Tuesday, September 2, 2014
Foundation CEOs Need Candid Feedback to Succeed in Driving Change
Leading a foundation is hard. That’s among the messages in a thoughtful, just-released letter from Darren Walker, president of the Ford Foundation, reflecting on his first year in office.
Mr. Walker writes that he was "unready" to take on a "job for which one might assume I had been preparing for years."
"Easy as foundation work may look from some vantage points, the truth is that it is hard," Mr. Walker writes. In his letter, he remarks with candor on both the joys and unexpected challenges of his role. "My single greatest fear is that I am not hearing enough constructive criticism."
His fear is a well-founded one....