LEADERSHIP: COMPETING VALUES FRAMEWORK ANALYSIS OF BEHAVIORAL ROLES, ORGANIZATIONAL CULTURE, AND CAREER EXPERIENCE AMONG NONPROFIT EXECUTIVE DIRECTORS

Abstract

This study explores the concept of leadership in light of today's leadership crisis with a specific focus on the nonprofit sector. The study explores the impact of career experience on an executive director's leadership style using the Competing Values Framework. The Competing Values Framework is used to determine the way career experience impacts the extent to which nonprofit executive directors are competitive, controlling, collaborative, or creative. The results do not find sector of experience to be statistically significant in determining executive director leadership style. The results have implications for hiring decisions for nonprofit organizations. Hiring implications can be made on the basis of both experience and demographics of executive directors. For example, with age, executive directors are shown to be less creative and less competitive. Executive directors who are promoted into their roles are shown to be less creative and more controlling than those who moved laterally into their roles. The study taps into a field of research that has been largely unexplored quantitatively and reveals a number of areas for further research.