Managing Leadership Transition for Nonprofits: Passing the Torch to Sustain Organizational Excellence

6. Alignment

“Leaders establish the vision for the future and set the strategy for getting there; they cause change. They motivate and inspire others to go in the right direction and they, along with everyone else, sacrifice to get there.”

—John Kotter

Guiding Principle

The fundamental challenge of leadership is to align organizations in the service of their missions, as articulated in strategies. This is a complex statement that we need to unpack before laying out its full meaning.

First, boards need to be concerned with leadership, not just leaders, and leadership transitions, not just the change of leaders. Leadership is concerned with organizational objectives, not just and not primarily the character of the leader. New leaders should not ...