Study Finds Nonprofit Leaders More Effective than Corporate Heads
The Nonprofit Quarterly presents revolutionary study.
Boston, MA, January 7, 2008 –The Nonprofit Quarterly today released the initial findings of a research study that reveals that nonprofit leaders may well be more effective than for-profit leaders. An article detailing this landmark study and its results is published in the winter issue of this journal.
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New Survey of "Next-Generation" Nonprofit Leaders There has been much emphasis placed on the fact that many of today's nonprofit leaders are approaching retirement age. A new survey of nearly 6,000 "next-generation leaders" was undertaken to learn about the people who may be the future leaders of the sector. The survey, Ready to Lead? Next Generation Leaders Speak Out, is the largest national survey to date of emerging nonprofit leaders and was produced by the Meyer Foundation in partnership with CompassPoint Nonprofit Services, The Annie E. Casey Foundation and Idealist.org. Read more... IRS Releases Paper on Good Governance The Internal Revenue Service (IRS) has released its final paper on good nonprofit governance practices in six critical areas. The topic areas covered in the paper include the mission, organizational documents, governing body, governance management policies, financial statements and the form 990, and transparency and accountability. Nonprofits can use these recommendations as one resource for a governance checklist. Read More… 33 Principles for Good Governance Released
After two years of work, the Panel on the Nonprofit Sector, spearheaded by the Independent Sector, has released
Principles for Good Governance and Ethical Practice: A Guide for
Charities and Foundations, containing 33 principles for governance and
transparency. Nonprofits can obtain as many as 100 copies, at no
charge, to share with board and staff.
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Leadership Development Links
Leadership New Hampshire (LNH) selects, trains and builds a network of leaders for the state of New Hampshire. Each year, LNH seeks out, challenges, develops and honors a select group of New Hampshire citizens who have the potential to provide the leadership needed to address key issues of statewide significance. http://www.leadershipnh.org/index.php
The Institute for Nonprofit Management, developed by the Department of Organization and Management at Antioch New England Graduate School, is a comprehensive curriculum of seminars for nonprofit executives. The program provides information in areas such as human resources, fundraising, board development, marketing, business planning, and team-building. It is offered annually at varied locations around the state of New Hampshire. http://www.antiochne.edu/OM/institute/default.cfm
Leadership Readings
Leading with an Open Heart
Today’s leaders often face adaptive challenges. An adaptive challenge is not like technical work, in which you can prescribe a solution that doesn't require people to change. Meeting adaptive challenges may result in a period of painful adjustment so that leading people to make these changes is risky. Ronald A. Heifetz and Marty Linsky’s article, Leading with an Open Heart offers five guidelines for dealing with the dangerous aspects of leadership. Five action guidelines offer strategic and tactical steps leaders can take in responding to dangerous situations and helping to learn to sustain themselves so they can come through the process unbroken and unbowed, with their spirit intact.
http://www.leadertoleader.org/knowledgecenter/L2L/fall2002/heifetz.html
Are You a Manager, a Leader, or Both?
Why not just leadership, or just management? What's the difference between the two? Is one more important than the other? This article offers a quick tour of some observations from leadership scholars on the differences between managing and leading.
http://poynter.org/column.asp?id=34&aid=62579
Leaders and Managers: A Difference of Focus
An excerpt from First, Break All the Rules (Simon & Schuster, 1999) by Marcus Buckingham and Curt W. Coffman, Leading or Managing? explores focus as the difference between great leaders and great managers.
http://gmj.gallup.com/content/content.asp?ci=526
Do We Have to Choose Between Management and Leadership?
In her article, Esther Derby defines leadership and management, and shows how one manager incorporates both. Although the example is taken from the software industry it provides a model for thinking about how the leader/manager of a small nonprofit can combine these two skill sets.
http://www.stickyminds.com/sitewide.asp?Function=edetail&ObjectType=COL&ObjectId=10294
Leading Change
John Kotter’s model for leading change is best summed up in the rephrasing of the old saying, “You can manage a horse to water, but you must lead it to drink.” This article gives an overview of Kotter’s view of the steps to change including how to defrost the status quo, taking actions that bring about change, and anchoring the changes in the corporate culture.
http://www.esi-intl.com/public/publications/22002changemanagement.asp
Executive Transitions
Planning Successful Successions
From the Chronical of Philanthropy, Planning Successful Successions discusses how planning ahead for a leader's departure can prevent problems.
http://philanthropy.com/free/articles/v18/i06/06000601.htm
Executive Transition vs. Executive Search
"Executive transition is not just about finding an executive. It also focuses on minimizing the risk and capturing all of the opportunities that a change in leaders offers." Find out more about how focusing on transition, rather than simply a search, can help your organization capture the opportunities of change in this article and in the other excellent articles about execuitve transition at TransitionGuides.com.
http://www.transitionguides.com/overview/et_vs_es.htm
Founder Transitions: Creating Good Endings and New Beginnings
This guide from Annie E. Casey Foundation examines the unique challenges presented by transitions involving founders or long-term executives and gives advice for executives and their boards in confronting the complex issues these transitions present.
http://www.transitionguides.com/resources/docs/Founders_final.pdf
Interim Executive Directors: The Power in the Middle
From the Annie E. Casey Foundation, this paper explores the benefits and basics of using an interim executive director in a leadership transition. It covers the issues that nonprofits should consider when weighing the use of an interim and provides case studies.
http://www.transitionguides.com/resources/docs/IED_final.pdf
Lessons for New and Departing Leaders
This article from Tom Adams of Transition Guides provides practical guidance to exiting and entering leaders, with a particular focus on founders and executive directors of long tenure. http://www.nonprofitquarterly.org/section/367.html
Change Ahead, Nonprofit Executive Leadership and Transitions
This summary of a recent survey of 2,200 executive directors of nonprofit organizations from across the country, funded by the Annie E. Casey Foundation highlights the implications that the growing number of leadership transitions may have for the nonprofit sector over the coming decades.
www.aecf.org/upload/PublicationFiles/change%20summary.pdf
Executive Coaching
Promise of Executive Coaching
What promise does coaching offer to nonprofit leaders? What impact can coaching have upon developing and sustaining effective leaders? Find out more about this promising practice for helping nonprofit leaders face the challenges and isolation of their role.
https://www.compasspoint.org/content/index.php?pid=21
A New Way to Capacity: Executive Coaches
From the Irvine Quarterly: Professional athletes have long had coaches. Corporate CEOs by the hundreds now benefit from their services and support. So why aren't nonprofit executive directors, typically far more strapped for help than their private sector counterparts, using the services of a new breed of executive coaches focusing on the nonprofit sector?
http://www.irvine.org/publications/iq/archive/vol4_issue4/leadership.shtml
What an Executive Coach Can Do for You
In a 2004 survey of for-profit companies, 86 percent said they used coaching to sharpen the skills of individuals who have been identified as future organizational leaders. This article gives an overview of the use of executive coaching in the for-profit sector and discusses the unique benefits of coaching.
http://hbswk.hbs.edu/archive/4853.html |
