Outstanding leadership in nonprofit organizations: Leadership competencies in Roman Catholic religious orders

• Published date: 01 June 1994
• Author: Julia L. Hickman,David C. McClelland,Miriam D. Ukeritis,David J. Nygren
• Date: 01 June 1994
• DOI: http://doi.org/10.1002/nml.4130040403

ARTICLES

Outstanding

Leadership

in Nonprofit

Organizations

Leadership Competencies

in

Roman

Catholic

Religious

Orders

David

J.

Nygren,

Miriam

D.

Uheritis,

David

C.

McCZelland,

Julia

L.

Hickman

Effective leadership is essential for nonprofits to focus their

energies beyond survival and toward accomplishment

of

their

unique missions. This article describes

a

study

of

the leader-

ship competencies

of

a sample

of

outstanding and typical

Ieaders

of

Roman Catholic religious orders. The authors pre-

sent aframework for understanding the characteristics that

define excellence

in

the leadership

of

nonprofits.

OVERNMENT

funding cuts have increased the competition for

funding in the nonprofit sector. Nonprofits have developed

G

tactics for survival, including fighting

to

attract new clien-

tele and marketing their services. Similar

to

the situation facing non-

profits in general, the organizational complexities

of

institutions

sponsored by religious orders are predicted

to

intensify in the next

ten years. Religious orders face an aging membership, increasing

regulation

of

institutions such as hospitals and schools, and fewer

financial resources. In light of these organizational complexities, all

nonprofits, religious organizations included, must establish effective

leadership. The study reported here was designed to identify the

characteristics that distinguish outstanding leadership in nonprofits

by examining leaders

of

Roman Catholic religious orders. Knowl-

edge of

these

leadership characteristics may be useful for the selection

3

75

NONPROFIT

MANAGEMENT

&

LEADERSHIP.

Val.

4,

no.

4.

Summer

1994

D

Jossey-Bass

Publishers

376

NYCREN,

UKERITIS,

MCCLELLAND,

HICKMAN

and development of leaders who can effectively deal with increasing

organizational complexity and, thus, uncertainty.

Studies focusing on nonprofit leadership have identified some

of the leader characteristics that are necessary for successful non-

profit leadership and management. Unterman and Davis (1984)

emphasized the leader’s responsibility in creating and securing the

organization’s mission and identity. They pointed out that the con-

cept of mission was first used by religious organizations:

“A

process

or purpose of extending religious teachings

is

called a mission” (p. 11).

As

they observed, this mission, or reason for existence, may be either

concrete, such

as

providing health care, or intangible. In order

to

be

effective, the mission must be intelligible and meaningful to organi-

zational members and outsiders (Adler and Bird, 1988; Drucker,

1992), The organizational principles established by the leader must

be communicated to employees in such a way

as

to define their iden-

tity and purpose in the organization. According to Mason (1992,

p.

30),

“The ultimate ethical value for the nonprofit leader

is

to lead

followers toward accomplishing their mission.”

In addition to inspiring their followers to fulfill the mission of

the organization, leaders must also manage the organization effi-

ciently. Nonprofit leaders need to realize that good intentions alone

are not sufficient to manage an effective organization (Drucker, 1991).

As

with for-profit leaders, nonprofit leaders must be concerned with

the

bottom line, raising capital and marketing services (Young, 1987).

The increasing number of private nonprofit service providers means

that nonprofits must operate efficiently and effectively and eliminate

duplication and waste of services (Wuthnow, Hodgkinson, and

Asso-

ciates 1990). In their study of the management

of

nonprofit organi-

zations, Herman and Heimovics (1989) interviewed forty-five

nonprofit chief executive officers

(CEOs).

These authors found that

in order for nonprofit leaders to be successful, they must be proac-

tive, risk taking, creative, and adaptive. Knauft, Berger, and Gray

(1991) also noted that effective nonprofit leaders must take risks,

convey vision to others, and have a strong self-understanding. In addi-

tion, the importance

of

taking a long-term perspective and focusing

on strategc planning was mentioned by both sets of authors.

Specific to religious orders, Nygren (1988) found that effective

leaders attend to the future of the organization,

its

viability, and the

apt utilization of resources toward specific ends. This effectiveness

depends on a wide range

of

competencies that enable the leader

to

attend equally to the operations of the organization and to the foun-

dations and strategies that support the purpose of organization.

It

is

apparent from the above discussion that few leadership

researchers have made a clear distinction between for-profit and non-

profit leaders. Even those researchers who study nonprofit leader-

ship generate conclusions that overlap to a great extent the research

on for-profit leadership. This approach

is

problematic since the

unique missions of the nonprofit sector appear to require

a

different