Leadership and governance issues in faith based organisations

This chapter focuses on how faith based organisations (FBOs) respond to the challenges of being based on a faith tradition in economies and societies which are predominantly secular in their approaches. It discusses the FBOs in theocracies where there is no clear separation between public and faith based institutions. The chapter focuses on FBOs which have a clear and overt link to a specific religious or faith tradition i.e. those which are faith permeated, centred or affiliated. The governance and leadership challenges facing faith based organisations, and many responses to these challenges, are similar across different faith traditions and across different manifestations of the same faith base. One of the key challenges for all non-profit institutions (NFPs) including FBOs is for the leadership of the organisation to re-orient staff toward a service mindset that is inclusive of strategic business perspectives. Faith based organisations are major contributors world-wide in the fields of health, education and social welfare.