CHANGING THE WORLD WITHOUT LOSING YOUR MIND

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.