Some months ago, I mentioned that I took a certain satisfaction in remaining on good terms with a buddy of mine who most decidedly did not share my generally liberal political beliefs. To my surprise, two old friends pounced on me, one considerably more ferociously than the other, about how and why I could maintain such relationships – and why on earth I would brag about doing so. I was bewildered by their response and asked myself this question: How can we advance our vision of a better society if we don’t even associate with people who appear, on the surface, to have a different vision?
I was reminded of this incident when reading Carly Fiorina’s impressive and compelling book, Find Your Way, which came out around the same that I published Changing the World Without Losing Your Mind. She and I come from different generations, have contrasting political beliefs, and spent our careers in different industries. Her book seems more self-help oriented, whereas mine is basically a how-to guide.
And yet, her approach to self-development and having a positive impact on others overlaps significantly with and complements mine. I suppose we live in a world of strange potential bedfellows, especially if we take time to look around us with an open mind.
Fiorina sees leadership as problem solving and something unrelated to title, position, or prestige. Such notions echo the attitude of my mentor, Grameen Bank founder and Nobel laureate Dr. Muhammad Yunus. He had no plan to start a bank for Bangladesh’s poor women but became intrigued by a problem he heard about while touring the villages near his classroom: industrious women found themselves trapped in poverty because they were exploited by traders and loansharks due to lack of access to affordable loans from conventional sources.
With no credentials in banking, he began experimenting with ways to get those women the loans they desperately needed. As a result of his controversial problem-solving effort, a social movement was born, one that Fiorina was involved in through chairing the board of Opportunity International, a respected microfinance nonprofit.
One of the other themes of Fiorina’s leadership philosophy is the importance of humility. In my book, I tapped into that wisdom by sharing the insight that being a novice at something important to me has always been a critical part of remaining curious and in learning mode – not just in that domain, but throughout my life. The reason: being a beginner at anything – think of learning a language – is a great way to keep yourself humble. Making embarrassing mistakes is one’s stock in trade as a novice; in fact, it is how one learns.
Another critical leadership tool she describes is empathy. As I looked into my career, one of the ways I learned to deal with people that I was in conflict with was to pause the antagonism long enough to pivot and do my best to see our relationship from their perspective and figure out how their attitude could be grounded in a principle I would admire. The title of that section: “Empathy as a Tool for Controlling Anger.” On one occasion, during tense negotiations with a partner who brought gun-toting musclemen to a meeting in a remote area of Indonesia, that skill may have saved my life.
There are other areas of congruence. She extols the importance of joining forces with others to accomplish one’s goals. Grameen Foundation, while under my leadership for its first 18 years, embarked on many innovative and risky partnerships and engaged volunteers in creative and unconventional ways, especially for an organization of our size.
Certainly, not all of our insights are consistent. She argues for avoiding the trap of “failing to launch” a problem-solving effort. While I have always had a bias for action, I learned from a mentor that there are times when kicking a thorny issue down the road is the best approach.
I am particularly pleased that Fiorina has decided to train much of her talent these days on helping nonprofits and their leaders unlock their full potential to combat vexing societal problems.
Capacity-building of social sector organizations is sadly out of favor in today’s philanthropic landscape. Her Unlocking Potential Foundation and its talented staff team (led by Casey Enders) represent a welcome antidote to the highly transactional, project-oriented, fad-driven “quick fix philanthropy” that increasingly dominates today. Institution-building for long-term impact requires, first and foremost, investment in leaders.
I hope these two books and our related efforts to lift up a new generation of visionary and pragmatic leaders of social change catch on. Given what’s at stake, there is little time to lose.