Bridgespan: Leading for Impact
Leading for Impact® is a cohort-based experience for nonprofit executive teams that helps them strengthen their overall leadership skills while also making progress on a specific strategic goal.
About the Program
During the first six months of the program, participants join cohorts of 8 or 9 organizations for a series of team workshops on strategy, organization, and team effectiveness. Sessions are highly interactive, including full group discussion and team-based activities to give participants the opportunity to apply concepts to their particular context.
Concurrent with the classroom sessions, executive teams also complete a project, in which they apply strategic management concepts to their most critical priorities with Bridgespan support. Following the classroom and project experience, Bridgespan provides implementation support for six months.
Long-Term Impact
Upon reaching the ten-year milestone of delivering Leading for Impact®, we engaged Harder+Company Community Research to perform an external evaluation of our program. They reached out to alumni participants and received a surprisingly high response rate; over 200 alumni participants shared feedback in the survey.
The evaluation confirmed what we knew about participant satisfaction and organizational growth, but proved the longevity of the program's impact. You can view the full report here, and the summary report here.
Of LFI alumni surveyed:
- 93% of respondents agreed that LFI helped them build capabilities, knowledge, or skills that supported their development as individual leaders
- 86% reported that LFI helped their organization gain greater strategic clarity, which is similar to the results we saw at 6 and 18 months, suggesting lasting impact
- 79% agreed that LFI supported improvements in their executive team’s effectiveness, even years after completing the program
- 77% of respondents agreed that participation in LFI helped improve their organization’s performance, and levels of agreement were consistent across organizations of widely varying size and types.
To get started, reach out on the Contact page: https://www.bridgespan.org/contact-us/request-more-information
Related Resources
The Bridgespan Group is a global nonprofit that strives to make the world more equitable and just. Since 2000, we have had the privilege of advising and collaborating with many of the world’s most extraordinary social change leaders including philanthropists, nonprofit and NGO leaders, and impact investors.
We are passionate about helping social change leaders find solutions to economic and social barriers that perpetuate inequities and prevent individuals, families, and communities from having access to opportunities they need to thrive. We use rigorous research to gain insights that help our clients solve problems and achieve their goals.
Our services include strategy consulting and advising, sourcing and diligence, and leadership team support. We take what we learn from this work and build on it with original research, identifying best practices and innovative ideas to share with the social sector.
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