Five Challenges for Non-Profits to Achieve Greatness

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	• Good to Great and the Social Sectors: A Monograph to Accompany Good to Great Jim Collins HarperCollins, 2005 - 42 pages average customer review:based on 63 reviews view larger image
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highly recommended

Good companion for the main book

This is a very good companion to the Good to Great book. However, you really need to read the first book to truly understand this one. As someone working in the public sector for a not-for-profit, this book made more sense than G2G alone. I would definitely recommend this book for anyone in the nonprofit sector. Stay focused. Remember your hedgehog.

Five Challenges for Non-Profits to Achieve Greatness

I have direct experience in the social sector with over twenty-five years as an advisor or board member of several, varied non-profits. "Good to Great and the Social Sectors" resonated with me as it fills a very deep void in social sector leadership guidance.

Recently, one executive newcomer to a non-profit called to tell me she was being told to back off by other executives. She was being perceived as "too businesslike"; she did not understand the non-profit world. I asked her to have these people define "businesslike." She learned that "businesslike" meant expecting people to complete assignments on time and be accountable!!

This attitude, which permeates many non-profits, is one of several targets in "Good to Great and the Social Sectors." In fact, due to the diffuse power structure that exists for most social sector organizations, non-profits need even greater discipline - disciplined planning, disciplined people, disciplined governance, disciplined allocation of resources.
And the culture of discipline is not a principle of business; it is a principle of greatness.

Non-business leaders in the social sector must operate differently as they do not have the concentrated power of a business CEO. They have a thousand points of no. It is Collins' observation that they require two skill sets - leadership skills and legislative skills - to be successful. And, he believes you will find more true leadership in the social sector as a result.

The book is organized around five issues that need to be addressed for greatness. These are:
Issue One - How do you define great without business metrics?
Issue Two - What is "Level 5 Leadership" in the social sector?
Issue Three - How can you get the right people on the bus?
Issue Four - How do you apply the Hedgehog Concept (attaining piercing clarity about how to produce the best long-term results) without a profit motive?
Issue Five - How do you use brand to build momentum?

Great societies have both great business sectors and great social sectors. With this in mind, Collins was motivated to write this book. He realized that it was not simply good enough for him to focus on a great business sector but also on a great social sector. He has done us a service. We will gain as a society if all who work with or for non-profits read and apply the lessons of this excellent monograph.

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Good to Great Review

I thought this was a wonderful book and shared copies with my senior staff as well as officers of the Faculty Senate at the College.

Excellent resource for not for profits

If you loved "Good to Great", you'll love this small monograph that refocuses your thinking to have to apply this to not for profits.

Concise, helpful, and interesting

This chapter turned book, provides some nice insights into the intersection of Collins's business practices and the nonprofit sector. A helpful read for those interested in social enterprise.

reviews: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, page 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13

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