stresses the importance of listening to nonprofit leaders to help them feel less isolated in their challenges.
- Implement one-on-one coaching to address individual challenges before tackling team dynamics. Ronesha often finds that understanding individual perspectives can clear the way for more effective teamwork.
- Create a culture of psychological safety to encourage open dialogue. Leaders must ensure that team members feel safe to express their experiences and concerns.
- Use multiple communication methods to relay important information. Ronesha recommends presenting findings verbally and in written form for better retention.
- Focus on sustainability by integrating training into regular practices. Regular training ensures that staff remain knowledgeable about their tools and systems, which keeps people engaged over time.
- Establish accountability as a shared responsibility within teams. Ronesha emphasizes that teams should work together to hold each other accountable for maintaining effective communication and using systems properly.
Episode Highlights
1. The Power of People-First Leadership
Ronesha emphasized the necessity of prioritizing people within nonprofits, noting that when organizations focus on their staff, everything else tends to align more effectively. She shared insights from her transition from an internal role to consulting, where she recognized recurring challenges across various nonprofits. This experience led her to develop a training and development agency centered around enhancing leadership and team dynamics.
During the conversation, Ronesha pointed out that nonprofit leaders often feel isolated in their struggles. By pointing to shared experiences, she helps leaders realize they are not alone in facing challenges. This perspective shift can catalyze progress, encouraging teams to collaborate on solutions rather than remaining stuck in their issues.
2. Strategies for Team Alignment
Ronesha discussed her approach to facilitating alignment among teams, which involves understanding varying levels of awareness within the group. She explained that some team members might recognize a problem but lack the language to articulate it. By focusing on individual experiences, Ronesha helps leaders uncover deeper issues affecting team dynamics.
In her work, Ronesha employs a combination of one-on-one coaching, team training, and strategic planning to promote clarity and alignment. This mix addresses surface-level issues and builds a culture of open communication, so team members can voice concerns without fear of reprisal.
3. The Importance of Accountability
Accountability emerged as a central theme in Ronesha’s conversation with Cherry. Ronesha explained that without a system of accountability, even the best tools and processes may fail. She stressed the importance of establishing shared communication channels and creating a culture where team members feel responsible for their roles and outcomes.
Ronesha also noted that leaders must be proactive in creating a culture of accountability. This includes regularly revisiting training and ensuring that team members understand how to use the tools at their disposal effectively. By doing so, organizations can sustain the progress made during interventions and continue evolving to meet their missions.
FAQ
How do I get a misaligned nonprofit team back on the same page about goals and communication?
Start with one-on-one coaching before any group work, then layer in team training. Ronesha tells Cherry this sequence matters because individuals often sense a problem before they have the words for it, and group sessions only work once people feel safe being honest. Naming a shared understanding of what “collaborate well” actually means in your context is the unlock.
What is the difference between training and facilitation when fixing nonprofit team communication problems?
Training gives everyone the same baseline knowledge on a topic, while facilitation creates space for the team to talk through what that knowledge means for them. Ronesha pairs the two: she delivers the baseline, then facilitates a conversation where people surface their own next steps. Used together, the team both understands the material and commits to using it.
Is it worth hiring an external consultant to fix leadership and team alignment problems in a nonprofit?
Yes, especially when the problem sits inside leadership itself. Ronesha points out that an external consultant can say “the issue is at the leadership level” without the political risk a staff member would face. That outside view surfaces patterns people inside the organization already feel but cannot safely name, which is often what gets a stuck team moving again.
Tools and Resources
- Evolve (Training, Coaching, Facilitation) is Ronesha’s consulting agency, focused on people-first leadership, team alignment, and strategic planning for nonprofits. Learn more at evolvetcf.com.
- Ronesha’s newsletter shares ongoing insights for nonprofit leaders on team dynamics, accountability, and communication. Sign up here.
How to Apply This
To implement the insights from this episode, nonprofit leaders can start by assessing their current team dynamics. Begin by scheduling one-on-one check-ins with team members to understand their experiences and identify any misalignments in communication. This foundational step creates an open dialogue that encourages honesty and reveals underlying issues.
Next, consider incorporating regular training sessions focused on the tools and systems your organization uses. Establish a schedule for these sessions, ensuring that all team members have a baseline understanding of how to utilize these resources effectively. Accountability can be reinforced by assigning team members specific responsibilities related to these tools.
About Ronesha Jackson
Ronesha spent her career inside the sector, in executive leadership and development roles, before moving into consulting at another firm. That outside view is what prompted her to start Evolve. Working with a series of nonprofits as a consultant, she kept noticing the same patterns across very different organizations: board misalignment, stuck teams, leaders carrying problems they couldn’t quite name. Ronesha Jackson is the founder of Evolve, a training, coaching, and facilitation agency for nonprofits.
Her people-first model is built on a simple premise. When teams aren’t working well together, the mission suffers, no matter how strong the strategy or how clear the budget. Through Evolve, she helps leaders work that piece out across executive and team coaching, training and facilitation, and strategic planning.
Next Steps
Listeners are encouraged to watch the full episode to gain deeper insights into Ronesha’s strategies for nonprofit leadership. Sharing this episode with team members can facilitate important discussions around accountability and team alignment.
