Abstract

This article examines the extent to which current leaders from each of the three sectors (public, private, and nonprofit) have had meaningful cross-sector experience either through full-time employment or through service on boards/commissions or other forms of affiliation. Almost half of all leaders profiled had at least one multisector affiliation and about 15% had four or more. It also explores the costs and benefits of such experiences to them and their organization. Almost every leader interviewed described a logical, but serendipitous path that created a unique, unforeseeable, and often very rewarding set of opportunities and experiences. Their profiles also suggest the emergence of a new career path in which leaders garner developmentally rich, career-accelerating experiences, often in parallel, by virtue of part-time cross-sector affiliations in addition to traditional employment.