Leadership Matters Offers Points to Help Nonprofit Organizations Transition to Stronger Management

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
(Free-Press-Release.com) December 18, 2008 -- Without sound management practices, even the most successful nonprofit organizations will lose their effectiveness over time. The December issue of “Leadership Matters,” published by the Bridgespan Group’s Bridgestar initiative, which is dedicated to attracting, connecting, and supporting leadership for the sector, provides insights into how nonprofit organizations can establish solid management practices to complement their strong leadership initiatives.

The lead article, “Strongly Led, Under-managed: How can visionary nonprofits make the critical transition to stronger management” is excerpted from a longer article by Bridgespan Partner Daniel Stid and Bridgespan Managing Partner and Co-founder Jeff Bradach. The article is based on Bridgespan’s discussions with senior staff members at 30 nonprofit organizations as well as insights from Bridgespan’s consulting work.

“Passion is the driving force behind visionary leadership at many nonprofit organizations,” said David Simms, Bridgestar managing partner. “While management capabilities are also critical to an organization’s success, they are often overlooked or underdeveloped. We believe by providing insights into best practices, we can help organizations strengthen their management capabilities without diminishing their passion.”

According to “Strongly Led, Under-managed,” symptoms of inadequate attention to management include staff members who are confused about their roles and responsibilities, and finances that are out of control. The article addresses the differences and inherent tension between leadership and management roles. For example, Jumpstart, a national network focused on mobilizing college students to tutor young children in Head Start programs, was losing many talented people because of management issues. “Based on my for-profit experience, I thought that strong management was what people would seek and want to invest in,” said Rob Waldron about his early experiences as CEO of Jumpstart. He soon learned that others did not see it this way, but rather were more focused on the passion of the mission and its ability to attract money and talent.

Levers to Build Strong Management Practices
Bridgespan found there are three key levers to ensure that organizations appreciate, build, and sustain strong management practices. Each of the levers depends on the other two for success:

• Get to strategic clarity. Answer, in concrete terms, the questions that are core to an organization’s mission: “What impact are we prepared to be held accountable for?” and “What do we need to do—and not do—in order to achieve this impact?”

Strategic clarity does not necessarily mean developing a time-consuming strategic plan. In describing a planning exercise the organization was conducting, Wendy Kopp, founder and CEO of Teach for America (TFA) told Bridgespan, “I am not going to read another overly detailed plan that tries to lay out what every part of the organization is going to do for se

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