Getting better means being willing to face hard questions, asking what we can do better and what we should stop doing.

By Steve Moran

Several days ago I published an article about Not-For-Profit CEO compensation and the anticipation of publishing it gave me extra strength Rolaids indigestion. I expected several things . . .

  • Some folks would be mad

  • Some folks would say “It’s about time someone talked about this”

  • Some would challenge my assertions

  • Some would unsubscribe in anger

  • I would get a higher than normal number of reads

  • I would get an above average number of comments

  • I would get some private emails, some liking and some hating the article

Every single one of these things happened. I need to start by saying that for someone who knowingly writes articles that look at elephants in the room I am embarrassingly thin skinned. Not in the lash out way that some people are, but more in the second guessing kind of way where I wonder if maybe I shouldn’t have published that because I upset some people.  

And yet . . . getting better means being willing to face hard questions, asking what we can do better and what we should stop doing.

The Reactions and Reflections

You can read a bunch of the comments at the end of the article which is hyperlinked above, but because I received quite a bit of offline feedback I want to offer some additional thoughts:

  • I am not the enemy of the not-for-profit senior living world. There are some great organizations doing some amazing things in the world of not-for-profit senior living. In fact, in just a few weeks I have the great privilege of spending half a day with a group of not-for-profit leaders talking about what makes not-for-profit special and how they can tell that story better.

  • I had several offline messages where the primary thinking was: this was a good worthwhile discussion to have. The general sense is that we need not-for-profits but they must be really focused on doing some serious good for the world.

  • I had a few “hateish” kinds of emails where people said, in effect, I was unfairly attacking something that should be immune from criticism because they are mission based. It is not the first time I have been criticized for talking negative about senior living or a segment of senior living. This is actually a serious problem and mistake.

    We must be willing to acknowledge that there are some rotten providers in the world of senior living. Folks who do a marginal or worse job of caring for residents. Folks who treat their team members like garbage. We need to be willing to acknowledge this and say with a loud and clear voice THAT IS NOT US. THAT IS NOT WHO WE ARE OR WHAT WE DO.

  • Sadly, I received several emails from people who work deep within the bowels of not-for-profit organizations that are run by good people with caring hearts who are not very good at being stewards of the buildings and money they are entrusted with.   

    These are folks who squander money without taking a serious look at whether or not what they are spending that money on makes any sense at all. Too often they throw money at a problem because it makes it looks like they are doing something, perhaps even knowing the money will be wasted.

There are some great not-for-profits out in the world like Front Porch and be.group who are doing some great and noble things then sharing what they are learning with the world. There are others that are making it possible for elderly seniors to live above their means. There are others that are elevating the lives of their team members in amazing ways.

What has hit home more than anything else is that not-for-profit boards need to do their jobs, in making sure their assets are being used to further the mission of their organizations and that the mission needs to be in some way for the betterment of society as a whole.