Leading Associations

Abstract

Leaders make vital contributions to the survival and success of civic associations, but they vary widely in levels of commitment to those groups. Why are some leaders more committed than others? We draw from scholarship on civic participation, volunteering, social movements, and team management to develop an original explanation. Although theory suggests individual and organizational factors may explain differences, most prior empirical studies examine only individual-level hypotheses. We use data collected from 1,616 Sierra Club volunteer leaders and the 368 chapters and groups they led to conduct multilevel analyses of the determinants of behavioral commitment among leaders. At the individual level, we find that leaders with more applicable skills, available time, and aligned motivations are more committed to the organization. At the organizational level, we find that leaders whose organizations are more complex, and who are on teams that operate more interdependently, share work more equally, and devote smaller shares of time to meetings, are more committed. These findings have implications for scholars of leadership and commitment and for organizations seeking more committed leaders.