Leadership and Vision

Five Good Ideas about Cross-Sector Leadership

Matthew Thomas

Published on January 19, 2015

Some of the most complex challenges facing Canadian communities today – like youth unemployment, barriers to accessing social services, and environmental degradation – can only be addressed by civil society working in partnership with government and business to develop sustainable solutions. Why? Because no single individual, organization, or sector has the capacity to resolve these issues on its own. Successful collaboration requires that we have the right type of leaders – leaders with broad perspectives to bridge and leverage the unique strengths of each sector’s culture, incentives, and resources. In this session, Matthew Thomas – an expert in cross-sector leadership development with experience in the nonprofit, business, and government worlds – explored the challenges and opportunities for individuals leading across sectors. He made the case for why leaders must develop an expanded, cross-sector mindset to address our most pressing societal issues.

Five Good Ideas

Mass x velocity = impact
Mission = power = money
Become a trilingual
Go broad
Hire broad

Five Good Resources

Matthew Thomas

Co-founder & CEO, Paddle

Matthew Thomas is the Co-founder & CEO of Paddle, formally known as Prospect Madison. Prospect Madison was a cross-sector leadership advisory firm aimed at enhancing collaboration across the business, government and non-profit sectors to address society’s most pressing issues. He is also a co-founder and faculty member of the flagship Presidio Institute Cross Sector Leadership Fellows program, which develops the capacity of high potential leaders in the United States each year. Matthew chairs the boards of Young Canadians in Finance, Young Diplomats of Canada, and CanLeads – which are aimed at developing Canada’s next generation of leaders in finance, international affairs, and politics, respectively. He serves as a David Rockefeller Fellow of the Trilateral Commission, and is a member of the World Economic Forum and Banff Forum communities. Matthew has published his work in the Harvard Business Review (“Triple Strength Leadership”), delivered remarks on to audiences at the White House, World Economic Forum and Corporate Executive Board. Previously, Matthew served as the co-founder and executive director of The Intersector Project, a consultant with McKinsey & Company, an economist with the Department of Finance Canada, and an analyst with Morgan Stanley. He graduated with distinction from the Schulich School of Business at York University with a bachelor’s degree in business administration. You can reach him at @talktomatthew.