The 5 Truths for Transformational Leaders

Use mission-driven leadership to create dramatic growth at your nonprofit

In The Five Truths for Transformational Leaders: How Nonprofit Organizations Thrive, Grow, and Make a Profound Difference, former Chief Strategy Officer for the Boys and Girls Clubs of America, Ed Mishrell, delivers an insightful and practical discussion of how to achieve extraordinary results when leading nonprofit organizations. The author explains how to use your organization’s mission as your north star and build an exciting, growing, and thriving nonprofit.

You’ll benefit from the book’s step-by-step guidance and advice as it outlines the five key principles of mission-driven leadership. You’ll also discover incisive quotes and observations from board members and staff leaders at fast-growing nonprofit organizations you can apply to your own nonprofit for immediate results.

The book also offers:

• Strategies for eliminating or repairing ineffective systems and practices that are holding your organization back
• Techniques for centering your nonprofit’s mission in everything it does
• Ways to build – and execute – a mission-driven strategy

A start-to-finish blueprint for exceptional, growth-oriented nonprofit leadership, The Five Truths for Transformational Leaders will revolutionize the work of every nonprofit board member, manager, and leader who reads it.

Acknowledgments xi

Foreword xiii

Introduction: The Origin of the Five Truths for Transformational Leaders 1

Chapter Organization 6

Background Information: The Community Centers of Mission City 7

1 Truth 1: Be Fanatical About Mission 9

Community Centers of Mission City: Board Meeting Summary 10

Three Reasons for a Fanatical Believe in Mission 16

Questions and Thoughts for Aspiring 19

Community Centers of Mission City Board Meeting One Month Later 19

Mission-Driven CPOs 22

My Mission Origin Story 23

Notes for Board Members 24

Resource Center for Truth 1 27

2 Truth 2: Fix, Stabilize, or Replace Systems, Practices, and People Who Are Not Working 29

Helen’s First Board Meeting as CPO 30

Fix and Stabilize Systems and Practices 33

Make Needed People Changes 38

Two Weeks After Helen’s First Board Meeting 40

Ruthless Leadership? 45

Community Centers of Mission City Emergency Board Meeting One Week Later 46

Caution: Solving Problems Can Be Addictive 48

Summary 49

Notes to Board Members 50

Resource Center for Truth 2 51

3 Truth 3: Establish a Mission-Driven Strategy 53

Six Months Later: Community Centers of Mission City Board Retreat 54

A Mission-Driven Strategy 57

Keeping a Mission Focus 63

Hiring Mistakes 71

On-the-Job Orientation and Training 72

Community Centers of Mission City Measurement Plan 78

Measurement Resistance 80

Operating Versus Restricted Funding 86

Community Centers of Mission City Board Meeting One Month After Board Retreat 87

Community Centers of Mission City Strategy Overview 87

Summary 90

Notes for Board Members 91

Resource Center for Truth 3 99

4 Truth 4: Execution Drives Results 101

Community Center of Mission City One Year Later 104

Relentlessly Communicate Strategy at Every Opportunity 106

Focus on What Is Most Important 109

Strategic Planning Committee Meeting to Review Operating Plan for Coming Year 109

Establish an Annual Plan with Clear Priorities, Targets, and Progress Measures 112

Community Centers of Mission City Annual Operating Plan 116

Execute the Plan 118

Ends Versus Means Goals 122

Summary 123

Notes for Board Members 124

Resource Center for Truth 4 124

5 Truth 5: Continue to Grow as a Leader 125

Let’s Start at the Beginning 126

My Leadership Journey 127

Community Centers of Mission City: Three Years Later 131

Leadership Changes 134

Four Keys to Continuously Growing as a Leader 135

Nurturing a Growth Mindset 138

Gender Differences? 140

Continue to Learn 142

Some Leaders Have a Specialty 144

Executivitis 147

Summary 147

Notes for Board Members 148

What About Succession Planning? 151

Resource Center for Truth 5 152

6 The Road Ahead: Trends and Challenges That Will Shape the Future 153

Community Centers of Mission City: Six Years Later 154

Trends, Challenges, and Opportunities 155

What Will Be Required of Leaders? 166

Developing the Next Generation of Leaders 173

Final Thoughts 174

Notes for Board Members 175

Resource Center for The Road Ahead 176

Resource Center 177

References 219

About the Author 223

Index 225

ED MISHRELL (retired) was the Chief Strategy Officer at the Boys & Girls Clubs of America (BGCA) from 2010 to 2019. He led the development and deployment of BGCA’s strategic and operating plans. He is a sought-after speaker and presenter and has led hundreds of leadership training programs at various regional and national conferences.

Nonprofit organizations are uniquely positioned to benefit from exceptional leadership. Their focus on mission over profit and the dedication of the teams that power them can be harnessed by people who lean hard on their innate strengths and relentlessly strive to grow and evolve.

In The Five Truths for Transformational Leaders: How Nonprofit Organizations Thrive, Grow, and Make a Profound Difference, retired Chief Strategy Officer at the Boys & Girls Clubs of America, Ed Mishrell, delivers a thoroughly insightful and hands-on look at how to achieve extraordinary results at nonprofit organizations. In the book, you’ll discover how mission-focused leadership models are ideally suited to the critical work done by nonprofits around the world and how to implement one in your own organization, regardless of its size.

Learn what sets a thriving, growing nonprofit apart from those that struggle to survive as you explore the author’s five non-negotiable conditions for sustained, transformational growth. From being fanatical about your organization’s mission to the identification and repair of ineffective systems and practices, The Five Truths for Transformational Leaders offers step-by-step guidance and advice for the professionals and board members leading contemporary nonprofits. The book’s indispensable advice is supported by quotes and observations from board members and staff leaders at nonprofit organizations that have more than doubled their operating revenues within a period of five years or less.

An essential and rigorous roadmap to dramatic nonprofit growth and success, The Five Truths for Transformational Leaders will earn a place in the libraries of board members, philanthropists, nonprofit managers and staff, and anyone else with an interest in effective, impactful leadership that focuses on mission above all else.

Build a mission-driven leadership environment to grow your nonprofit

The Five Truths for Transformational Leaders: How Nonprofit Organizations, Thrive, Grow, and Make a Profound Difference is a practical and incisive take on how to achieve spectacular results at nonprofit organizations. Former Chief Strategy Officer at the Boys & Girls Clubs of America, Ed Mishrell, draws on his decades of leadership and operational experience to present hands-on strategies for mission-focused leadership in nonprofits of all sizes.

In the book, you’ll find five essential conditions for sustained, transformational growth at nonprofit organizations. From a relentless focus on mission to the repair of ineffective systems and practices, the execution of a mission-driven strategy, and continued personal growth, the author explains how to meet—and exceed—the unique leadership requirements of nonprofits.

A must-read blueprint to exceptional nonprofit growth and success, The Five Truths for Transformational Leaders will find a prominent place on the bookshelves of board members, nonprofit managers and staff leaders, philanthropists, donors, and anyone else interested in delivering effective leadership in a mission-oriented environment.