What really inspires me is people who’ve been out there and challenged.Dr Sammy D.James

Leaders Should Inspire Others
They need to have the ability to motivate, to get other people to do things, sometimes things they do not want to do. For different people this will mean different things. When I was coaching basketball I quickly saw how I would have a dozen different people with very different motivations. When I was teaching Math 101 to seventy college freshman, it was the same thing, just on a different scale. The best leaders I have had in my life are able to recognize this and overcome this. They have the ability to motivate groups of people at a time, regardless of their motivations. How? Quite often it is a simple as leading by example.
I hate being on call. I would prefer to leave my work at work and not be answering emails, especially complaints, on nights and weekends. There is no worse feeling to me than to be with my family and have my blackberry full of emails on a Saturday afternoon about some deployment that has gone horribly wrong. However, what would my team think of me if I just took my name out of the rotation?

To lead is to serve.

If I had to think about some of the people in my life that have been able to inspire or motivate me, it would actually be more about the people before I became a professional. My father, for one, and his father were quite inspirational for me. They set me on a path and others along the way kept me sailing, such as my manager Vinny, or the one I will always call my good friend Chris.
Leaders Are Always Looking To Improve Something
No doubt, a leader is never satisfied with what they have, they are always looking to make improvements in whatever areas are necessary. Often times this is because they are listening to the people they lead, otherwise they would not be giving them much service if they did not. So, if the people are unhappy with something, say handing over billions of dollars in bailout funds for companies that pay their executives huge bonuses, their leaders will stand up and say “we need to fix this”. A simpler example would be working with a basketball team you always want your best five on the floor. If something is not working, you will find ways to improve individual skills so that you can put players in spots on the floor that allow for them to be successful not just for themselves but for the team.

Good leaders will be able to inspire you to improve yourself. Vinny certainly did that for me, but so does my wife and family.

Leaders Need Patience
I was always short on patience until I had my children. Now I am only sometimes short on patience. Good leaders are always patient. They understand that motivating others, inspiring them to become better, serving them in various ways, are all things that take time. You plant seeds and wait for something to grow. Like Mr. Miyagi, you spend time trimming that Bonsai tree, or catching flies with chopsticks.
Who has been a great leader in your career and what made them a great leader?

Chris usually has very good questions, and so is this one. It really made me stop and think about all the people in my life, not just as a professional but personal as well. I tried to think about all the qualities that I would attribute to a great leader and realized that my answer is not going to revolve around specific people as it will specific traits.
Are there specific traits that make leaders great?
I think the ability to see opportunities and problem solve, finding ways to be creative in terms of opportunities. Individually, self awareness is pretty important because no one has all the skills required. So, to be self aware of what your skills and strengths are so that you can leverage those strengths and, more importantly, so you can bring in others on your team who have the strengths that you are missing. Then to be collaborative and step back and ensure that the people you brought on for those skills are able to do their job. The other important trait is listening and being able to dialogue with others. I also think it’s really important that we create platforms where we can dialogue with people whose opinions we may not share because that helps us understand a broader perspective and also helps us sharpen our own ideas and convictions.
What should the sector or individual organizations be doing to encourage young leaders?

RM: It is only my first time at a president level and I’m midpoint in my career, so I still feel I have a lot to learn from others who’ve been there longer than myself. But if I think in that context, what’s been helpful to me is opportunities to be exposed to broader networks, to existing networks within the sector. If you recognize someone has interests and skill sets, you can create opportunities for them to step outside their comfort zone so that they can build their own skill base. And creating a forum where you celebrate failures as learning opportunities, I think that’s really important too. It’s not always about getting things right and achieving; it's about messing up once in a while. I think you need to create a forum where that’s okay. 'This didn’t work out but what did you learn?'

What practical advice on leadership would you offer others?
This really resonates with me because I’m the sandwich generation. I think having your priorities straight and understanding the context in which work is important and also the context in which life outside of work is really important - recognizing that really strengthens you as a leader. It’s not taking time away from work; it’s making you more of a whole person, and that impacts your ability to lead an organization.
What leaders have inspired you over the years.
There are so many. What really inspires me is people who’ve been out there and challenged the status quo, who’ve been leaders or real agents of social change. Stephen Lewis comes to mind. He hasn’t been afraid to be critical and to put himself and his reputation on the line. I think that’s really respectful. And I think of Elijah Harper too, someone I really respect in terms of speaking up. Bill Drayton from the Ashoka Foundation also comes to mind. He shows real leadership in identifying social entrepreneurs and the potential impact they can have in solving serious social issues internationally. And Dick Pound, chairman of the World Anti-Doping Agency. He’s someone who was able to put themselves on the line and speak up. All of these people recognized an issue and have been real agents of social change. That, for me, is what volunteerism is all about.
What books or resources about leadership would you recommend?
Governance as Leadership – it’s an interesting take on boards and the leadership role of boards of directors. I’ve also recently read and been really inspired by Getting to Maybe. It’s a really neat book on facilitating social change and how you do that. It’s theoretical but is also applied in stories, which are great. And How to Change the World, I really loved the book. It’s about people who facilitated social change and there are really inspiring stories. I also read Fast Company every month. It’s a business magazine, but I always find a gem in there that I can apply in the nonprofit context and I find that interesting.