Leadership in Nonprofit Organizations

Leadership in Nonprofit Organizations is about exemplary leadership as found in both corporate and nonprofit organizations. Taking a fresh approach to the study of leadership, the authors perform research in nonprofits 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.

Features and Benefits:

Case studies of nonprofit leadership that affirm public-minded, mission-driven leaders and acknowledge their contributions
Critical review of literature on leadership that encourages diversity in leadership models and approaches
Chapters on leadership constructs such as fit, dynamics, readiness and flow that provide useful insights and methods to enable success
Overarching concept of alignment that 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


Leadership in Nonprofit Organizations is an ideal core text for graduate courses in nonprofit leadership. It could be used as a supplementary text in graduate courses in organization development and leadership, as well as courses in community development, human ecology, and human services. In addtion, practitioners, managers, and nonprofit organizational stakeholders will find it of great interest.

Chapter 1: Introduction
Chapter 2: Casa Myrna Vazquez
Chapter 3: Theoretical Alignment
Chapter 4: The Cultural Narrative of Leadership
Chapter 5: Goodness of Fit
Chapter 6: The Alignment Map
Chapter 7: Community Therapeutic Day School: A Beautifully Aligned Organization
Chapter 8: The Dynamics and Cycles of Alignment
Chapter 9: The DNA of Leadership
Chapter 10: The Practice of Alignment
Chapter 11: Utilizing States of Organizational Readiness to Achieve Alignment
Chapter 12: The Alignment Exercise
Chapter 13: Inner Alignment and the Experience of "Flow" in Leadership