Leadership in Nonprofit Organizations: Lessons from the Third Sector

Leadership in Nonprofit Organizations is about exemplary leadership as found in both corporate and nonprofit organizations. The authors take a fresh approach to the study of leadership: they perform research in nonprofit organizations both to understand and appreciate their complexities, and to reach conclusions about the nature of leadership in any context, including for-profit and governmental entities. Moving from nonprofit to for-profit in this way reverses the flow of ideas as represented in the mainstream literature of leadership. The authors’ journey leads through case studies of remarkable leaders succeeding in complex situations.This book contains: a critical review of literature on leadership which encourages diversity in leadership models and approaches; case studies of nonprofit leadership which affirm public-minded, mission-driven leaders and acknowledge their contributions; chapters on leadership constructs such as fit, dynamics, readiness and flow which provide useful insights and methods to enable success; and, the overarching concept of alignment which reframes leadership as an active process where the awareness of and response to the interplay of multiple, relevant factors matters more than charisma, pedigree or power.