Leadership and Vision

Turning Around Your Organization

Paul Davidson

Published on March 26, 2008

How can you work with your board, donors, staff and other stakeholders to introduce significant change without alienating long-term supporters? How can you shift from seemingly endless consultative processes towards action and results? How do you ensure that new visions for your organization honour the past, but are not constrained by it? For example, in the corporate world, turnarounds are often achieved by hiring a new leader, firing staff, and changing the board. Here are the five good ideas that can help social purpose organizations take practical action to achieve meaningful organizational change. Paul Davidson has held leadership positions in the public, private and voluntary sectors. He shares his experience and lessons learned from leading turnarounds in each sphere.

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Five Good Resources:

Between the Breaks… Live!, a recording by Stan Rogers, 1979 Fogarty’s Cove Music, especially The Mary Ellen Carter for its sheer grit and determination.
My Final Hour, an essay by Margaret Laurence, found in Canadian Literature, Issue No. 100 ed. W. H New, Spring 1984. For its passion, urgency and integrity.
New Year’s Day Address on Assuming the Presidency speech by Vaclav Havel found in Lend Me Your Ears, ed. William Safire, WW Norton & Company, 1992 New York.
The Cult of Efficiency, Janice Gross Stein, House of Anansi Press, 2001, Toronto.
Getting to Maybe; How the World Is Changed, by Frances Westley , Brenda Zimmerman and Michael Patton , Random House of Canada, 2006 Toronto.

Paul Davidson

President, Association of University and Colleges of Canada

Paul Davidson has played leadership roles in government, the private sector and the voluntary sector for more than 25 years. He joined the Association of Universities and Colleges of Canada in May 2009 as president and CEO.

As president of AUCC, Mr. Davidson is building strong partnerships with business, postsecondary education and community leaders to advance a vision of higher education that promotes opportunity and excellence for Canadians. The university sector has also seen substantial and exceptional investments in university research funding, increased resources for campus internationalization and a heightened awareness of the need to improve Aboriginal Canadians’ access to postsecondary education. Mr. Davidson has been named both a top lobbyist in Ottawa and a top foreign policy influencer.

Prior to joining AUCC, Mr. Davidson was executive director of World University Service of Canada (WUSC). He also held senior positions in the Canadian book publishing sector, including five years as executive director of the Association of Canadian Publishers. In the early 1990s, Mr. Davidson led the Toronto office of a prominent government relations firm after having served as a political advisor to Ontario’s Leader of the Opposition, Treasurer and Deputy Premier.

He holds an MA from Queen’s University, where he studied southern African history and a BA from Trent University, where he was part of the first graduating class of the Trent International Program.

Mr. Davidson is married to Elly Vandenberg and they have three teenaged sons.