Abstracts Category : Other

A Case Study of Emerging Leaders in the Nonprofit Sector

by John M Waldron

The nonprofit sector is confronted with persistent challenges that emerging leaders in the industry may find difficult to overcome without consistent leadership development. There is a leadership gap in the nonprofit industry that is expected to increase and organizational leaders are challenged to recruit, develop, and retain qualified emergent leaders to close the gap. Leaders in the nonprofit sector are feeling pressure to increase business professionalization, improve performance and streamline operations, while sustaining the mission for which agencies exist. A cadre of professional leaders, who have a heart for serving, is required to transform nonprofit agencies to meet future demands. Transformational leaders are recognized for their capacity to successfully transform organizations from one state to another. The transformational leader is one who can effectively meet the needs of followers while simultaneously meeting the needs of the organization. The framework of transformational leadership is the most widely studied leadership construct in the literature and can be a viable framework for planning the development of emergent leaders in the nonprofit sector. This research was conducted to further the understanding of the future challenges nonprofit organizations may face and the strategies required to close the void of emerging leaders in the sector.