Research clearly suggests that nonprofit leadership effectiveness must encompass the ability to operate in a political framework. In the research done by Heimovics,Herman, and Jurkiewicz (1993 and 1995) the most effective executives were twice as likely as ineffective executives to use their personal and organizational power to influence external issues and internal decisions and policies. Even more interesting is the observation that these same executives enacted more political behavior than they espoused. While it is clear that being skilled at functioning in a political framework is a key skill, many nonprofit executives claim that they do not behave in political ways.

Why do you think many nonprofit executives deny the relevance of political sophistication and skill? Do you believe nonprofit executives must be able to function politically in order to be effective? Please explain your position.