“The loneliness” of the nonprofit leader: Comparison with for-profit and public organizations

Abstract

Leaders in nonprofit organizations face challenges related to assignment and enforcement of tasks. Their influence on employees, who are mostly volunteers, remains largely limited. The purpose of the article is to answer the following research questions: Do leaders in Polish nonprofits feel alone in making decisions and carrying out tasks? Are there any differences between nonprofit, for-profit and public organizations in terms of who is responsible for decision-making? Are there any differences between nonprofit, for-profit, and public organizations in terms of who is responsible for carrying out tasks? A total of 315 non-randomly selected respondents participated in the study: 105 leaders and 210 employees not holding managerial positions (35 and 70, respectively, from each type of organization). The article shares the findings of the analysis of leaders’ statements. The Kruskal-Wallis test was used to identify possible cross-sectoral differences. The results prompt a conclusion that a significant part of leaders in Polish nonprofits experience “loneliness” and a sense of being left alone with problems related to the functioning of the organization. To a large extent, they have to make decisions and carry out tasks on their own, as they receive little to no support from employees. The comparative analysis showed that this problem is more prevalent in nonprofits than it is in for-profit or public organizations.

Keywords

• leaders
• nonprofits
• decision-making
• task realization
• cross-sectoral differences