Leadership capabilities: the influence of organizational purpose and culture in the nonprofit sector

Abstract

Leadership has been shown to have a strong influence on the culture of nonprofit organizations and therefore a focus on understanding and enhancing effectiveness of leadership in this context is critical. However, the nonprofit sector is not homogenous, and in this chapter, it is argued that the underlying organizational purpose may impact on the organizational culture and therefore the leadership capabilities required. In the nonprofit sector, a growing emphasis in recent years on improved governance and accountability and balancing competing stakeholder demands has intensified the focus on leadership capabilities. Despite this, the examination of leadership capabilities and the extent to which they may vary depending on nonprofit organization purpose or type has been limited. This chapter draws on a comparative case study of the similarities and differences in leadership capabilities that are required in different types of nonprofit organizations. This study illustrates how two different types of nonprofits, established to serve differing purposes and missions, with differing culture and values, subsequently require different leadership capabilities. The research adopted a user-centered approach to understand the participants' mental models about leadership and culture, and the value and contribution of this research technique is also highlighted.