Amazing Field Work, Poor Leadership
Pros
The transformational work in the field is stellar! The field staff are all so inspirational. It makes the day to day internal difficulties in the US office much easier to overlook for a time. Our field work is the only reason I gave a 3 star rating. Otherwise it would have been lower.
Cons
Current leadership in the US does not listen to their SMEs. Rather, they decide what course of action to take even with no input from those most familiar with the front line work. I don’t know if it’s arrogance or fear, but it makes for a very frustrating working environment and requires duplication of efforts in order to finally get the results required. The management style of the CEO has instilled a sense of fear in those who work most closely with him. The standards that most of the org is held to in regards to dollars spent for fundraising opportunities do not apply to senior leadership. That fact, in conjunction with their refusal to listen to their SMEs, has lead to multiple instances of gross overspending for pet projects that they have been advised against pursuing. There is a lack of accountability at the highest levels of the org, with middle management forced to compensate for the lack of decision making and performance issues in areas of senior leadership. Solicited feedback in the form of annual surveys falls on deaf ears, with key challenges around agility, broken processes and trust in senior leadership not addressed in any significant way, year after year. It is unfortunate because at one time this org was an amazing place to work. Sadly that is no longer the case.