Leadership in Nonprofit Organizations : Lessons from the Third Sector

by Barry Dym

• ISBN13: 9781412914468
• ISBN10: 1412914469
• Edition: 1st
• Format: Hardcover
• Copyright: 2005-01-12
• Publisher: Sage Publications, Inc

Summary

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 nonprofits both to understand and appreciate their complexities, and to reachconclusions 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. The book explores contemporary versions of leadership as embedded in American culture. It develops the concept of good fit between the leader and circumstances in which she or he must lead; it reveals predictable leadership dynamics and cycles; it explains how leaders can increase the readiness for change in their organizations; it describes the felt experience of "flow" when successful leaders are lost in the moment. Although each chapter employs a different lens, the object is the same throughout-leadership as the practice of alignment. The result is a multifaceted view of leadership as a complex system of shifting interrelationships that yields insights useful to students, researchers and leaders themselves. Features and Benefits: 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. 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.

Table of Contents

Acknowledgments	vii
Introduction	1	(14)
Casa Myrna Vazquez	15	(20)
Theoretical Alignment	35	(12)
The Cultural Narrative of Leadership	47	(20)
Goodness of Fit	67	(26)
The Alignment Map	93	(16)
The Dynamics and Cycles of Alignment	109	(14)
Community Therapeutic Day School: A Beautifully Aligned Organization	123	(12)
The DNA of Leadership	135	(14)
The Practice of Alignment	149	(12)
Utilizing States of Organizational Readiness to Achieve Alignment	161	(20)
The Alignment Exercise	181	(18)
Inner Alignment and the Experience of Flow in Leadership	199	(16)
Bibliography	215	(10)
Index	225	(10)
About the Authors	235