Exploring leadership in multi-sectoral partnerships

This article explores some critical aspects of leadership in the context of multi-sectoral partnerships. It focuses on leadership in practice and asks the question, `How do managers experience and perceive leadership in such partnerships?' The study contributes to the debate on whether leadership in a multi-sectoral partnership context differs from that within a single organization. It is based on the accounts of practising managers working in complex partnerships. The article highlights a number of leadership challenges faced by those working in multi-sectoral partnerships. Partnership practitioners were clear that leadership in partnerships was more complex than in single organizations. However, it was more difficult for them to agree a consensus on the essential nature of leadership in partnership. We suggest that a first-, second- and third-person approach might be a way of better interpreting leadership in the context of partnerships

Public-Private Leadership and the Role of Nonprofit Organizations in Local Government: The Case of Social Services

This article examines the role of nonprofit organizations in public-private collaboration to advocate, plan, coordinate, and deliver social services to the homeless. The research is based on a national survey of cities with populations greater than 50,000. Results show that nonprofit organizations are significant driving forces for homelessness efforts and that collective public-private strategies, with nonprofit organizations playing important roles, are significantly related to the range and targeting of homelessness efforts toward local needs. Selected economic, social, and community conditions are identified that are associated with driving forces involving nonprofit organizations and the strategies they use. Copyright 1995 by The Policy Studies Organization.