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The groundbreaking and premier work on nonprofit organizations
The nonprofit sector is growing rapidly, creating a major need for expert advice on how to manage these organizations effectively. Management legend Peter Drucker provides excellent examples and explanations of mission, leadership, resources, marketing, goals, and much more. Interviews with nine experts also address key issues in this booming sector.
Peter F. Drucker is considered the most influential management thinker ever. The author of more than twenty-five books, his ideas have had an enormous impact on shaping the modern corporation. Drucker passed away in 2005.
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Drucker has done an excellent job at extracting material from three of his management books: The Effective Executive, Managing for Results, and a little bit of Innovation and Entrepreneurship [Note, these three are available as a collection called The Executive in Action]. The material is presented simply, concisely and is completely targetted to the non-profit sector with many examples including interviews with about 6-7 non-profit leaders. Highly recommended.
STRENGTHS: The book is fairly short, consise, easy to read yet full of great content. Each section includes a brief summary at the end and has at least one interview with a non-profit manager that makes the ideas even more practical.
WEAKNESSES: The book could use some select references to his other works and some graphics. But this is not Drucker's style.
WHO SHOULD READ THIS BOOK: Managers/leaders in the non-profit sector should consider this a must read. Other fans of Drucker that would like a refresher on some of his concepts.
Mr. Drucker details the unique motivations of the non-profit organization and explains the management methods necessary to navigate this organization type.
Another great work by Drucker. Even if you are not in the non-profit world I recommend that you read this.
TABLE OF CONTENTS:
PART ONE: THE MISSION COMES FIRST: AND YOUR ROLE AS A LEADER. 1. The Commitment. 2. Leadership Is a Foul-Weather Job. 3. Setting New Goals-Interview with Frances Hesselbein. 4. What the Leader Owes-Inteview with Max De Pree. 5. Summary: The Action Implications.
PART TWO: FROM MISSION TO PERFORMANCE: EFFECTIVE STRATEGIES FOR MARKETING, INNOVATION, AND FUND DEVELOPMENT. 1. Converting Good Intentions into Results. 2. Winning Strategies. 3. Defining the Market-Interview with Philip Kolter. 4. Building the Donor Constituency-Interview with Dudley Hafner. 5. Summary: The Action Implications.
PART THREE: MANAGING FOR PERFORMANCE: HOW TO DEFINE IT; HOW TO MEASURE IT. 1. What is the Bottom Line When There is No "Bottom Line"? 2. Don't's and Do's-The Basic Rules. 3. The Effective Decision. 4. How to Make the Schools Accountable-Interview with Albert Shanker. 5. Summary: The Action Implications.
PART FOUR: PEOPLE AND RELATIONSHIPS: YOUR STAFF, YOUR BOARD, YOUR VOLUNTEERS, YOUR COMMUNITY. 1. People Decisions. 2. The Key Relationships. 3. From Volunteers to Unpaid Staff-Interview with Father Leo Bartel. 4. The Effective Board-Interview with Dr. David Hubbard. 5. Summary: The Action Implications.
PART FIVE: DEVELOPING YOURSELF: AS A PERSON, AS AN EXECUTIVE, AS A LEADER. 1. You Are Responsible. 2. What Do You Want to Be Remembered For? 3. Non-Profits: The Second Career-Interview with Robert Buford. 4. The Woman Executive in the Non-Profit Institution-Interview with Roxanne Spitzer-Lehmann. 5. Summary: The Action Implications.
The book has five sections, the first being "The Mission Comes First: and your role as a leader." I provide a few snippets that were particularly meaningful to me. Some mission statements work while others don't work, the ultimate test being right action. Almost every hospital says "Our mission is health care" which is wrong because no one can tell you what action or behavior follows. The mission statements for some colleges are confused. On the other hand Sears Roebuck went from a near-bankrupt, struggling mail-order house at the beginning of the last century into the world's leading retailer within less than ten years by having a mission statement that was operational and focused on what they tried to do so that each person involved can say "This is my contribution to the goal." When an emergency room got its mission statement right, everyone was seen by a qualified person in less than a minute. But missions have to be reviewed, revised and perhaps measures need to be taken for organized abandonment. Things that were of primary importance may become secondary or totally irrelevant. The author tells us to watch this carefully or we may become a museum piece.
To get the mission statement right, there are a number of searching questions that must be asked such as "where can we, with our limited resources, make a difference?", "can we set a new standard?", "what are the opportunities or needs?", "do they fit us?", "can we do a good job?", "are we competent?", "do the needs match our strengths?" and "do we really believe in this?" The author closes this section with the following paragraph:
"So you need three things: opportunities; competence; and commitment. Every mission statement, believe me, has to reflect all three or it will fall down on what is its ultimate goal, its ultimate purpose and final test. It will not mobilize the human resources of the organization for getting the right things done."
In the section "Leadership is a Foul-Weather Job" Drucker takes a refreshingly different approach by recalling that Winston Churchill was the most successful leader of the last century. But from 1928 to 1940 he was on the sidelines and almost discredited because there was no need for a Churchill. Fortunately he was there when the crisis came. The one predictable thing in an organization is the crisis. That is when you do depend on the leader. But to wait until the crisis hits is abdication. One has to make the organization capable of anticipating the storm, weathering it, and being ahead of it. That is called innovation or constant renewal. You have to build an organization that is battle ready. Having told us this the author goes on to say "Problems of success have ruined more organizations than has failure, partly because if things go wrong, everybody knows they have to go to work. Success creates its own euphoria. You outrun your resources. And you retire on the job, which may be the most difficult thing to fight." Let me quote one more observation on leadership. "To every leader there is a season. There is profundity in that statement, but it's not that simple. Winston Churchill in ordinary peaceful, normal times would not have been very effective. He needed the challenge. Probably the same is true of Franklin D. Roosevelt, who was basically a lazy man. I don't think FDR would have been a good president in the 1920s. His adrenalin wouldn't have produced. On the other hand, there are people who are very good when things are pretty routine, but who can't take the stress of an emergency. Most organizations need somebody who can lead regardless of the weather. What matters is that he or she works on the basic competencies."
We are indeed fortunate that such an outstanding mind as Peter Drucker has turned his attention to the non-profit sector. There will be few institutions that cannot improve their performance by absorbing the lessons from this book. In this period of rapid change as Drucker says "the only predictable thing is a crisis." If you are a trustee of a non-profit you need this book as a constant reference and guide. If you hold a position of power you should be thoroughly familiar with every piece of information that is relevant to your institution. If you are working for an organization that you fear may be heading downhill this book will help you to become the champion. There is so much wisdom in this book that only the foolhardy will believe that they have a superior wisdom and can do without it.
dwillis@afs.edu.gr
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