Hope

In challenging times, hope often fades as it is consumed by the angst and worry that pervades the world.

One of the people I most admire is Dr. Bill Arnold--even though we haven't spoken in years.  He taught me a lot just by being who he is.    By profession, he is a rheumatologist who cares mostly for older adults.

Fifteen years ago, Bill was the perfect chair for a fundraising campaign that was foisted upon me as a new chief development officer for a new bioethics center at a major healthcare system.  Not long after I arrived at the Center, I was told I had to launch a campaign to honor the outgoing CEO of the healthcare system who had been there for decades.  We had no prospects, no database, not even any names in a file.  But, someone told me to talk with Bill.  That was the start of a surprisingly gratifying relationship--and successful campaign.

Bill grew up on the south side of Chicago, was a good Catholic and an accomplished figure skater.  Though he appeared to be a buttoned down professional--and served as president of the medical staff, he loved the Stones and would quote from their lyrics.  As I came to know him, I realized how caring and hopeful he was as a person. And that rubbed off on me.  When he talked about his profession and the older adults he cared for, he'd purposefully misquote a Biblical text:  "Now abide faith, hope, and love.  And the greatest of these is hope."

Bill often spoke of the powerful healing quality of hope.  Hope uplifts and energizes.  Hope transforms people.  When you encounter hopeful people you feel better.

When I asked Bill to chair the campaign, he didn't hesitate.  He offered advice, agreed to provide introductions, and gave me several names to pursue.  By the end of our first conversation, his positive energy gave me hope that I might actually succeed.   As alluded above, we did succeed.  Within less than a year, we had achieved our goal and had nearly 5,000 names in our files--10,000 by the next year.  At the celebration, we presented Bill with a plaque from which we hung gold gilded (well, it looked like gold) skates--with an inscription: "You can't always get what you want...  but you get what you need."

Bill's hope was the fuel of success.  It's amazing how infectious hope can be.  The more we talked about the vision, the possibilities, and the impact, the more people came on board.

When people are hopeful they are more creative, more visionary, more collaborative...  more pleasant.  As nonprofit leaders today, we have an opportunity to be messengers of hope.  We have a choice--maybe an obligation--to focus our attention, our thoughts, and our words on the possibilities not just the problems.

Strong leaders are visionaries who see beyond the desert to the fertile valley.  They don't indulge in the  troubles, difficulties, and setbacks.  They find ways leap the gap, to climb the mountain, to trek through the wilderness to the hope of the future.

We can be hope-whisperers...  better yet, roarers.  It's one of the best organization building and fundraising tools we have.