LEADING A NONPROFIT ORGANIZATION is challenging, stressful work—yet it can also be richly rewarding. Alex Counts mastered the art of mission-driven leadership through decades of trial and error, as he built from scratch one of today’s most admired philanthropic foundations. Now he shares 214 of the most powerful lessons he discovered along the way—life and career secrets you'll never learn in school. Frank, quirky, counterintuitive, and ultimately inspiring, these nuggets of wisdom cover the toughest challenges nonprofit leaders face:
On defining your organization’s mission: “Be bold, but be grounded."
On running a meeting: “Agendas are made to be bent."
On surviving business travel: “Check the seat pocket one more time.”
On people management: “It’s okay to have a few enemies.”
On capturing an audience’s attention: “Start with your conclusion.”
And on the art of fundraising: “Stop talking.”
Those working in the nonprofit world will find that Alex Counts's sage advice can help them get through the day feeling more in control while making a greater impact on the world they seek to serve.
“Each tiny lesson is a self-contained, salient observation that shines a light on a specific aspect of leadership. . . . Whatever the subject, the author condenses a meaningful pronouncement into its simplest, most elegant form, using high-impact prose to make his point. . . . Parceled out pearls of leadership wisdom.”—Kirkus Reviews
“Alex Counts has been critical to creating and building the global microcredit movement from its start. He knows how to lead. And how to write! When in Doubt, Ask for More will help you be a more powerful leader—and have fun doing so.”—Bill Drayton, Ashoka: Everyone a Changemaker
ABOUT THE AUTHOR: Alex Counts founded Grameen Foundation and became its president and CEO in 1997. From its modest beginnings, Grameen Foundation grew to become a leading international humanitarian organization. Counts is the author of several books, including Small Loans, Big Dreams: How Nobel Prize Winner Muhammad Yunus and Microfinance Are Changing the World, and Changing the World Without Losing Your Mind: Leadership Lessons from Three Decades of Social Entrepreneurship.
Today Counts is an independent consultant to nonprofit organizations, a professor at the School of Public Policy at the University of Maryland College Park, and an affiliated faculty of its Do Good Institute. He also serves as a member of the Advisory Council of the Center for Financial Inclusion and is an active Court Appointed Special Advocate (CASA) volunteer in Prince George’s County, Maryland.
Alex Counts founded Grameen Foundation and became its president and CEO in 1997. A Cornell University graduate, Counts's commitment to poverty eradication deepened as a Fulbright scholar in Bangladesh, where he trained under Professor Muhammad Yunus, the founder and managing director of Grameen Bank, and corecipient of the 2006 Nobel Peace Prize. Since its modest beginnings, Grameen Foundation grew to become a leading international humanitarian organization. Counts is the author of several books, including Small Loans, Big Dreams: How Nobel Prize Winner Muhammad Yunus and Microfinance Are Changing the World, and Changing the World Without Losing Your Mind: Leadership Lessons from Three Decades of Social Entrepreneurship. He has also written numerous articles in the Stanford Social Innovation Review, the Washington Post, the Chronicle of Philanthropy, and other publications. Today Counts is an independent consultant to nonprofit organizations, a professor at the School of Public Policy at the University of Maryland College Park, and an affiliated faculty of its Do Good Institute. He also serves as a member of the Advisory Council of the Center for Financial Inclusion and is an active Court Appointed Special Advocate (CASA) volunteer in Prince George's County, Maryland.
