Hi Alonzo.
I would like to help you with three books you must read in order to deal
with the question of leadership in a volunteer organization.
1) Joe Jaworkski's "Synchronicity - The Inner Path of Leadership". For
your purpose, you should try to invite board's members to read it
collectively. And there are a plenty of other books Jaworski cites along
the text.
2) Robert Greenleaf's "The Servant Leader". In my opinion, Greenleaf was
the best scientist dealing with leadership issues (mainly in non-profit
organizations). The Robert Greenleaf Foundation would be a very wise
choice to search for his papers, books and ideas. Unfortunately, I don4t
have its website right now with me, but you may find it easily through
Altavista or Yahoo.
3) Robert Hesse's "Journey to the East". One of the best books I have ever
read related to the concept of servant leadership. It's a story of a group
of people traveling through deserts, long plateaus, mountains, etc and the
person who serves them (preparing food, caring their luggage, washing
their clothes), as the story develops, turns himself in their actual
leader (both in terms of the route and spiritual). A brilliant story and
an enlightment to the core concept of servant leadership.
Hope it can help you in some way.
Regards,
Joe Domingues,
Partner, Consultant
Zumble Aprendizagem Organizacional
ze.renato@zumble.com.br
Perucaia, 291 - 05578-070 - Sco Paulo,SP - BRASIL
+55.11.867.0003/fax 870.6161
www.zumble.com.br
--Ze Renato <ze.renato@zumble.com.br>
[Host's Note: in association with Amazon.com, these links...
Jaworski, _Synchronicity_ http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/1576750310/learningorg
Greenleaf -- The book (or booklet) Joe mentions may be available the Greenleaf Center http://greenleaf.org/index.html Amazon has, _Servant As Leader_ by Robert K. Greenleaf http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/999373926X/learningorg but they say it takes 4-6 weeks to ship.
Hesse The Journey to the East by Hermann Hesse, Hilda Rosner (translator) '89 http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/0374500363/learningorg
...Rick]
Learning-org -- Hosted by Rick Karash <rkarash@karash.com> Public Dialog on Learning Organizations -- <http://www.learning-org.com>