Without leadership there is no volunteering: The importance of strategic investment in leadership development in Australia

<p dir="ltr">Leadership plays a critical role in enabling a robust and sustainable volunteering ecosystem. Leaders of Volunteers operate at the forefront of organisations, communities, and volunteers. Academic research offers evidence attesting to the importance and impact of leadership on volunteer motivation, retention, engagement, performance, satisfaction, and the overall sustainability of the volunteer workforce. Conversely, dissatisfaction with leadership is often cited as a reason for volunteer turnover.</p><p dir="ltr">Undoubtedly, leading volunteers is more challenging than leading a paid workforce. Volunteers are distinctly different from paid employees, as they are primarily driven by altruistic or affiliative motives; they have no contractual obligations to their organisation nor do they depend on it to make a living, and they have more flexibility in joining or withdrawing from an organisation. Unsurprisingly, Leaders of Volunteers report difficulties in navigating the use of (legitimate) power and must adapt their leadership style to meet volunteers’ needs.</p><p dir="ltr">Despite known evidence of the importance of effective leadership, this pivotal role is poorly understood and underestimated in the volunteering ecosystem. Leaders of Volunteers are primarily seen as administrators, which undermines the critical role they play in enabling effective volunteering, volunteer satisfaction, and retention. This mistaken view of the role has meant a lack of investment in leadership development, including the importance of skills such as communication, influence, motivation, engagement, and inclusion, among many others.</p><p dir="ltr">In this paper, we briefly review existing scholarly evidence on effective volunteer leadership. We consider key challenges faced by Leaders of Volunteers in Australia and the role volunteer leadership development can play in addressing these challenges. We conclude with policy implications, strongly advocating for strategic investment in volunteer leadership (including development) as critical to ensuring the sustainability of volunteering in Australia.</p>