Leadership in voluntary organizations - Case Kandersteg International Scout Centre

The purpose of this study was to find out how volunteers can be led and if it differs from leadership in organizations seeking economic profit. Lot of research has been done about corporations and leadership in them. Very few tell us anything about third sector and leadership in organizations based on voluntary work. Non profit organizations need as much management as any other organization and therefore it could be expected that leadership is needed in them as anywhere else. Public sector has realized the good effects of leadership, but obviously voluntary organizations have not yet understood the capacity of the volunteers and how it can be utilized to its fullest when using proper leadership tools. To be able to start this research, the concept of voluntary work, the set of values and case organization must be studied first. After understanding the key concepts it is possible to implement suitable leadership methods in this special working environment. Case organization is Kandersteg International Scout Centre, which is located in Switzerland and employs tens of volunteers every year. Volunteers work in the centre three months minimum and receive no monetary benefits; only accommodation and full board is provided. Eleven volunteers were interviewed following a semi structured interview model. Recorded results were analyzed and gathered for conclusions. Values played an important role in the results although it must be remembered that in a scout centre all employees share the same value base. Remarkable was the unimportance of nationality and cultural background of others. This seemed to have no relevance. Through interviews it was revealed that certain leadership tools were essential in keeping the motivation high. Although motivation is very high when beginning voluntary work, it was emphasized that it needs encouragement in order to maintain high. The working team played an important role for volunteers. Without a good atmosphere there was not much the leader could do. Nonetheless without leadership it was difficult to keep the spirit high.fi=Kokotekstiversiota ei ole saatavissa.|en=Fulltext not available.|sv=Fulltext ej tillgänglig