How to Recruit New Leaders

Selecting your next leaders is no easy task. It takes serious effort to learn about who is in your organization, determine their strengths, and encourage their growth to the point where they can help lead your organization. Your members and volunteers are the future leaders of your organization, so it is important to approach recruitment thoughtfully.

1. Provide consistent content: Give volunteers the resources to educate themselves in matters of the organization. ASAE explains that this is particularly important for the next generation of volunteers—millennials and gen-Zers. This next generation are digital natives, so putting your content into digital formats and making it consistent will help engage a new, energized generation.
2. Keep your brand strong: Create and maintain an exciting environment for your members and volunteers. This will energize and engage those within the organization and motivate them to continue working within it. Open View Partners explains that when you work on your brand and culture, you also begin to attract people who want to work with the organization. This not only widens your pool of leadership candidates but engages them and grows their interest.
3. Give volunteers opportunities: Show your people you are interested in them and their success. ASAErecommends hosting in-person or virtual networking events and holding discussion via social media. Anything you can do to engage members and volunteers will help show that you are invested in them.
4. Be open: An article written for Forbes recommends you allow yourself to be open to different types of leaders than you are used to. Different backgrounds, ages, and other diverse factors can open your board up to new ideas. Consider what each person may be able to add to your leadership team rather than seeing if they fit a certain set of requirements.

Leadership recruitment is not easy, but with care and effort, you can invest in your people and help foster your next generation of leaders.