Leadership Always Plays a Role

I am working with a FANTASTIC hospital that is launching an effort to build a Radiation Therapy Center. What this project will mean to the community is beyond words. Knowing first hand the journey through cancer treatment (my father), I am incredibly honored to be working with these amazing people to make a difference.

My first week onsite, we discussed the employee campaign. According to their timeline, the campaign was slated to begin in a matter of weeks. WEEKS? There really had been no preparation, not because of a lack of effort, but more of a lack of certainty - where should it fit in the campaign timeline, etc.

NOW! Let's do this NOW! These were the words that came out of my mouth and we were off.

Employee campaigns can be incredibly successful or utter disasters. More and more organizations are focusing on participation and not monetary goals. Really, one follows the other and so we developed a plan. We would kick off the campaign on November 1st and run it for three weeks - up to the holidays. Teams? Yes. A new employee campaign name? Yes. New marketing materials? Yes. A crazy tight timeline? No doubt! Amazing employee champions? CRITICAL! And we had them.

Us philanthrogeeks know the value of leadership. We understand the concept that if we have the right leadership, we can be successful, well, most of the time. And yet, I see so many employee campaigns that do not select the right leadership, do not support them and ultimately do not succeed. Not this time. These employee champions were AMAZING. They had two weeks to prep and three weeks to accomplish a whirlwind campaign. They were ready and the competition was on.

Leadership is not always about the most affluent, although it can be. It is not always about the most vocal nor the most well loved, although those, too, play a role. Leadership, most often, is about passion, about respect, about energy, about insight, about making the right choices, at the right time, in the right way, with the right people. Leadership is knowing what your role is and creating a path that moves you toward success.

Thanks to the employee leaders in this community hospital, in three weeks, they had 79% participation from employees. That is incredible! There was no real culture of employee giving, there was no long term planning or fancy this or that, there were simply four incredible leaders who made it happen with the immense support of a CEO who leads everyday.

Leadership.... it's what's for dinner.

So are movements... but don't get me started on that concept. Instead, I'll just post this TED talk and save my movement blog for another day.