Beyond Passion: from Nonprofit Expert to Organizational Leader

Effective leadership skills are needed to realize the full impact of far-reaching nonprofit missions. Beyond Passion is the story of one executive director’s journey from expert to leader. By stepping back, asking important questions, reaching out for help, engaging her team and taking an honest assessment of her leadership strengths and gaps, she is able to steer her organization out of a rut and back onto a growth path. Beyond Passion stresses the value of strong leadership and provides a framework for developing these valuable skills.

There are countless nonprofit leaders who embody deep commitment, extensive knowledge and abiding passion to make a difference on a specific issue. But often they lack the leadership skills necessary to achieve bold change. This cripples their potential for impact and lessens the efficacy of hard won fundraising. Effective leadership skills are needed to realize the full impact of these far-reaching missions. Beyond Passion is the story of one executive director’s journey from expert to leader. By stepping back, asking important questions, reaching out for help, engaging her team and taking an honest assessment of her leadership strengths and gaps, Isabel is able to steer her organization out of a rut and back onto a growth path. She comes to realize that, like most nonprofits, by focusing on programs and donors, she has neglected to develop the leadership capacity needed for the challenges ahead. Beyond Passion stresses the value of strong leadership and provides a framework for developing these valuable skills.

Nicki Roth has over thirty years of experience as a consultant, executive, educator and psychotherapist. Woven throughout all her work is an abiding respect and curiosity about the human potential. She seeks to understand and unleash the capacity of individuals, teams and organizations. Before co-founding Saroga, a leadership consulting practice for nonprofits, Nicki was an organizational and leadership consultant at General Systems Consulting Group in Ann Arbor, MI and Mercer Delta Consulting (now Oliver Wyman) in New York. She spent four years as the Vice President of Human Resources for the Boston Globe and has served on the Board of several nonprofits.