Seven Turning Points
Leading Through Pivotal Transitions in Organizational Life
Format:Paperback
Publisher:Turner Publishing Company
Published:23rd Apr '09
Should be back in stock very soon
As nonprofit organizations mature and grow, their staffs and programs expand, their operations and dynamics become more complex, and the climate they operate in changes and presents new challenges. If they are to move to a new level of effectiveness, they must periodically adjust their leadership, management, structure, governance, and operating style to fit their changed circumstances. Author Susan Gross calls these adjustments ""turning points."" The author's forty years of work with nonprofit organizations has shown that turning points are most likely to arise at seven predictable times in a group's life. Recognizing these turning points and taking action can ease the adjustments necessary as your organization pivots in a new direction. The seven turning points are:
- When a loose, family style of operating leads to disorganization and a lack of professionalism or accountability
- When the management needs of an organization outstrip its executive director's management skills
- When a founding volunteer board hires its first executive director but finds it hard to delegate and adjust to a less involved role
- When opportunistic, unplanned growth results in an absence of focus and priorities and spreads an organization too thin
- When strong central direction becomes micromanagement, top-down control, and over-dependency on the leader
- When decentralization goes too far, splitting the organization into autonomous units that have little or no connection, coherence, or coordination;
- When a longtime, cherished executive director must prepare to step down.
“This extremely helpful approach is for anyone facing change—which happens to be just about everyone. Susan Gross is one of the few writers who is truly thinking of how to help create positive change.” —Larry Cox, Executive Direction, Amnesty International USA, New York, NY
“Seven Turning Points is a clear and insightful discussion on the phases of organizational development that will prove invaluable to leaders who are managing change. I will turn to her book again and again.” —Maddy deLone, Executive Director, Innocence Project, New York, NY
“No one knows more than Susan Gross about what makes organizations work—and stumble—at key points in their history and development.” —Gara LaMarche, President and CEO, The Atlantic Philanthropies, New York, NY
“Change is never an easy process, but Seven Turning Points can help leaders see what needs to be done. A must read for all nonprofit executives and funders.” —Anthony D. Romero, Executive Director, American Civil Liberties Union, New York, NY
“What a wonderful book! Susan Gross establishes a common vocabulary for understanding the challenges of organizational development in any nonprofit.” —Rosann Haggerty, President, Common Ground, New York, NY
- Commended for Benjamin Franklin Award (Business) 2010
ISBN: 9780940069732
Dimensions: 254mm x 178mm x 10mm
Weight: 272g
118 pages