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abstract

The third sector is experiencing a radical shift due to social, political and economic changes in Europe. Due to these shifts and their implications, the question of leadership has become significant and needs to be explored. This article contributes to the literature on the challenges of leadership in the sector. It does so by drawing on the personal narratives provided by leaders across the sector. The views expressed by the narratives provide a deeper insight into leadership in the third sector, than has previously existed. The narratives are valuable for a number of reasons including: they help to extend the knowledge and perspectives of leadership in a way that acknowledges the uniqueness of the sector; they contribute to a better understanding of the challenges faced by leaders in the sector; and they serve as an illustration of the benefit of approaching leadership through the eyes of those practising leadership. The article concludes by identifying the impact for leadership across the sector and the implications.

3. Discussion

The findings in this study indicate several significant areas of discussion. First, the research results point to an underlying sense that leadership in the third sector is at a crossroads. Evidence from the research suggests that leaders appear to be confronted with challenges which they are not yet fully equipped for, either organizationally or individually. Participant (S) points out the dilemma that this is creating: “businesses putting on the sheep's clothing of the third sector and the third sector putting on the wolf's clothing of the private sector, while the public sector seems undecided about what to wear and is trying on both.” This recognition of the value of leaders moving between different sectors supports what Buckingham, Paine, Alcock, Kendall, and Macmillan (2014) calls boundary crossing d bringing the experience of working in the private and/ or public sector to the third sector. This ‘blurring of sector boundaries’ requires leaders to be more externally focused and aware of what is happening in the external environment and to adopt a more collaborative way of working across sectors. Findings also indicate that leadership across the sector has to prove its effectiveness. According to George (2010), the ultimate measure of effectiveness for leadership is the ability to sustain superior results over an extended period of time. Leadership is, however, a more widely pervasive phenomenon than this. Some researchers believe that the role of leadership is best seen not in terms of its economic impact, but in how it shapes the organizational context, such as goals, members, incentives, and culture (Oldham & Hackman, 2010). As is evident from this study, the scope and importance of leadership in the third sector needs to be addressed, not only in terms of its impact on performance effectiveness but, and more importantly, in terms of its influence on the life of an organization, which Nohria and Khurana (2010, pp. 3e25) refer to as meaning, morality and culture.