Are You a Consulting Manager?

I just made up that term, "Consulting Manager," after reading A Field Guide to Consulting and Organizational Development with Nonprofits by Carter McNamara.

The book is ostensibly for consultants but I found so many good sections that would be helpful for anyone leading or managing a nonprofit that I decided that consulting might be a good model for managers.

I found McNamara's discussion of an organization's culture or personality particularly interesting. He offers a typology that includes labeling different nonprofit "personalities" in the following ways:

• Academy culture
  This is where employees are highly skilled, stay with the organization and work their way up through the ranks. Examples of this type of organization include educational, arts, environmental and social service agencies
• Baseball team culture
  Employees are "free agents" who have highly prized skills and the ability to move on at will. This personality is typical of fast-paced, high-risk organizations.
• Club culture
  Here, employees start at the bottom and stay with the organization. Seniority, promotion from within, and loyalty are prized. Examples include the military, religious and civic organizations.
• Fortress culture
  This is the embattled organization where employees do not know if they will be laid off or not. Massive reorganizations may have occurred and tight funding is characteristic.

This is fascinating stuff and is just a tiny part of the information you will find in McNamara's book. If you think about such issues, you might be a "Consulting Manager."