Leadership in Social Enterprise

The document identifies four primary leadership challenges for social entrepreneurs: building a management team, delegation and succession, balancing conflicting responsibilities, and personal development. Based on a global survey of Schwab Social Entrepreneurs, it finds that while these leaders excel in ethical, transformational, and empowering styles, they often lack 'transactional leadership'—the managerial competence needed to scale organizations. The guide offers frameworks for recruiting for 'mission fit,' implementing succession plans to prevent mission drift, and utilizing tools like the Eisenhower matrix and Holacracy for better organizational management.

• Social entrepreneurs typically exhibit high levels of ethical, transformational, and empowering leadership, which correlates with high employee job satisfaction and intrinsic motivation.
• There is a systemic deficiency in 'transactional leadership' among social entrepreneurs, which is the managerial side of running an organization necessary for effective guidance and scaling.
• Building a professional management team is the top challenge for social entrepreneurs, with particular difficulties in recruiting senior managers who align with the social mission, organizational culture, and the founder's personality.
• Recruiting from the for-profit sector is common and often successful, though it carries risks of 'culture clash' or mission drift if the candidate lacks philosophical alignment.
• Succession planning is underdeveloped, with only 31.5% of surveyed social entrepreneurs having a clear plan for retirement or unexpected absence, risking the stability and original vision of the venture.
• Social entrepreneurs struggle to balance their internal managerial duties with external 'evangelist' roles, such as fundraising, political advocacy, and public speaking.
• Personal development, specifically the reduction of the 'ego' and the use of spiritual or mindfulness practices, is identified as the foundation for overcoming other managerial challenges.
• The 'typical' Schwab Social Entrepreneur is aged 42 to 65, is the founder and CEO, and holds a master's degree, leading an organization founded 10 to 19 years ago with 26 to 100 employees.

APA

Heinecke, A., Weetjens, B., Parget, R., Mavrinac, S., & Wah, T. M. K. (2014). Leadership in Social Enterprise. World Economic Forum. http://www3.weforum.org/docs/WEF_leadership_in_social_enterprise_2014.pdf

Chicago

Heinecke, Andreas, Bart Weetjens, Reed Parget, Sarah Mavrinac, and Timothy Ma Kam Wah. Leadership in Social Enterprise. World Economic Forum, 2014. http://www3.weforum.org/docs/WEF_leadership_in_social_enterprise_2014.pdf.

Wikipedia

{{cite report |last1=Heinecke |first1=Andreas |last2=Weetjens |first2=Bart |last3=Parget |first3=Reed |last4=Mavrinac |first4=Sarah |last5=Wah |first5=Timothy Ma Kam |title=Leadership in Social Enterprise |publisher=World Economic Forum |date=May 2014 |url=http://www3.weforum.org/docs/WEF_leadership_in_social_enterprise_2014.pdf |access-date=23 October 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@techreport{heinecke2014leadership, author = {Heinecke, Andreas and Weetjens, Bart and Parget, Reed and Mavrinac, Sarah and Wah, Timothy Ma Kam}, title = {{Leadership in Social Enterprise}}, institution = {World Economic Forum}, year = {2014}, month = may, url = {http://www3.weforum.org/docs/WEF_leadership_in_social_enterprise_2014.pdf}, urldate = {2026-10-23}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }