Leadership styles can vary greatly depending on personal values, characteristics and preferences. At some point, nonprofit leaders should evaluate their personal leadership style and reflect on how their style impacts their organization. 

There are hundreds of books written on the subject of leadership. The following resources and publications may provide you with a starting point on your journey to discovering or refining a leadership style that not only fits your own values, but serves the values and culture of your organization. In addition, we host a collection of articles on leadership in our articles and media section.

Web Resources

• CompassPoint. Daring to Lead 2006.
  A study of executive leadership in the nonprofit sector, focusing on factors that influence both success and burn-out on the job
• Leader to Leader Institute
  A site devoted to leadership within the social sector; offers a quarterly journal, books, videos, and other resources
• Nonprofit Good Practice Guide: Management and Leadership
  Provides a glossary of relevant terminology with links to articles, websites, and other resources
• Women’s Learning Partnership for Rights, Development, and Peace. Leading to Choices: A Leadership Training Handbook for Women.
  A participatory approach to leadership that focuses on communication and the empowerment of women; chapters provide a usable framework of workshop sessions that can be adapted according to the reader’s needs

Resources on Emerging Leaders

• Independent Sector
  A resource list of articles, reports and organizations that provide leadership development and training opportunities for emerging leaders
• The Annie E. Casey Foundation. Up Next: Generation Change and the Leadership of Nonprofit Organizations.
  Discusses the implications of the Baby Boomers’ transition out of the nonprofit sector and provides recommendations on how to acclimate the new generation of leaders into the field
• The Forbes Funds. Look Here! Attracting and Developing the Next Generation of Nonprofit Leaders. (2004).

Workshops

• Interactive Institute for Social Change (IISC)
  Provides workshops on facilitative leadership, coaching, community building for grassroots leaders, civic leadership and training for new managers

Publications

• Bornstein, David. 2004. How to Change the World: Social Entrepreneurs and the Power of New Ideas. New York: Oxford University Press, Inc.
• Carlson, Mim and Margaret Donohue. 2003. The Executive Director’s Survival Guide: Thriving as a Nonprofit Leader. San Francisco: Jossey-Bass.
• Coughlin, Linda, Ellen Wingard, and Keith Hollihan, eds. 2005. Enlightened Power: How Women are Transforming the Practice of Leadership. San Francisco: Jossey-Bass.
  A compendium of excellent articles on leadership; a good book for all people, although there is a focus on women’s leadership
• Heifetz, Ronald. 1998. Leadership without Easy Answers. Belknap Press.
• Krile, James. 2006. Community Leadership Handbook: Framing Ideas, Building Relationships, and Mobilizing Resources. Saint Paul, MN: Fieldstone Alliance.
• Light, Paul. 2004. Sustaining Nonprofit Performance: The Case for Capacity-Building and the Evidence to Support It. Washington, DC: Brookings Institution Press.
• Linnell, Deborah, Zora Radosevich, and Jonathan Spack. 2002. Executive Directors Guide: The Guide for Successful Nonprofit Management. Boston: Third Sector New England.