A panoramic account of efforts to relieve poverty with microcredit programs.

Nonprofit consultant and author Counts astutely observes that, throughout history, poverty alleviation often focused on the weaknesses of disadvantaged communities, rather than their strengths. He agrees with Bangladeshi economist and Nobel Prize winner Muhammad Yunus’ theory that the people who manage to survive great deprivation are often “highly motivated entrepreneurs” who need organizations and structures to flourish. In this rigorously researched and granular account, the author surveys the history of Yunus’ devotion to microfinancing as well as his founding of Grameen Bank in Bangladesh in the 1980s to provide small loans to hardworking but cash-strapped entrepreneurs. Yunus’ methods were revolutionary, Counts notes, as they focused on customized solutions for different localities and borrowers: “He believed that the entire exercise in planning should be turned upside down so that the national plan is mainly the sum of thousands of smaller plans developed at the village level.” Counts ably defends Yunus against potential detractors, whom the author characterizes as “fickle philanthropists and journalists,” and furnishes an empirically convincing advocacy of his approach, which was promulgated in many other countries by the World Bank. Moreover, he informatively profiles some women in Bangladesh, as well as in Chicago, who found success through microcredit. Overall, Counts’ overview is dizzyingly expansive; readers are treated to a history of Bangladesh, the microcredit movement, Yunus’ career as an economist, and much more—so much more, in fact, that it can be overwhelming at times. However, his prose is crystal-clear throughout, even when broaching technically formidable matters, and he succinctly summarizes the “humanistic values” that undergird Yunus’ economic vision.

An edifying work and a thorough introduction to an important issue of social justice.

A longtime nonprofit leader offers career and life lessons in this guide.

In Changing the World Without Losing Your Mind (2019), Counts provided a kind of detailed lesson plan for novice and experienced nonprofit managers alike. He recounted how he founded a humanitarian nonprofit organization and, through considerable self-reflection, shared knowledge gained from the experience. This book reprises what he discovered, transforming it into over 200 “lessons that I would have benefited from learning much earlier.” Clearly, this compendium is more about breadth than depth; the majority of the lessons are no more than snippets usually made up of just one paragraph. The volume is a smattering of rapid-fire truisms stretching across eight areas identified by simple graphic icons: “Board management,” “Fundraising,” “Leadership,” “People skills,” “Personal wellness,” “Public speaking,” “Running a meeting,” and “Travel.” But the individual lessons are presented alphabetically “to encourage serendipity.” Justifying this organizational strategy, Counts suggests: “Living life in a learning mode has exactly that kind of random rhythm to it.” True perhaps, but one wonders whether it might have been more useful to consolidate similar entries into their appropriate categories. Regardless, each tiny lesson is a self-contained, salient observation that shines a light on a specific aspect of leadership. A lesson may be broad (“Approachable, Being”), consultative (“Cultivating Donors: The Three-Week Rule”), or even philosophical (“Savoring Victories”). Whatever the subject, the author condenses a meaningful pronouncement into its simplest, most elegant form, using high-impact prose to make his point. He writes, for instance: “One of the most common leadership failings is misdiagnosing the cause of a problem by focusing on secondary issues rather than taking the time to dig down to root causes.” There are many applicable insights based on experience, such as “invite your senior staff to make occasional presentations during board meetings” so the directors seem less intimidating to these employees. Nonprofit leaders are likely to find the financial advice especially valuable, including “Never, ever ask for money apologetically or hesitantly,” and “Fundraisers are much more prone to ask for too little than for too much.”

Parceled out pearls of leadership wisdom.

The founder of a humanitarian nonprofit organization offers a wide range of lessons in this debut memoir/leadership book.

Like many who devote their efforts to nonprofit service, Counts recognizes “the psychic toll that dedicating your life to a noble cause can sometimes take.” In this candid work, the author traces his early interest in advocacy up until he started and ran the anti-poverty and anti-hunger Grameen Foundation. Counts was inspired by his mentor, Bangladeshi social entrepreneur and Nobel Peace Prize winner Muhammad Yunus of Grameen Bank, about whom the author wrote the book Small Loans, Big Dreams (2008). Not surprisingly, Counts hopes his own story is an inspiration to other nonprofit leaders—which is very likely to be the case given the lessons he learned along the way and his ability to translate them into meaningful action. As a whole, this volume is a neatly organized lesson plan for both novice and more experienced nonprofit managers. Counts divides the book into three distinct parts—first, how he got started in his chosen field; next, his experiences as the leader of the Grameen Foundation; and, finally, the most personal section, “Caring for Yourself.” Even in his teen years, the author recognized “things can be improved, often simply by getting motivated, designing a plan, enlisting others, and following through,” but humility taught him that he could be “overconfident in my ability to right wrongs.” The most intriguing portion of Part 1 concerns the relationship Counts developed with Yunus and the influence the entrepreneur had on the author’s own leadership style. Counts learned, for example, how Yunus employed storytelling and why it was such a powerful method of personalizing a nonprofit’s mission. The author’s prose in this section is particularly descriptive as he details living conditions in Bangladesh and recounts the different means of communicating and interacting in another culture. Lessons came fast and furious to Counts as his career unfolded and he launched the Grameen Foundation.

In Part 2, the author recalls how his ultimate goal of running a nonprofit came to fruition. Here, Counts delivers a wealth of well-considered advice about the knotty subjects of fundraising (which he admits most nonprofit leaders detest), cultivating relationships with powerful patrons, managing staff during tough times, making effective decisions, building nonprofit boards, and more. Along the way, readers will learn about the somewhat perplexing yet intriguing world of microfinance. Many of the author’s observations in this part should be very beneficial to nonprofit leaders. Part 3 is as much a lesson in self-reflection as it is a blueprint for healthy living. Counts eloquently discusses the dangers of work-life imbalance, how to be a constant learner, the importance of gratitude, and the right time to leave a leadership position. The author’s keen insights demonstrate that he took the lessons he learned during his career to heart, accepting his failures while celebrating his successes. A thread of mea culpa runs throughout the invaluable book, attesting to the author’s sense of his own vulnerability. But that just adds to the humanity he displays.

Noble and enriching leadership advice.