Address to Salvation Army, Kiwanis and Rotary
Long Term Vision as Vital in a Time of Crisis

November 24, 2009

Thank you, Bill, for the kind words and good afternoon fellow Salvation Army board members, members of the Kiwanis and Rotary clubs and local friends.

As he mentioned, Bill Davis and I have done board work together for many years.  As he was concluding his service as Chairman of the Salvation Army Advisory Board, he and the Board’s new chairman, Geoff Martin, began to talk to me about joining.  As many of you share with me, I have always admired the good work the Salvation Army does and so it was an honor to join the board. 

We often take a good road because it is a good road without realizing that it is also a crucial road.  Of course, the opposite is also true, but we needn’t go there!  Bill’s chairmanship of the Salvation Army board, followed by Geoff Martin’s leadership focused on building their thrift store and configuring the chapel and main offices so that, in Bill’s and Geoff’s vision, they would function without fault for the next 40 years.  Captain Belanger’s oversight of both projects, of course, was directly responsible for the success of the initiatives. 

I was asked to join the board because my focus in board work has been reassessment and strategic planning.  Bill, Geoff and Shaun felt that at the conclusion of their infrastructure work, the board would be ready to reassess their strengths and begin looking forward.  What none of us could predict, of course, was the extraordinary financial crisis that has now so deeply impacted our communities and the direct correlation that crisis is having on the good services all of us provide. 

Each of us both individually and within our charitable organizations has seen requests for assistance skyrocket.  Clothing, food, utilities, housing, child care, medical assistance – all the areas of GOOD which each of us has supported over the years are substantially overwhelmed with families and individuals in need.  And as is proved on a local, municipal, regional and state level, the resources we used to rely on to meet the needs of our community members, the donations, grants and gifts have shrunk almost in proportion to the increase in the need. 

Currently I serve on the Stakeholder’s Committee which our state Commissioner for Health and Human Services, Nick Toumpas, convened this past year.  What we see through our community service groups he sees through statewide medical and service agencies.  The story is the same.  Our statewide job loss is significant.  Medicare and family assistance case loads are at an all time high.  Revenues are significantly challenged.  Budget requests are dangerously reduced.  

As the Commissioner points out and as I am sure we all consider at darker moments, quick fixes or fast turn-arounds are not realistic.  Our strategic thinking must frame our vision in a three to four year window.  With our Governor’s concurrence, the Commissioner is suggesting a process from the state level to city and municipal management to government supported service agencies that will begin to build a bridge to healthier times.  With a focus on the RECEPIENT OF SERVICES, the Commissioner is challenging state wide organizations to find their strengths, partner and more efficiently deliver care.  I suggest a similar strategic approach in the non-profit work I do and for the work which faces each of us.

We are at a crucial time.  Reassessing our individual and organizational strengths is vital.  Stepping back from the noise of current circumstances is essential to finding a way forward.  We must be strategic but I believe we must also be united.  Current circumstances have robbed us of the luxury of going it alone.

I would like to borrow a bit of direction from Jim Collins as written in his recent book How the Mighty Fall.  Mr. Collins cautions us:
Never give in!

• Be willing to change tactics
• Be willing to embrace the inevitability of creative destruction
• Be willing to embrace loss

BUT
Never give up faith in the ability to prevail!

• Be willing to form alliances with those with whom you have competed
• Be willing to form and make necessary compromises

While nature may propel us into frantic action in times of crises, intellect argues for a slower pace.  As I see at the state level, as my board colleagues and I are practicing at the Salvation Army and as I experience with other non-profits with whom I have contact, now is the time to be strategic – to take time to think and discuss - to consider the very core of our Mission, our reason for being. 

The Salvation Army’s directive of “Doing the Most Good” guides much of our thought.  But the question we ask is – here in this community, now at this time of crises, what, for us, is the “most good”?  What are our strengths and how do those strengths assist our community members who are most in need?  If resources are diminished, how do we do the MOST good with what is left?  What are our strengths and how does that inform our strategic decisions?

The next step in our process, echoed by Mr. Collins’ observations, is you.  Everyone here.  How can we align our strengths, our strategic decisions and our “MOST good” with yours?  As current circumstances have robbed us of the luxury of going it alone so also have we been robbed of the luxury of duplicating efforts.  It is essential, I believe, that we all look to our Missions with a strategic eye, that we all identify our “MOST good” and that we then partner in assisting those in need.  It is important for us to sit around the table together, as we are here today, and bring all our “MOST good” to the assistance of our community.

I would like to close with a favorite verse:
 
A wise man is subtle, intuitive, penetrating, profound.
His depths are mysterious and unfathomable.  The best one can do is describe his appearance:

The wise man is as alert as a person crossing a winter steam;  as circumspect as a person with neighbors on all four sides;  as respectful as a thoughtful guest; as yielding as melting ice; as simple as uncarved wood; as open as a valley; as chaotic as a muddy torrent. 

Why “chaotic as a muddy torrent”?
Because clarity is learned by being patient in the presence of chaos.  Tolerating disarray, remaining at rest, gradually one learns to allow muddy water to settle and proper responses to reveal themselves.

May we all, together, have the patience to allow clarity to rise and may we all, together, identify our MOST good in offering the assistance that our community so desperately needs.