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Compass Guide: Secrets of Successful Cross-Sector Collaborations offers a thoughtful and valuable perspective on how complex collaborations are conceived, led, and sustained over time. Grounded in the author’s leadership of the decade-long BEATS Research Program, the book moves beyond abstract principles to illuminate the lived realities of cross-sector work, including the importance of shared vision, trust-building, adaptability, and sustained commitment. Its greatest strength lies in its ability to translate experience-based, often tacit knowledge into practical insights that will resonate with researchers, program leaders, and partners working across organizational and disciplinary boundaries.
The book is notable for its honesty. The narrative acknowledges uncertainty, compromise, and the inevitable tensions between academic ideals and real-world constraints, offering readers a realistic and constructive roadmap rather than a formulaic model for success. As a result, the text serves not only as a guide to collaboration but also as a reflective companion for those navigating the challenges—and rewards—of leading meaningful cross-sector initiatives with long-term impact. Readers from business, academia, and research can all benefit considerably from the many lessons in this book, and there are many examples from Sandy’s work that I will use in my research and teaching.
Professor Jon Myers, Stanford University and VA Palo Alto Health Care System, Palo Alto, California, United States
This guide beautifully captures the BEATS research journey, not just in terms of outcomes, but in the learning, collaboration, and shared experiences that shaped it along the way. What resonated most with me is how it brings together structure and care, showing that strong frameworks and clear roles matter just as much as reflection, teamwork, and the people behind the work.
Grounded in real experiences and supported by visuals and meaningful data, this guide offers reassurance and clarity for researchers navigating complex projects. It is a thoughtful and practical resource for anyone who values doing research with intention, integrity, and a genuine appreciation for the people who make the journey possible.
Cel (Maricel) Medes Dijamco, PMP, Director – PMO and Operations, Alxemy Business Solutions Ltd/PMO Consulting, Christchurch, New Zealand
If you’re looking for a practical, insightful guide to delivering complex programmes that span borders, sectors, and disciplines, this book is it. Sandy masterfully walks you through every stage — from foundation to delivery and from execution to wrap‑up — showing exactly what it takes to set up and lead a purpose‑driven, highly collaborative team. The writing is clear and engaging, and the diagrams and models bring the material to life in a way that makes it instantly usable. A standout resource for anyone serious about impactful programme leadership.
Cillín Hearns, Coach and Facilitator; Results Coaching, Wellington, New Zealand; author of ‘First, Lead Yourself’ and ‘Now, Lead Others’
Compass Guide: Secrets of Successful Cross-Sector Collaborations by Dr Sandra Mandic is a thoughtful and generous reflection on more than a decade of leadership experience drawn from the BEATS research programme. Written through the authentic lens of programme leadership, the book offers a rare insider account of what it actually takes to sustain large, complex, interdisciplinary research collaborations over time. Dr Mandic documents both the strategic design and the lived realities of leading a long-term programme addressing complex social challenges, particularly in adolescent physical activity, health, and school travel. The scale and quality of research outputs generated by BEATS are impressive, and the programme clearly stands as a significant contribution to scientific knowledge in this field. The book demonstrates convincingly that its success was not accidental, but the product of intentional systems, processes, and leadership practices.
The book will be of greatest value to experienced research leaders who are seeking to scale up their work into larger, more complex cross-sector initiatives. Readers with a grounding in project management, research governance, and high-performing teams will find the principles highly transferable. The coverage of shared vision, team formation, co-design of work plans, scope control, stakeholder engagement, funding strategies, reporting, adaptability, and learning from experience provides a comprehensive leadership framework. The influence of established management thinking—particularly from the Guide to the Project Management Body of Knowledge and Jim Collins’ organisational leadership work—is clearly visible and well integrated into the author’s own lived practice. This gives the book both credibility and practical relevance.
Importantly, Compass Guide: Secrets of Successful Cross-Sector Collaborations makes a meaningful contribution to the broader research on cross-sector collaboration. It does so by translating theory into lived experience, showing how multiple organisations with different incentives, timelines, and accountabilities can be aligned around a shared mission. The book acknowledges that success is shaped not only by good leadership practices, but also by enabling conditions such as funding stability, institutional support, and clarity of purpose. Dr Mandic is refreshingly honest about this, recognising that at times the programme benefited from “fair weather” conditions, while also documenting moments of real challenge, including the disruption of COVID and the need to rapidly adapt research methods and processes.
One of the book’s strengths is the way it prompts reflective questions rather than offering simplistic formulas. Readers are encouraged to consider whether the principles outlined can generate repeatable success across different contexts, problems, and leadership styles. Was the BEATS programme successful because of the framework, the leader, the people involved—or a combination of all three? This reflexivity strengthens the book and avoids over-claiming. While areas such as governance mechanisms and structured team learning could be explored more deeply, these are opportunities for future work rather than shortcomings.
Overall, Compass Guide: Secrets of Successful Cross-Sector Collaborations is an important and timely contribution to the field of research leadership. It will be particularly valuable for senior researchers, programme directors, and institutional leaders navigating the increasing demand for interdisciplinary, cross-sector collaboration. Dr Mandic has produced a practical, experience-grounded resource that both validates what experienced leaders know intuitively and offers a structured compass for those embarking on complex collaborative journeys.
Endorsement: This is a generous and insightful guide to leading complex collaborations in the real world. Dr Mandic’s reflections from the BEATS programme combine rigour, honesty, and practical wisdom, making this an essential read for anyone building partnerships across disciplines and sectors.
Michael Hawker, PMP, Team Coach, Project Management Institute of New Zealand (PMINZ) Fellow; Palmerston North, New Zealand