Red Cross CEO Out the Back Door

I've given each of my three daughters the same basic talk. I explain that it's normal, indeed essential for the very preservation of any species, for its young to reproduce at every opportunity. In mammals, the male of the specie seems to take the lead here. However, I point out to my daughters, what separates humankind from the cattle that graze the fields below our home is that our young girls can say "No." Indeed, I tell them, the major reason we have art, and hospitals, and literature, and music, is that their forebears said "No."

It seems we can add charitable activities to my list, too. In case this wasn't covered in any of the AFP's nonprofit leadership courses, let's make it clear here: It's hard to govern a nonprofit effectively, much more so the biggest, best-known nonprofit in the world, when you're doing the horizontal mambo with the hired help.

I mean, what's Mark Everson's excuse? That, coming from the IRS, he was a numbers guy, not a wordsmith? How was he to know the difference between 'philanthropy' and 'philandery'? Did he take his office leadership lessons from Bill Clinton?

I do credit the rest of the Red Cross leadership. They dealt with this issue quickly and decisively. It had to pain them to toss their eighth leader in twelve years, after only six months on the job. How tempting it would be to cover it up or belittle the problem.

But let me address my fellow male mammals in the business: We are NOT going to help solve the great problems of the world if we can't keep it zipped at the office. We need to respect our colleagues enough to treat them with the respect due them as human beings and fellow laborers in our vineyards. Even the really pretty ones. It's really that simple.

-Rick Christ...
P.S. I don't put all the responsibility for society's advances on young women. I give the boys who call on my daughters a slightly different, more short-term-focused talk. If you want to know what it is, ask.