Leadership Summit Reflections #2

I forgot to mention two other ponderings I've been having. In the round table discussion, probably my least favorite session, (Bill Hybels, Henry Cloud, Patrick Lencioni, David Ireland and Carly Fiorina [I do love her]), were talking about the hiring process, and the importance of getting it right. One thought they put out there was that we don't take the time we should take when hiring people. We're often in a hurry to fill the position, and so don't dig deeper, looking not just at education, but competency and story--what is the story of the person you're hiring. Sometimes story can tell you more than resumes can. Because we don't dig deeper, we sometimes hire the wrong person, but, rather than admit that, and rather than hold accountability (using clarity and care), our brains make the person hired into the person we want them to be. This has been rolling around in my head for a while for several reasons - 1) I think it is true, I think organizations everywhere do that, and 2) isn't this what we do with relationships? We make the person we're with into the person we want them to be rather than accepting and loving them for who they are, or, in the case of a bad relationship, getting out. . . and, do we talk to those people with clarity and care so that they can understand us and we can understand them?

Then, how could I forget Jessica Jackley, the co-founder of Kiva.org? I've written about Kiva in this blog before - the world's first peer to peer online microlending website. For as little as $25 you can sponsor an entrepreneur in a third world country, or, even here in the US. Jessica and her team have created an elegant mission statement for Kiva: to connect people through lending for the sake of alleviating poverty. She's done everything right with the mission statement, short, sweet, easy to remember, and it is the heart of what they do. I am most impressed with their integrity. She shared that organizations have offered to give millions to Kiva, but they have turned them down. Why? The heart of the mission is connecting people through lending.The humanity piece is very important to them and if you can't connect the dollars with humanity, then it doesn't fit with their organization. It's lovely to know that there are still people with that type of integrity out there.