Lessons for Nonprofit and Start-Up Leaders

Tales from a Reluctant CEO

Maxine Harris, Michael B. O'Leary

• Publisher: Rowman & Littlefield Publishers
• Year: 2020
• eBook ISBN: 9781442276543
• Edition: 1
• Topic: Business
• Subtopic: Business General
• Index: Business

Lessons for Non-Profit and Start-Up Leaders: Tales from a Reluctant CEOuses the experiences of a real company, Community Connections, to bring to life the practical dilemmas that an organization founded on a mission and guided by a set of ideals must confront and solve if it is to thrive. With no business or financial background, Maxine Harris and her partner Helen Bergman grew a tiny startup into a $35 million business. Through trial and error, they learned how to manage finances, hire staff, overcome barriers, and adapt to changing business models. In Lessons for Non-Profit and Start-Up Leaders, Harris shares her insights, struggles, and mistakes with the goal of helping others who may be starting and running non-profit organizations. She spells out the ways in which creativity, tenacity, and the power of relationships helped her and her partner overcome barriers that often cause start-ups to flounder in their first years of operation. In a humorous and novel twist, the book engages the reader with a series of original fables, each tailored to introduce a business dilemma in the language of "make-believe." Michael O'Leary provides commentary that places the stories and case studies from Community Connections into a broader context, making the lessons accessible to anyone working in the non-profit or startup sector.

Table of contents

• Title Page
• Introduction
• Every Organization Has a Culture of Its Own
• How to Make an Idea Come Alive
• Power, Authority, and Responsibility
• Hiring
• Barriers to Solving Problems
• Engaging the Outside World
• The Importance of Self and Organizational Awareness
• Preparing for the Future
• Conclusion
• Notes
• Index
• About the Authors