In the corporate world, competition continues to be the number one decider of success. Businesses versus businesses, teams versus teams, and managers versus managers repeat themselves repeatedly. No surprise, those that rise high enough to maintain growth as well as those who percolate to the top, are logically focused on whatever it takes to continue beating out the competition and anticipating new challenges before they happen. However, that can become a narrow-minded perspective of how one’s talents should be used and what one can produce. The fact is, Erich Squire notes, the very same skills that are used to make companies bigger and financial statements rosier can also be used to help community-oriented programs do better for their constituents as well.
Erich K Squire of Portage, Indiana knows the above plays out well; he’s been involved with non-profits and helping community programs for years since he stepped away from the corporate world as a successful executive. That didn’t mean his skills suddenly became useless. Instead, Squire has been busy translating his know-how and experience into viable, practical solutions for non-profits that otherwise would be able to tap into such mindsets.
The fact is, non-profits and community programs have to compete, and probably even harder, in Erich Squire‘s opinion. First, there is a very limited universe of funding available to them. Second, they regularly work against each other to tap into those limited resources. Few can win steady support from government and private benefactors, so those that do spend a lot of effort trying to hold onto it. Second, performance and results speak volumes; those non-profits that can show exponential delivery of benefits and community improvements often secure more resources than those that only produce an equal amount for their investment. It’s not a fair world, but this is the reality for non-profits.
Logically, someone like Erich Squire, who has already worked in a hyper-competitive environment, stands for an advantage. Many of the dynamics of translating limited resources efficiently play out the same way. The challenge involves teaching non-profits how to think like a business when their entire focus tends to be social philosophy, not business acumen; that’s where an executive leader comes in. Someone who has the ability to both motivate as well as translate business technical into social speak can be a huge benefit for non-profit organizations desperately seeking similar in their field.
Executives who have proven their worth and now see their time in the corporate world ends don’t need to retire to a phase of doing nothing. There is plenty of work to be done in the non-profit world, and many organizations are desperate for sound, practical leadership that corporate executive leadership considers bread and butter to be successful. Consider doing more than just retiring when it’s time to step off the fast lane. Erich Squire did, and he hasn’t regretted a moment of it.
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