Venky Raghavendra in conversation with successful social entrepreneur and global changemaker Alex Counts.
My guess is every occupation has this hazard. One’s sensitivity to the person on the other side can get diluted over time. The social sector is not immune to this. Critical issues from putting a roof over someone’s head, to enabling access to clean water, or safeguarding the rights of an individual could easily be framed in numbers, goals, glossy annual reports and impact statements. In other words, the human side of an effective social intervention could be lost in the melee of achieving individual and institutional goals, in the midst of staying ahead of the “competition” or ensuring the “sustainability” of the organization.
If you ever feel this happening to you, then meet Alex Counts – the man who knows how to effectively meld heart, soul and mind in the change-making business…..and stay consistent with this balance whether dealing with a billionaire philanthropist, a junior staff member, a healthcare worker or a distressed family being served.
Read excerpts from Alex Counts’ How to change the world without losing your mind
What is the magic formula? How does he do this? And what was the journey like? He shares all this and more in his book “Changing the World Without Losing Your Mind – Leadership Lessons From Three Decades of Social Entrepreneurship”
I traveled the philanthropic road with him together for a while and experienced his leadership firsthand. More recently I chatted with him about his journey, his book and his insights for others not just treading this path, but broadly to anyone in a leadership position.
Venky Raghavendra: Please share more about your own experience as a leader especially from your Grameen Foundation USA days that helped you gain these insights.
Alex Counts: I spent most of the first decade of my career in an extended apprenticeship at the Grameen Bank, working both at the grassroots level and directly with future Nobel laureate Professor Muhammad Yunus. Then, weeks after turning 30, I launched an underfinanced start-up called Grameen Foundation on a shoestring. My experience and skills at that moment were sadly lacking in many respects – especially in terms of managing people and raising money – but my hard work and constant encouragement from Dr. Yunus was enough to pull through those difficult early years.
Especially during those first few years, and periodically thereafter, I made a lot of mistakes but I always did my best to learn from them. I had some great teachers and mentors who helped me avoid some of those dead ends, and figure out where my logic went astray where I did mess things up. Over time, I developed my own philosophy and techniques related to nonprofit leadership and management and applied them in ways that helped us grow to the point where our revenue was more than $20 million per year from 2009 until I stepped down in 2015. We helped some leading microfinance institutions in India, Nigeria, Haiti, the Philippines, Indonesia and Pakistan scale up, and we developed some highly innovative programs and tools.
Some of achieving these milestones comes from applying common wisdom: rewarding success, hiring and supporting talented and ethical people, returning peoples calls quickly, seeing part of the CEO’s role to be “fundraiser in chief,” being disciplined in terms of ones messaging and communications, measuring what works and adjusting based on data, and so on. Easy to say, though not always so straightforward to put into practice.
But I also used some unconventional techniques, some of which I have detailed in my book Changing the World Without Losing Your Mind: Leadership Lessons from Three Decades of Social Entrepreneurship and others are explored on my website, www.alexcounts.com (especially its blog). For instance, I came to believe that it is at least as important to reward failure as it is to reward success – something I doubt you would hear in a traditional Management 101 course! I also developed a ritual of telling my employees the worst mistakes I had made during the prior year and what those mistakes cost the organization. I gave responsibilities to volunteers that most organizations our size would only assign to paid employees. I eschewed minimum donation levels and term limits for board members – which many consider “best practices” – for alternative approaches that I believe work better.
Venky Raghavendra: While everyone focuses on the successes of the social entrepreneurs, there is little attention paid to the personal challenges they experience on their journeys. What was the reason for you to land on this important topic?
Alex Counts: This issue of burnout is part of the story I tell to people I mentor because I lived it – I nearly crashed out of my dream job because I didn’t take care of myself. I also observed some peers and friends who were a 10-20 years ahead of me adopt self-destructive habits to respond to the demands and stresses of being a nonprofit leader – and saw how they and their organizations suffered. When I was 33 years old was a year or two away from burning out, but somehow found a way to turn it around.
The last third of the book is about the techniques I learned and practiced that took me from the abyss to a state of robust mental, physical and spiritual health while putting together a team that grew Grameen Foundation into a world-class international humanitarian organization.
Once again, some of the healthy habits I developed are obvious: I began exercising six days per week, no matter what, and ate reasonably healthy food. Some are less appreciated. For example, I came to believe that, at least for me, it’s important at each moment in life to be doing something that I am a complete novice or beginner at. Engaging in something I care about but lack skills at lets me tap into my curiosity, punctures any residual know-it-all arrogance, and puts me in a learning rather than teaching posture. What I have found is that this type of humility and desire to grow isn’t limited to the thing I am a novice at, but wonderfully seeps into other areas of my life, too.
Venky Raghavendra: Fundraising is an enigma – it is misunderstood, misconstrued and considered difficult by so many professionals in the non-profit space. You have broken down the how-tos and the mechanics of fundraising in a very user-friendly and thoughtful way. What do you have to say to those wanting to succeed in fundraising?
Alex Counts: First of all, examine your mindset about fund-raising. Very likely, how you think about this essential part of any nonprofit leadership job is terrifically disempowering. Most people think of fund-raising as a zero-sum game, and as such it is something to be afraid of, to dread, to delegate, and to avoid. I can’t tell you how many people over the years have said some version of this to me: “I love your organization and will do anything to support it. Except fund-raising – since I don’t like it and am not good at it.”
With the help of several key mentors, I began to think of fund-raising as potentially being an activity where everyone – the donor, the fund-raiser, the nonprofit and the beneficiaries of the nonprofit – comes out ahead, or wins. Once I understood that possibility, then there was nothing to be afraid of or ashamed of. Fund-raising became stimulating and enjoyable. At times, I couldn’t get enough of it – other parts of my job weren’t nearly as exciting. Among many things I enjoyed about it, fund-raising let me work directly with some of the wealthiest, brightest, and most successful people in the world and shape their philanthropic priorities.
Using this mindset, Grameen Foundation under my leadership raised more than $300 million and we directed or leveraged a similar amount to high performing organizations that did not pass through our balance sheet but were nonetheless part of our impact footprint.
Once you adopt some version of this highly empowering mindset, then study the techniques of the most successful fund-raisers you know. Most are fairly intuitive, though some may not be for you. I shared my top lessons in the book and even more on my website. But changing your mindset is essential to being able to use these practices effectively and joyfully.
Venky Raghavendra: Inspiration is so important in this area of work. What has been your source/s of inspiration to engage in the work of making a difference to others and impact communities, and now to share your decades of experience with others?
Alex Counts: First of all, I draw inspiration from the harsh realities – and the progress in changing those realities – that I saw in the Bangladesh villages I lived in for months at a time during the first few years of my career. I saw how people suffered, and also how people could become agents in changing their own circumstances if provided helpful tools, information, encouragement, and peer support. Knowing that there are both grim realities and powerful ways to bring change was always something that motivated me to work hard and do my best.
On the other hand, I also draw inspiration from people I have known or read about who exemplify selfless and courageous service to humanity. These include great moral leaders I have had the privilege of working with, like Muhammad Yunus and Father Joseph Philippe, social sector dynamos such as BRAC USA founder Susan Davis, generous and wise philanthropists like Janet McKinley, as well as inspirational historical figures such as Mahatma Gandhi, Martin Luther King, U.S. Grant, Eleanor Roosevelt, and so on. For example, I have read the scene at the end of the Civil War where General Grant finds the perfect way to demonstrate generosity and empathy towards General Lee hundreds of times. I have watched sections of the movie Gandhi nearly as frequently. Each time I do so, I am more motivated to be bold, courageous, and disciplined in advancing the public good.
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Alex Counts is the new president and CEO of American India Foundation (February 23, 2016)