It’s been just over a year since I left behind a lifelong career working in Finance, HR and Operations in the high-tech world. Something about hitting that mid-century mark in life, getting two of three kids through college (and the third well on her way), and having achieved a C-suite title at a tech start-up but still not feeling satisfied made me realize it was time to take the leap. It was time to start living out a value the Jesuits instilled and reinforced in me in high school and college – the value of helping those who have less, and doing so not just because it’s right, but more personally, because I, too, had been helped out by the generosity of others along the way.
I get a lot of questions from friends and former colleagues about what it’s like to make the transition from a for-profit, high-tech environment to a not-for-profit, human services environment. There is no doubt, it is very different. While the basics of things like leadership, budgeting, hiring, goal setting and performance coaching largely require the same skills regardless of where you are, there are indeed many differences.
As most would expect, financial resources are more scarce. There is no such thing as an immaterial amount of money here. We scrutinize every purchase, every hire, and need to make trade-off decisions on basic necessities. We receive less than 20% of our funding from government resources and rely upon the generosity of individual donors, corporations and foundations to provide the remainder. The implications are disheartening, as we have not been able to pay a “livable wage” or give raises to all of our employees, many of whom have to hold down second jobs just to survive. While this is not unique to Saint John’s, it is an impediment to retaining great people.
Another big difference is how we measure success. When I was at Intel, if a factory had a yield defect of .001%, it would have been a significant and costly failure. When your product is not silicon, but human beings, measuring success is much more challenging. How do you assess the success of helping to modify behaviors, build confidence, encourage difficult introspection, and conquer the demons that contributed to their homelessness? While our ultimate goal is for all clients who come through that red door to graduate from our vocational training program, stay clean and sober, become a better parent and achieve self-sustainability, we also have to recognize as successes those who simply improved their situation, even if they left sooner than we would have liked. Although it may not show up in a success indicator, I know when I see the growth in a client from when they entered Saint John’s with their eyes down, frightened, isolated, and in despair to when they leave with hope, confidence, support tools, and in control, that, too, is success and contributing toward our vision of breaking the cycle of poverty and dependence, one family at a time.
As I finish writing this, it’s lunch time, and something just happened that is a beautiful illustration of yet another, and perhaps the most heartwarming difference of working at Saint John’s. One of our clients is trying to do some cleaning with her four-year-old son, Josiah, “helping” under foot. He pops into my office, smiles, and waves, saying nothing. I invite him in and we chat for a few minutes which is a little challenging with his speech impediment, but we manage. He asks about a collage on my wall. I explain that they are pictures from a high school basketball team I coached that went undefeated, and the pictures help me remember that year. I ask him if he likes basketball, his eyes light up, so I open my bottom drawer, pull out the basketball I keep in there, spin it on my finger, and the next thing I know, we’re out on the playground shooting hoops. When I came back inside, two different employees who witnessed this tell me how great it was that I did that. What they don’t realize is that it filled my soul with happiness probably even more than his.
– Steve Backers, COO
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