Lessons from a Noble Peace Prize winner

Lessons from a Noble Peace Prize winner Last week Bangladeshi economist Muhammad Yunus won the Nobel Peace Prize because of how he responded to a famine in Bangladesh in 1974. An economist educated at Vanderbilt University and then teaching at Chittagong University, he went to Jobra, a nearby village suffering from the famine. He described to an Associated Press reporter what happened next: Sufia Begum was a 21-year-old mother of three when he met her in 1974 and asked how much she earned. She replied that she borrowed about five taka, the equivalent of nine cents, from a middleman for the bamboo for each stool. All but two cents of that went back to the lender. "I thought to myself, my God, for five takas she has become a slave," Yunus said in the interview. The following day, he and his students did a survey in the woman's village, Jobra, and discovered that 43 villagers owed a total of $27 "I couldn't take it anymore. I put the $27 out there and told them they could liberate themselves," he said, and pay him back whenever they could. The idea was to buy their own materials and cut out the middleman. Over the following year, they all paid him back — day by day. “In order to get a loan from a bank you have to prove you don’t need it,” a friend once told me. In essence, banks do not loan money to poor people. Yunus changed that. Out of his experience with the nearby villagers Yunus created a smart and friendly system of loans to the poor to help them launch businesses. When he approached banks in Bangladesh about loaning to the poor they refused unless he co-signed every loan. Yunus went on to form Grameen, a bank that make business loans with an average size of $130 Instead of requiring collateral, Grameen “lent to groups of five people,” according to a New York Times story, “who helped ensure that each member repaid his or her share. It lent not only to farmers, but also to laborers and women who had a knack for crafts and shopkeeping. And it required borrowers to repay their loans in manageable, bite-sized weekly installments.” Grameen’s smart and friendly system of loaning to the poor was soon adopted by others. “Last year,” said the New York Times story, “more than 100 million people received small loans from more than 3,100 institutions in 130 countries, according to Microcredit Summit, a Washington-based nonprofit advocacy group.” Wisdom for the week: Nonprofits can multiply the amount of good they do by developing smart and friendly systems. Fare thee well, Rich

Lessons from a scandal

Lessons from a scandal As House Speaker Dennis Hastert and Congressional leaders struggle with former Congressman Foley’s sexual e-mails and instant messages with Congressional pages, I remember the painful lessons I learned when a former colleague at a religious nonprofit was involved in sexual misconduct. Here are five lessons I learned: Leaders who do great good can lead double lives. My former colleague was a founder of the organization, dedicated to its well-being, and a fun person to work with. At the same time he led a secret life that included sexual abuse of minors. Sexual misconduct by leaders is a misuse of power. Congressman Foley, by position and age, had much more power than the teenage Congressional pages. He was using his power to benefit himself at the expense of the pages. There are powerful forces within organizations to cover-up misconduct. Misconduct is power wrapped in fear and shame. As the Foley scandal unfolds, it’s apparent that as long as three years ago a Congressional staffer tried to warn Hastert of Foley’s danger to pages. At the same time, leaders who see themselves as doing good, find it extremely difficult to expose themselves by revealing the shameful behavior of a colleague. Fear and shame fuel cover-ups. Misconduct by leaders never remains hidden. My nonprofit colleague managed to keep his secret life hidden for 15 years. He used his power and prestige to silence his primary victim. But, as many an institution has discovered, sooner or later misconduct always reveals itself. Scandal calls for humility. Damage control is the height of arrogance. Organizations cannot quietly manage significant ethical violations by a leader. When such violations occur, the organization needs humble leaders who will reveal the misconduct, take responsibility for seeing that the person is removed from a position of further misusing power, and seeing that those who were injured are cared for. According to Evergreen Leaders humble hierarchy path, the best leaders have little personal ambition, an unwavering will to help the organization transform the lives of those it serves, and a will to create space for all to thrive. Wisdom for the week: To humbly admit and quickly deal with ethical violations is the surest path your organization can take back to helping transform the lives of those it serves. Fair thee well, Rich

Breakfast with Dave

Breakfast with Dave Dave directs YSB, a nonprofit organization that helps children and families succeed. With a staff of nearly 80 working in several counties, it’s a challenge for Dave to be in touch with the stories of lives being transformed by the staff of the organization. Recently I’ve been consulting with YSB as they develop an annual fundraising program. I enjoy working with Dave, his staff and board. Part of my work has been to help them discover the treasure--the stories of lives being transformed--the organization has to offer donors. Dave realized he needed to meet with the staff and uncover the stories. His solution was sheer humble hierarchy genius. He decided to do Breakfast with Dave. He is scheduling times to go to each office, meeting with staff in 25-minute intervals. He brings with him all the ingredients to make omelets and his omelet maker. He asks each staff person what they like in their omelets and that’s what they get. While the omelet is cooking he asks, “What case are you most proud of?” Then he listens. Evergreen Leaders humble hierarchy path is based on the principle that “humble hierarchy leaders have little personal ambition, have an unwavering will to help the organization transform the lives of those it serves, and create space for all to thrive.” When Dave was first promoted to executive director of YSB he negotiated a salary lower than the normal executive director salary because he said if he was making that much money he’d be embarrassed to come to work. The first Breakfast with Dave was announced by memo and e-mail but when the day came he discovered no one had signed up. He promptly called staff in that branch office and invited them to breakfast individually. Dave may have been humble about his salary but he has an “unwavering will to help the organization transform the lives of those it serves”. He knows he needs to hear the stories of lives transformed as part of creating an annual giving program to support their work in helping children and families succeed. YSB staff often work with children and families in crisis. It’s easy for staff to feel like they go from crisis to crisis. Yet when Dave asks, “What case are you most proud of?” he is giving them an opportunity to recall when they and the organization are at their best in transforming for children and families. Dave concludes Breakfast with Dave with a couple more questions: “Are you having any problems at YSB that I can help with? Do you have any suggestions for me? I need all the help I can get.” Wisdom for the week: Serve omelets, keep the focus on transforming lives, and create space for all to improve the organization--that’s a great way to take the humble hierarchy path. Fair thee well, Rich

In search of smart and friendly

In search of smart and friendly Last year I spent a few days in two different hospitals. After each “visit” I was mailed a long questionnaire. I dutifully whipped through the surveys as quickly asossible. I hate long surveys. I know they help hospitals and other businesses do a better job but I find them tedious. Here’s the questionnaire I’d like to get the next time a hospital or other business wants to know how they can serve me better: How likely are you to recommend our hospital (or business) to a friend of colleague? Circle one with 1 being very unlikely ranging up to 10 being extremely likely: 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10. If you are you unlikely to recommend us, please tell us why? Thriving organizations follow the 7 paths including the smart and friendly system path. This path is based on the principle that organizations thrive or die based the systems they use for getting things done. Creating a system for getting patient or customer feedback is smart but a long questionnaire is not friendly. The above questionnaire did not come from my imagination but from the work of Fred Reichheld who has spent over 25 years studying customer loyalty and who recently published The Ultimate Question. Jack Brennan, CEO of Vanguard calls Reichheld’s approach "radically simple but incredibly valuable”. That’s the hallmark of smart and friendly systems--they are incredibly valuable. Recently I used Open Space Technology to lead two meetings to get input from the board and staff of a nonprofit that I’m consulting with as they develop a fund raising plan. Afterwards their CEO e-mailed me saying, “That approach is so simple it is deceptive. We really were involved.” That’s another hallmark of smart and friendly systems--they are simple and get people involved. Wisdom for the week: Thriving organizations continually use the smart and friendly systems path to keep their systems finally tuned. Fair thee well, Rich

The treasures your employees look for

The treasures your employees look for “Dad, I got a job!” Music to a father’s ears. Yesterday my son Jon called to say that he has a job as a waiter starting today. Last May Jon graduated from Colgate University, moved to Brooklyn, NY with a fellow grad, and landed a summer job with Boys Club. Last Friday he wrapped up the Boys Club position. He’s searching for a professional position in New York but in the meantime he needs to feed his 6’8” inch frame and pay the rent. His plan? Get an evening job as a waiter, leaving daytime hours open for his professional job search. For three days he walked the streets of Brooklyn, NY looking for a job as a waiter. Restaurant after restaurant had no openings. Yesterday he walked into an Italian restaurant and they had an opening. After a brief conversation the manager asked, “Can you start tomorrow?” “Yes.” Then the manager asked to see Jon’s resume. After glancing through it he said in surprise, “You don’t have experience as a waiter.” “I’m a very quick learner, sir, and I’m a hard worker” Jon said quickly. He finally had his foot in the door and he wanted to keep it there. The manager thought a moment, smiled, and said, “You can start training at 4:00 tomorrow afternoon.” The manager hired a treasure. Jon is extremely personable and helpful and people like him. He’ll make a great waiter. Right now Jon is looking for a job to pay for food and rent but soon he will be looking for other kinds of treasure through his job. He’ll want to know that his supervisor, or someone at work, seem to care about him as a person. In First, Break All the Rules, the author’s tell about the restaurant manager who let his staff know that when they needed a short term loan they should help themselves to money from the till and simply leave an IOU in the till until they paid for it. The same manager made it a point of getting to know his staff, giving better hours to those who were supporting a family. For twenty years the Gallup organization studied organizations to see what made a great work place and identified 12 treasures that separate great workplaces from so-so workplaces. According to the Gallup study Jon will be looking for workplace treasures like: At work, I have the opportunity to do what you do best every day. In the last seven days, I have received recognition or praise for doing good work. My supervisor, or someone at work, seem to care about you as a person. There someone at work who encourages my development. For a complete look at the fascinating treasures that employees look for according to Gallup’s study check out First, Break All the Rules or at Feedback for Real on Gallup’s website. Wisdom for the week: Employees look for more than pay; they look for treasures from their worksite. Fair thee well, Rich Ps. Check out the 7 Paths, their principles and paradigms at the Evergreen Leaders website.

Uncovering your organizations treasure

Uncovering your organization's treasure What does a restaurant chain specializing in breakfast and lunch have in common with a nonprofit that provides supports to adults with developmental disabilities? Both focus on offering a treasure that folks seek over and over again. It’s not easy for a business to discover the treasure that will keep its customers coming back nor is it easy for nonprofits to discover the treasure that transforms the lives of those who use their services. For years the nonprofit, Horizon House, Peru, IL defined itself as an organization that makes it possible for adults with developmental disabilities to choose where they want to work, where and with whom they want to live, and what kind of recreation they want to enjoy. Recently Jim Monterastelli, HH CEO, gathered his board and management staff to review their mission. The conversation revealed a drawback to focusing on offering choices to their clientele. The limited intellectual abilities of people with developmental disabilities means they have a limited understanding of the options they might choose from. As the conversation progressed someone suggested that HH help the people they serve discover options to increase the array of choices they make. Jim immediately recognized the treasure in the word discover. Horizon House could offer a variety of experiences to help their clientele discover the types of living arrangements, types and places of work, and types of recreation available in their community. As the people Horizon House works with discover their options their choices will be deeper and more genuine. The treasure that an organization offers needs to connect with the deepest, most compelling needs of those the organization serves. A couple Sundays ago I read in the menu the treasure offered by First Watch in St. Louis, a restaurant that specializes in breakfast and lunch. The treasure was not the food. It was a great, reasonably priced breakfast but we could have found similar food in lots of restaurants. No, the treasure was in the First Watch promise: The staff of First Watch promise to do everything possible to make your visit a moment of relaxation in a busy day. Meeting special needs or requests that you might have gives First Watch a chance to be a special restaurant. Let us know how we can be of service to you and we promise that we will go that extra mile to make you smile. (c) I read that and immediately was touched. I was on vacation and looking for relaxation. Usually I feel like I’m imposing if I make a request. Here was a restaurant that invited me to make special requests. I spend a lot of my time going the extra mile to make people smile. Like writing this e-letter at 8:30 at night because you, my readers, deserve the treasure of this e-letter today. And this restaurant wanted to go the extra mile to make me smile. How do you discover your organizations treasure? Here are four questions for you and your organization to ponder? Who are the people that want the treasure your organization offers? What do they urgently want to avoid? (Bad food in a restaurant; other people always deciding for you if you have a developmental disability) How can your organization make sure people avoid what they want to avoid? What are the compelling desires of the people who are seeking treasure from you? (Wait staff at a restaurant eager to go the second mile for you; nonprofit staff eager to help you discover new options for working, living, and playing, and then helping your choices come true--that’s magic if you are an adult with a developmental disability). I’d love to hear about the treasure your customers or service recipients find in your organization. Next issue we’ll explore another part of the treasure path--treasuring your employees/staff. Wisdom for the week: Thriving organizations keep polishing their treasure. Fair thee well, Rich

7 Paths #89

During the November 2005 Evergreen Leaders board meeting Tutuk Horning held up a flower. “This flower has a form and a function. My English is not very good,” she said, "I do not know how to describe the form and function of Evergreen Leaders." Other board members chimed in. "It's not your English, Tutuk. We don't know how to describe it either." I recruited Tutuk, an Indonesian immigrant, to be on the board because I have this crazy idea that EGL will grow and teach organizations to thrive all over the world. Now, two and half years into the venture, Tutuk and the board were telling me that they didn’t understand what Evergreen Leaders was about. As I listened I felt an odd combination of gratitude and chagrin. Gratitude because Tutuk, our quietest board member, had simply and eloquently described the key issue. Like a flower, EGL needs a simple and beautiful way of describing its form and function. Chagrin because after two and half years, I, who love putting concepts into words, still couldn't describe EGL with the simple beauty of a flower. EGL started out with a mission to give ordinary people the skills to help their groups thrive. Soon we had three seven-hour workshops focusing on listening, envisioning and encouraging. But it was all too vague. It didn’t have the simple elegance of a flower. The memory of Tutuk holding up that flower at the board meeting sent me on a quest, a search for treasure that EGL could offer to folks who long to help the organizations they are part of to thrive. Twenty years ago Stephen R. Covey wrote is The Seven Habits of Highly Effective People. That book has sold 20 million copies and continues to help individuals to be more effective. On my quest to identify the treasure that EGL has to offer, a question gradually began to take shape in my mind: What are the habits of highly effective organizations? Eventually I synthesized thirty years of leading organizations and reading about thriving organizations into seven characteristics I call the 7 Paths of Thriving Organizations. The treasure path is the first of the seven paths. Every nonprofit organization thrives on discovering a treasure that a group of people is longing for, a treasure so powerful that service recipients seek it out and funders and donors willingly support it. The 7 Paths is the golden egg, the treasure that EGL has to offer to organizations. Nonprofits who use the 7 Paths can become great workplaces and transform the lives of the people who use their services. What's your organization's treasure and who's seraching for it? In the next issue of 7 Paths we'll focus on how to put into words your organization's or work group's treasure. Wisdom for the week: You and your organization have a treasure someone's seeking. Fair theee well, Rich

E-letter archive

The 7 Paths e-letter began as Growing Leaders Update and then began the Evergreen Leaders Update. You can check to earlier archives here.

The wilderness path

When I was in college in the early 70’s I discovered and devoured Tolkien’s trilogy about Frodo Baggins long journey to save his world by finding a golden ring and tossing it into a fiery pit.

When we had children, Sarah and I shared the delight of Tolkien with each of them, enjoying many an evening of bedtime reading.

Evergreen Leaders’ wilderness path is based on the principle that thriving organizations regularly take long journeys into the unknown as a way to discover new ways to produce their treasure.

Recently I was teaching Evergreen Leader’s wilderness path to a group in their early 20’s. One of the young women said, “Isn’t the wilderness path just normal life?” The wilderness path is normal when you are in your 20’s and searching for a career, a spouse, and your place in the universe.

Most organizations prefer to spend as little time as possible in the state of the unknown.

Yet all nonprofits start out on the wilderness path. They begin when the founders have an idea of how to meet an existing social need that is not currently being met. Nonprofits begin with a trip into the wilderness to discover the treasure that emerges when you create an organization that meets a powerful human need.

From the beginning of the 20^th century most people in the USA with developmental disabilities were gathered into huge institutions. But in the 1960’s parents and community leaders began to question the practice of warehousing people in huge institutions.

Out of that questioning grew a movement of nonprofits that make it possible for people with developmental disabilities to live, work, and play to the best of their abilities in their home communities.

Often these nonprofits were started by a group of parents who wanted their adult sons and daughters still living at home to have a place to work or do crafts during the day time. They took the wilderness path, creating the organizations with a limited vision of what they were doing.

They simply sensed that they wanted something better for their adult, developmentally disabled sons and daughters, something better than sitting at home by themselves, something better than going to a state institution.

By the 1970’s state governments began to realize these small nonprofits were a treasure, a viable, humane alternative to the state institutions, and they began to fund them.

Organizations try to get out off the wilderness as soon as possible. They establish policies and procedures as a way to reduce the unknown and consistently produce the treasure, consistently meet the needs of their clientele.

But organizations can never quite get away from the unknown. Hence, planning was invented. Thriving organizations are constantly aware that they can do a better job of producing the treasure. To make those improvements, organizations usually adopt yearly goals.

But sometimes organizations need to make major changes in order to produce the treasure in a better way. I worked for a nonprofit that had purchased a nursing home in 1977 and converted it to a living place for 88 people with developmental disabilities from the institutions in Illinois that each housed thousands of people.

Soon after the purchase the staff of the agency realized that they had made a mistake. While the nursing home was a lot better that the state institutions living with 80+ other people in a crowded nursing home was not a treasure.

Finally in 1992 the board of the organization voted unanimously to close the home by 1995 and open small group homes to make it possible for each person to live with a handful of others.

It truly was a wilderness path with many obstacles along the way. The organization had to convince the state bureaucrats to change their rules to stop paying for the nursing home and to start paying for the small group homes. The organization, even though it had never done a capital campaign, raised $1.2 million to make the change possible. Some homes had to be built to accommodate those who used wheelchairs while others homes were purchased and renovated for people who did not need wheelchair accessible homes.

The last person moved out of the nursing home and into a small group home in May of 2000.

To produce our treasure thriving organizations combine short plans with periodic, long journeys into the unknown to discover new ways to produce the golden egg, that treasure that brings people to the door of a nonprofit in desperation and hope.

In order to consistently produce the treasure that their clients are looking for, thriving nonprofits do the following:

• Develop a regular pattern of planning to improve ways of producing the golden egg.

• Include clients in the planning.

• Make it possible for everyone in the organization to plan how their job and their part of the organization will help produce the treasure.

• Include mile markers in the plans

• A core group of leaders in the organization periodically commits to the long journey of a big, hairy audacious goal to transform the way the organization produces the treasure.

Here are the results organizations can expect when they take the wilderness path:

• Everyone is involved in making organizational course corrections.

• Everyone understands how plans and changes will help do a better job of producing the treasure.

• Everyone celebrates key mile markers.

• The organization recreates itself and the way it produces the treasure.

Dazzling with smart and friendly systems

You can dazzle the people you serve with smart and friendly systems.

Every organization has systems, the way they do things. Some of these patterns are smart, some are dumb, some cause frustration and some are friendly.

Recently my wife, an RN started a new job on a mental health unit of a local hospital. The general hospital orientation was smart and friendly. She came home singing the praises of the hospital. Those doing the orientation were positive about the hospital and she was excited about working there.

But once she started on the unit her orientation was brief and inadequate. The hospital uses an antiquated computer system and she was given almost no training on the computer system. One of her first shifts after the unit orientation she struggled by trial and error to discover how to do an admission on the computer.

Her shift supervisor, overwhelmed by an influx of patients, barked at her for taking too long on the computer. Orientation to the computer system was neither smart nor friendly.

Nonprofit organizations thrive or die on the systems they set up for getting things done in the process of caring for the people who arrive in desperation and hope at their door. Smart and friendly systems are one of the 7 paths thriving organizations use.

Shriveling organizations are stuck in the attitude that “this is the way we’ve always done it.”

Thriving organizations are “always looking for ways to make our systems smart and friendly.”

Here are four behaviors that are common to an organization that use the smart and friendly systems path as part of their strategy for thriving:

1. They treat complaints from service recipients as opportunities to develop smarter, friendlier systems.
2. They constantly looking for ways to make policies and ways of doing things smarter and friendlier.
3. Everyone in the organization knows the process to use to make systems smarter and friendlier.
4. Like farmers who practice crop rotation, their leaders recognize that as internal organizational reality shifts, systems need to shift.

Here are three results organizations can expect when they use the smart and friendly systems path:

1. Service recipients see organization as smart and friendly as they use services.
2. Staff workers are empowered to make changes in the systems in order to transform the lives of service recipients.
3. Staff workers see organization as smart and friendly place to work.

In the fall of 2005 when I was hospitalized in the Illinois Valley Community Hospital for pneumonia I was dazzled by the smart and friendly food service system the hospital used.

I have a disability and have spent my share of the time in hospitals. I know “the food” is the most common complaint about hospitals.

Basically IVCH adapted hotel room service model. I was given a menu that contained breakfast, lunch and dinner items. When I called in my order I was told what the specials were for that meal.

Since I love fruits and vegetables, I ordered meals that included five fruits and vegetables.

Not only could I order each meal I could tell them within ten minutes when I wanted the meal delivered and that’s when it arrived.

Wow.

You can dazzle the people you serve with smart and friendly systems.

Forgiveness as part of organizational life

In the current issue of The Atlantic Monthly describes a moment early in Hillary Clinton's first Senate term when she began attending a Bible study with other senators. When she first began participating, Republican Senator Sam Brownback confessed to her that he had hated her and said derogatory things to her. She forgave him.

Like Hillary Clinton, who led efforts in the first Clinton presidential term to pass universal healthcare, nonprofit leaders often take hits.

In the middle 1990’s the CEO of an organization I worked for asked me to direct a campaign to raise $1.2 million to help close their nursing home for adults with developmental disabilities and open about a dozen small group homes for them to live in.

I deeply believed in the cause. I knew many of the people who lived in the nursing home and I knew that their lives would be greatly improved by moving into smaller homes. As the head of the nursing home resident council would say, “You know me. I like peace and quiet,” something that was impossible in the noisy, crowded nursing home.

Neither the organization nor I had ever done a capital before and the board decided we would do it without a campaign consultant. Many people thought we would not succeed in raising the money needed. I can understand their doubts because it’s very difficult for an organization to raise that much money without the help of a consultant to keep the campaign on track.

Fortunately for me, a retired YMCA executive from the Chicago area took mercy on me and offered to come out every few weeks during the campaign to advise us.

Despite this, one of my colleagues who was in a position to track what I was spending to prepare for the campaign, was convinced we would fail. She began to spread rumors through the organization that I was wasting money. She actively opposed the campaign in staff meetings and made life miserable for my assistant campaign director.

One day my colleague and I were both working late. I went to her office, listened to her anger about my spending, and tried to respond. Nothing I said seemed to help. It was deeply painful to have her questioning my integrity. I got tears in my eyes for the first and only time in my 20 years of employment at that organization.

Almost every morning since 1977 I’ve written in a spiritual journal, often writing about whatever current challenges I’m facing. During those days I wrote about the tension I felt as I launched the campaign. Gradually I realized that I was carrying a lot of resentments toward my colleague.

One morning as I was writing in my journal I had a sense that I needed to forgive my colleague. I listed out five different things she had done to undercut me and the campaign.

That winter day on the way to work I drove a country road and stopped the car next to a creek. I picked up five stones and one by one I dropped them in the water, forgiving my colleague for each of the five things she had done to undercut me.

As I dropped the stones in the moving water in the creek I noticed how the stones immediately dropped to the bottom but the water flowed on. I sensed God telling me that I had forgiven my colleague and my life could flow on like the water in the creek.

Life did flow on and eventually it appeared that the campaign was going to be a success. My colleague then solicited a club she belonged to, to donate to the campaign.

When the campaign was completed I resigned and went on to working as a consultant to help other organizations do similar campaigns. After I resigned my colleague said to me, “In a few years we are going to have to have you back to do another campaign.”

Because I had forgiven her I could gratefully accept her compliment on my work.

In Good to Great and the Social Sectors: A Monograph to Accompany Good to Great, Jim Collins describes Level 5 leaders as people who have little personal ambition but incredible will "to make sure the right decsions happen--no matter how difficult or painful--for the longterm greatness of the instituiton and the achievement of its mission..."

Forgiving harsh critics can help nonprofit leaders keep on making sure the right decsions happen even after taking lots of hits.

Lessons from a scandal

As House Speaker Dennis Hastert and Congressional leaders struggle with former Congressman Foley’s sexual e-mails and instant messages with Congressional pages, I remember the painful lessons I learned when a former colleague at a religious nonprofit was involved in sexual misconduct.

Here are five lessons I learned:

1) Leaders who do great good can lead double lives. My former colleague was a founder of the organization, dedicated to its well-being, and a fun person to work with. At the same time he led a secret life that included sexual abuse of minors.

2) Sexual misconduct by leaders is a misuse of power. Congressman Foley, by position and age, had much more power than the teenage Congressional pages. He was using his power to benefit himself at the expense of the pages.

3) There are powerful forces within organizations to cover-up misconduct. Misconduct is power wrapped in fear and shame. As the Foley scandal unfolds, it’s apparent that as long as three years ago a Congressional staffer tried to warn Hastert of Foley’s danger to pages. At the same time, leaders who see themselves as doing good, find it extremely difficult to expose themselves by revealing the shameful behavior of a colleague. Fear and shame fuel cover-ups.

4) Misconduct by leaders never remains hidden. My nonprofit colleague managed to keep his secret life hidden for 15 years. He used his power and prestige to silence his primary victim. But, as many an institution has discovered, sooner or later misconduct always reveals itself.

5) Scandal calls for humility. Damage control is the height of arrogance. Organizations cannot quietly manage significant ethical violations by a leader. When such violations occur, the organization needs humble leaders who will reveal the misconduct, take responsibility for seeing that the person is removed from a position of further misusing power, and seeing that those who were injured are cared for.

According to Evergreen Leaders humble hierarchy path, the best leaders have little personal ambition, an unwavering will to help the organization transform the lives of those it serves, and a will to create space for all to thrive.

Wisdom for the week: To humbly admit and quickly deal with ethical violations is the surest path your organization can take to get back to helping transform the lives of those it serves.

55 and glad to be alive

7:15 a.m.

I awoke this morning, 55, and glad to be alive. In keeping with a tradition started the day I turned 53, I am going to blog my birthday.

I woke at 4:00 a.m. and had my quiet time. I'm working my way through Judges 9, an account of Abimilech's short bloody career. Abimilech, son of Gideon and a concubine, persuades his mother's kinfolk to anoint him king and give him 70 pieces of silver. He uses the silver to hire hoodlums and together they kill his 70 brothers, except for the youngest, Jotham, who hides.

After the massacre Jotham stands up on a hill and tells a remarkable parable to the the folks who made Abimilech king. After questioning whether they were acting in good faith he ran away and hid from his brother again. Abimilech was not leading in good faith. He was gathering raw power for himself. I love stories of the youngest who often have to alternate between hiding and speaking the obvious. The king has no clothes.

As for me, my goal is to live in good faith today. Now that means making waffles for a few of the Reba interns. Later this morning and afternoon I'll be teaching them the 7 Paths and applying them to life in an intentional Christian community.

6:19 p.m.

I finished the 7 Paths workshop at 2:45. First time through this version of the workshop and I had to do it quickly which meant I used more of a lecture style than I like. I hope it will be benificial to the interns. I think each path is right on. Now I need to teach them better.

After I put all the workshop materals away I took a nap and woke groggy. To cheer myself up, I looked at Anne Sigler's Blue Mountain card. Now I'm going to make myself a Mexican dinner and have friends over for the marvelous chocolate cake Sarah made. She's working tonight at the Community Hospital of Ottawa mental health unit. She called on her break and wished me happy birthday. I love her calls on her break.

9:29 p.m.

I invited Erin Kindy, Bill and Kate Newhouse and their two daughters, Isa and Elaina, and Lori Behrens and her two daughters, Kora and Mary, over for chocolate cake and ice cream. (Kevin Behrens missed the party because he's on the way to Michigan to go with his brother to the last regular season game of the the Detroit Tigers tomorrow.) What fun to talk, laugh, and enjoy ice cream and chocolate cake. I loved having the children at the party. The party ended with everyone giving me a hug.

My daughter Heidi and her husband Woju called from St. Louis. I also talked to Hannah and her husband Donny from Jacksonville, FL. I love giving and receiving love through phone calls.

My son Jon has forgotten my birthday. He'll feel bad when he remembers and I'll love him no matter how many times he forgets my birthday. I'll try calling him one more time before I go to sleep.

While talking to Heidi on the phone after the party I went to get the mail. Ah, the beauty of a cool, moonlit, starlit night.

Fifty-five years ago I was born for this world of stars, chocolate cake and hugs.

In search of treasure 2

In my post two days ago I was searching for the words to describe the Evergreen Leaders' treasure. My heart sang when I came up with: Call us when you want your nonprofit to thrive while transforming lives.

But then slowly my enthusiasm waned. Something was missing. Then I remembered my friend Bob Betzelberger's question to me a couple of years ago: What's the pain that EGL will relieve? When Bob asked that question I didn't know what to say. An eternal optimist, I find it difficult to focus on pain yet I know that when someone knocks on a nonprofit's door it's usually with a combination of desperation and hope.

So went back, read the jottings in my journal that led to Call us when you want your nonprofit to thrive while transforming lives. I had forgotten I had written: "I want nonprofits to care as much for their organization as their cause."

How do you portray the pain that nonprofits get into when they have miserable organizational problems while trying to do good? I kept trying out version after version of an EGL treasure statements. Here's the latest:

When you’re tired of your nonprofit hobbling, call us. We help nonprofits thrive while transforming lives.

Let's see if that takes root and grows.

In search of treasure 1

You wouldn't think a guy who started out marketing consulting services to health clubs would be a source of wisdom for a nonprofit CEO.

But I've been learning from Michael Port and his Book Yourself Solid.

When clients knocks on your nonprofit door they are looking for a treasure. Your task as a nonprofit leader is to understand your clients so well that you can put into a few simple words a treasure statement so powerful that it resonates with the soul of your organization and the souls of the people who in desperation and hope knock on your door.

Evergreen Leaders is a three-year-old nonprofit start-up and we provide consulting and leadership training to other nonprofits. For three years now the board and I keep revisiting the question of what's Evergreen Leaders about.

I don't regret the journey because every worthwhile treasure is discovered after a long journey.

The last few days I've been doing Port's writing excercises on what we do, who we do it for, and why we do it. I've been fascinated by the question: Why do we provide consulting and leadership training to other nonprofits?

After writing numerous answers I landed on the following:

Call us when you want your nonprofit to thrive while transforming lives.

I need to live with that statement to test it out but right now it's singing to my soul:

Call us when you want your nonprofit to thrive while transforming lives.

Breakfast with Dave

Dave directs YSB, a nonprofit organization that helps children and families succeed. With a staff of nearly 80 working in several counties, it’s a challenge for Dave to be in touch with the stories of lives being transformed by the staff of the organization.

Recently I’ve been consulting with YSB as they develop an annual fundraising program. Part of my work has been to help them discover the treasure--the stories of lives being transformed--the organization has to offer donors. Dave realized he needed to meet with the staff and uncover the stories.

His solution was sheer humble hierarchy genius. He decided to do Breakfast with Dave. He is scheduling times to go to each office, meeting with staff in 25-minute intervals. He brings with him all the ingredients to make omelets and his omelet maker. He asks each staff person what they like in their omelets and that’s what they get.

While the omelet is cooking he asks, “What case are you most proud of?” Then he listens.

Evergreen Leaders humble hierarchy path is based on the principle that “humble hierarchy leaders have little personal ambition, have an unwavering will to help the organization transform the lives of those it serves, and create space for all to thrive.”

When Dave was first promoted to executive director of YSB he negotiated a salary lower than the normal executive director salary because he said if he was making that much money he’d be embarrassed to come to work.

The first Breakfast with Dave was announced by memo and e-mail but when the day came he discovered no one had signed up. He promptly called staff in that branch office and invited them to breakfast individually. Dave may have been humble about his salary but he has an “unwavering will to help the organization transform the lives of those it serves”. He knows he needs to hear the stories of lives transformed as part of creating an annual giving program to support their work in helping children and families succeed.

YSB staff often work with children and families in crisis. It’s easy for staff to feel like they go from crisis to crisis. Yet when Dave asks, “What case are you most proud of?” he is giving them an opportunity to recall when they and the organization are at their best in transforming for children and families.

One of the first staff member that he had breakfast with told him about a fourteen-year-old girl they had helped find a foster home. When she was older she entered a beauty pageant and as part of the pageant she described her wonderful experience in the YSB foster home.

Dave had his first story of transformation.

Smart and friendly spinach

If you've been listening to the USA news lately you know that there's been an E. coli outbreak that's been traced back to spinach from a three-county area in California.

USA farmers are alway trying to develop smart systems for growing and marketing their crops. California spinach growers developed a smart system, banding together to cooperatively process and market their spinach. It was a smart system because it reduced costs and increased demand for spinach.

But organizations thrive not only have smart systems but smart and friendly systems. The spinach marketing system did not prove to be friendly because it spread E. coli, sickening 166 people in 25 states. The E. coli bacteria have been traced back to nine possible farms but because the spinach from all the farms are combined, it has improved impossible this far to pinpoint the exact source.

"There is going to be a need to examine the system -- what's working, what's not working. At this point I wouldn't want to rule anything in or anything out," said Dr. David Acheson, chief medical officer for the FDA's Food Safety and Applied Nutrition branch.

The dominant system in the USA involves trucking fruits and vegetables all over the country. That's how tainted spinach from three counties in California made people sick in 25 states.

But trucking food from vast warehouses is not the only system.

I live on a farm that, for the most part, uses a smarter, friendlier system. Grow it and then market it locally through farmers markets.

Farmers markets are a smart and friendly system for getting your spinach. Most farmers markets require sellers to grow the produce what they sell. That means that while you may pay a little more at a farmers market, that friendly man or woman you're buying from is the farmer who grew the spinach. And it wasn't combined with produce from dozens of other farms and trucked half way across the country.

I'm not a farmer but I've enjoyed eating Plow Creek produce for many years. Today for lunch I had seedless watermelon. I know Neil and Jim who grew the melon.

Now that's a smart and friendly system.