Recruiting Your Alter Ego

After recently viewing the 60 minutes episode focused on Greg Mortenson, founder of the Central Asian Institute and author of Three Cups of Tea –which if fabricated, I must admit I was fouled by- I was concerned by how another story of poor management, or perhaps straight out lying, by a nonprofit leader would impact people’s perception of the sector. I remember having read earlier this semester that a small percentage of Americans rated their trust in nonprofits as high and negative reports can do nothing but harm to that, already small, number.

Then, while hunting for “blog inspiration” which seemed as though it would never come, I came across a blog post about Mortenson. Originally, I planned to read it quickly as an escape from my other responsibilities but it turned out to be quite applicable to our conversation about leadership this week. In it the author describes four reasons that nonprofit leaders must be dedicated to the organization, mission, and results, they are;

· The ethical imperative to do the right thing and fulfill the social contract

· The pragmatic necessity of developing a broad social base of support

· The functional requirement to shift attention to achieving clear results

· The strategic demand to stay in compliance with the mission

The author also includes one of my favorite statements regarding evaluations and measuring effectiveness, a significant accomplishment considering the amount of reading we have done on the subject. It reads as below;

“Effective leaders settle for consistent and pragmatic measures, acknowledging that even if all indicators are flawed, putting measures in place provides a stepping-stone toward greatness. Social sector evaluation expert Jed Emerson agrees with this approach and suggests that in the absence of metrics that can “prove” effectiveness, responsible nonprofits can at least find ways to demonstrate progress and minimally—but consistently—document their work.”

In closing, the author pinpoints one of the key lessons to be learned from the portrayal of Mortenson as disorganized in the media, she explains,

“Any nonprofit leader—no matter how passionate—who knows that they’re disorganized (like Nicholas Kristof suggests of Mr. Mortenson) is responsible and morally obligated to recruit an alter ego who is equally passionate and well versed in effective management. The sector cannot afford anything less from its leaders.”

This is my takeaway from this week…know your strengths and WEAKNESSES, recognize that others can not only fill the void where you are weak but elevate your organization and its mission to a new, higher level. So, as the author states, go ahead and recruit your alter ego – a few other great people as well!!