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BRUCE GORDON EXPLAINS DEPARTURE FROM NAACP TO 'TAVIS SMILEY': Exclusive Interview Will Air Tonight on PBS.
*Bruce Gordon, who announced his resignation as President of the NAACP on Sunday after nineteen months at that post, granted his first television interview on the matter to "Tavis Smiley" on PBS. That conversation will air this evening on PBS stations (check local listings).
In the interview, Gordon explained the nature of the rift with the Board of Directors that led to his departure:
"A 64 person board under any scenario is an unwieldy entity to govern. Purely on the surface, the numbers work against us being very effective. But let me be very clear. There are members of our board who are long-term committed members of the association, committed to civil rights. They're bright, they're talented, they're active. And I enjoyed a very productive working relationship with them. It's just that I didn't have enough. This association has been smart enough to examine its approach to governance. It has done analysis and has concluded that it can do better but has not had the appetite to make the changes that can make it even better."
"I think we're a good organization. But I didn't come here to manage a good organization. I came here to lead a great organization or lead a good organization to greatness. But it's difficult to accomplish when in fact you have 64 people who have points of view on how that can be accomplished."
When Tavis Smiley asked him how he would respond to people who would regard him as a "quitter," Mr. Gordon responded:
"I hate the fact that I even put myself in a position where people can ask that question. I think it is a fair question. But I look at it this way. The NAACP is bigger than one person. The NAACP was around before I was born. It should be around long after I'm gone. I've got to look at it and ask myself the question, 'Am I the person who was going to be effective in taking this organization where it needs to be?' My conclusion is despite the confidence I have in myself, despite the skills and talents I think that I bring to the table that can help the NAACP, I'm not satisfied that I have been nearly as effective as I want to be or I need to be. So, it left me with a choice. Do I stick this out and under-perform, or do I step aside and make room for a different person who may bring a different style and techniques to the table to take the NAACP forward? They are bigger than I am in stature and purpose and legacy. I think I made a choice in the best interest of the association. I hope that I'm right. But I'm disappointed that it's gotten to this. I've never quit anything in my life, and this is a position I don't enjoy.
Whether he perceived it as just a problem between a board and a CEO or a larger issue of an organization in trouble, Mr. Gordon answered:
"The NAACP has two fabulous assets: a well recognized brand and 2000 operating units across the country. These are assets that can be very powerful, but they are underperforming. There has to be an acceptance, a willingness to change. You can't do the same thing for 98 years and expect that you will succeed…. In business terminology we would argue that organizations that are no longer customer focused, who lose the heart of the customer, who lose the choice of the customer, will ultimately fail. I'm afraid that at this very point that our organization is more internally focused than externally focused,. That keeps us from being great and allows us to only be good. I think that the NAACP has powerful potential, but that potential will never be realized if we go about our work using 20th century approaches.
Lastly, Tavis asked Mr. Gordon if he had any regrets about taking the job:
"I am disappointed that I sit here today talking about my departure only 19 months later. But better to have tried and not succeeded than not to try at all. Our people and our communities need all of us to value those communities so deeply that we're willing to take chances, willing to make sacrifices. I took a chance. (My wife and I) owed it to ourselves and we owed it to our people to give this our best shot. I am confident that the both of us gave it our best shot. We came up short. I'm sorry about that but I have no regrets for having tried "
"Tavis Smiley" on PBS is produced by the The Smiley Group Inc./TS Media Inc. in association with KCET/Hollywood. For more information, visit www.pbs.org/tavissmiley.
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source:
Joel Brokaw
jobrok@aol.com
The King Of Civil Rights Lives!
Visit: http://www.kingofcivilrights.blogspot.com
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