07/14/2021

Leading in a Time of Crisis

Advice for nonprofit managers on playing the long game in today's new normal

The author and professor Ken Bain once wrote, “Teaching is one of the human endeavors that rarely benefits from its past... For the most part, [great teachers’] insights die with them, and subsequent generations must discover anew the wisdom that drove their practices.” 

I have come to believe that this observation may apply even more to mission-driven leaders. When I was winding down my 18-year run leading Grameen Foundation, which I established in 1997 after a decade of mentorship under the Nobel laureate Muhammad Yunus, I embarked on a process of documenting the most important things that I had learned along the way. It was an alternatively soulful, disturbing, enjoyable, cleansing, and arduous process. The 800 pages I churned out were ultimately chiseled into 300 pages and released in 2019 as Changing the World Without Losing Your Mind: Leadership Lessons from Three Decades of Social Entrepreneurship.  

Unlike most non-profit leadership memoirs, I focused on insights rather than on my accomplishments. As one reviewer noted, it was more mea culpa than self-congratulation. Each story contained ideas, techniques, and practices that I came to value, use, and depend on. In all cases, I wished I had learned them earlier. The last third of the book focused on self-care for mission-driven leaders. The messages seemed to resonate with many readers and reviewers, including this one.

Please select this link to read the complete article from SSIR.