New trends and competencies in social leadership

By Mar Cordobés, Ignasi Carreras & Maria Sureda

In today’s VUCA world – volatile, uncertain, complex and ambiguous – the third sector needs dynamic and courageous leaders who can lead innovation and redefine how impact is created.

Managers need to stop seeing themselves as designers of organisational structures, procedures and rules. They need to go one step further and become catalysts, social ambassadors and drivers of dynamic environments that promote autonomy to achieve organisational goals.

"Understanding the meaning of social leadership starts with recognising that it is, above all, a relational process. As Peter Northouse describes in his book Leadership: theory and practice: "Leadership is a process in which a person influences a group of individuals to achieve a common goal."

Leadership has to move beyond leaders, their competencies and capabilities

Leadership has to move beyond leaders, their competencies and capabilities. This is because above leaders there has to be a purpose that justifies their commitment and a team that promotes particular values and attitudes. 

The relationship between these three components – the leader, the purpose and the team – forms a virtuous leadership triangle that drives employees' performance and enables organisations to attain the outcomes they are looking for.

The third sector calls for strong leadership that can adapt to this new reality in order to tackle social challenges effectively.

In the findings of our study Where is social leadership going?, 82% of the third sector managers surveyed said that good leadership is essential for NGOs to have a social impact.

82% of the third sector managers surveyed said that good leadership is essential for NGOs to have a social impact

To achieve good leadership in the third sector, it is essential to bear in mind the following four key aspects:

Purpose-driven leadership

In uncertain times, it is more important than ever to have a guiding light. As a result, terms such as purpose and authentic leadership have become crucial in organisations.

In the third sector, we need to consider two objectives: on the one hand, the personal, individual objective of leadership; and on the other, the organisation’s objective. Leadership and social commitment stem precisely from this dual dimension; a leader who aligns their personal values with the organisation’s mission creates a multiplier effect across the whole team.

Leaders need to be connected to their own values, act with integrity and think about what motivates them to lead. Nurturing inner life and silence can also help them shed light on their motivations while identifying the core values that guide their work as leaders.

Shared leadership

In the early days of its professionalisation, the social sector was relatively reluctant to talk about “leaders." The idea was associated with the emergence of strong personal figures to the detriment of their teams.

However, more recent trends in new leadership styles (greater empathy, delegation and the ability to inspire and empower teams) have made this term increasingly acceptable. 

This has also been coupled with the development of shared leadership, which is not tied to a single person at the top of the organisation but rather consists of dividing up leadership duties and roles among management teams. 

A good leader needs to be able to switch styles depending on the circumstances

In the results of our study, the majority of respondents (61%) said that shared leadership is the most frequent style in the social sector and only 35% of them believe that vertical leadership is the most common form.

Differences in perception, however, vary by gender. Most men (68%) believe that shared leadership is the dominant trend in the social sector, while among women the figure is slightly lower: 56% of respondents think that shared leadership is most common.

Which types of leadership predominate in the third sector?

Understanding the different types of social leadership is key to enabling managers to adapt their style to each context.In social organisations, not all of the six leadership styles defined by Daniel Goleman have the same importance. Some of them should be enhanced, while others should be reduced and even avoided.

The most significant aspect of this classification is that each style adapts to a different situation, and so a good leader needs to be able to switch styles depending on the circumstances. 

A leadership style is a tool, not a personality trait

A leadership style is a tool, not a personality trait. Leaders who master four or more styles – especially visionary, democratic, affiliative and coaching styles – achieve better performance and business environments.

Notable social leadership examples in the third sector

To illustrate the above concepts, it is worth examining some social leadership examples that reflect how these skills translate into actual organisational practice:

• Purpose-driven leadership in social action organisations: Organizations such as large international aid NGOs have incorporated participatory processes for defining their organisational purpose, achieving greater team cohesion and strategic alignment among their middle managers.
• Shared leadership in foundations: Some foundations in the education sector have distributed the leadership role amongst teams with complementary profiles, combining technical expertise, strategic vision and interpersonal skills, with positive results in terms of measurable social impact.
• Leadership and social innovation: In the field of digital inclusion, several social organisations have opted for leaders with an intrapreneurial profile who have designed innovative programmes for vulnerable groups, generating replicable models with mixed funding.

These examples reinforce the idea that social leadership is not defined by a single profile or a single style, but rather by the capacity for adaptation, ethical soundness and a commitment to collective impact.

New social leadership skills and competencies

Managers in positions of responsibility need to develop emotional competencies (personal and social) as well as new social entreprise leadership skills that tackle emerging issues to meet the sector’s challenges.

The 12 most relevant emotional competencies for managers are:

1. Emotional self-awareness
2. Emotional self-control
3. Adaptability
4. Achievement orientation
5. Positive outlook
6. Empathy
7. Organisational awareness
8. Influence
9. Mentor and coach (people developer)
10. Conflict management
11. Teamwork
12. Inspiring leadership

Source: Goleman, Boyatzis & McKee (2002)

The six new skills needed to address emerging issues

Our study shows that the following six new competencies are needed to tackle emerging issues:

1. Humility

Humility is an essential competency for any leadership style and role. A humble person strives to listen to and accept others, and the more they accept others, the more they will be valued and listened to.

2. Ability to generate trust and build honest relationships

Organisations are more likely to succeed when their leaders are able to bring out the best in others and make people feel they are being cared for.

Leaders should help members of the organisation understand that individual goals are linked to organisational accomplishments.

3. Resilience

Resilience is the ability to cope with adversity in order to become stronger and achieve a state of professional and personal excellence. This competency is a core attribute in entrepreneurship.

4. Ability to collaborate

This is the capacity to work collaboratively with others, both inside and outside the organisation, including external collaborations with other sectors.

The bedrock of this ability lies in identifying common values that make it easier to collaborate and achieve shared goals. This competency is crucial for leadership to promote cooperation and build alliances.

5. Risk-taking/entrepreneurship

This competency consists of developing innovative solutions, ideas or approaches aimed at improving effectiveness and efficiency to achieve the organisation’s objectives. Risk-taking and an entrepreneurial spirit geared towards innovation are key attributes for leadership in the third sector.

6. Systemic thinking

Systemic thinking is the cornerstone of leaders seeking to understand the root causes, problems and challenges the organisation faces. These are leaders who think and act in a systemic way, looking at the big picture instead of splitting it into isolated parts, and who put people at the centre to improve performance.

The future of social leadership

Leadership in the 21st century requires social impact leaders who combine strategic vision with a people-centred approach, who are capable of managing uncertainty without losing sight of ethical principles, and who know how to build resilient organisations that make a real impact.

Social skills and leadership are heavily linked; empathy, collaboration, systems thinking and building trust are not merely peripheral attributes but the core of a leadership model that the third sector needs to respond to the social challenges of our time.

Ultimately, developing social leadership skills means investing in the transformative capacity of organisations and, ultimately, in the well-being of the communities they exist to serve.