Christian Leadership Alliance

Capital Fundraising

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Investing in Excellence

A President's Wise Spending Plan

With every little expenditure, the worth and vitality of this Christian university keep rising.
Bill Robinson | Outcomes, Feb/Mar 2008

The desire to excel is lodged in the dna of every successful leader. Unfortunately, few of us notice the chemical imbalance that occurs when our excellence drive feeds unhealthy levels of success. Research by Gary Yukl suggests we can have too much of a good thing. Left unchecked, this compulsion can undermine success when it hits a certain point of diminishing return—just like it did to me.

I was serving as dean of the school of continuing studies at a private college in the Midwest when a friend helped me see that my greatest vulnerability grew out of my drive to excel. "Your problem," he charged, "is that you think you need to be better than everybody at everything. "Ouch. But he had a point; I knew I was a terrible delegator. Why sacrifice quality in the name of giving some responsibility to someone else?, I thought to myself with no trace of humility. The push to excel kept me so busy lunging after excellence in every direction that I probably didn't notice I was racing on a treadmill.

After peeling off layers of defensiveness, I began what would be one of my most important professional journeys. Slowly, painfully, failing and flailing, I became the founder and only member of my own "Winaholics Anonymous." I am still in recovery.

My effectiveness began to rise when I made peace with the long list of capabilities that God left off my gift list. For example, when I accepted the fact I was not a very good manager but that I had good problem-solvinginstincts, I became more of a resource than an overseer for my direct reports in operational areas.

Over time, I've found that spending my currency produces leadership returns from my co-workers. In fact, investing in excellence requires more than one kind of currency. Leaders generally carry a diverse portfolio of rewards that uplift and empower others. I recall a staff member suggesting an $80,000 idea for an imminent capital campaign. It wouldn't have surprised me if I had mumbled something about how we'd already thought of it. But rather spontaneously, I blurted, "Wow, that's a great idea. That never crossed my mind. "Instantly, I saw how good that made him feel. I realized I had made an undivided investment of "credit" currency that produced an immediate return.

I discovered another currency in my portfolio two months after arriving at Whitworth. My wife, Bonnie, and I invited the whole physical plant staff to be the first guests in our campus home, which some of them had worked on in preparation for our arrival. After a picnic lunch, I asked if they had suggestions for making our school a better place. I'm not sure I knew it, but I was investing "confidence" currency, and absolutely great ideas returned on the investment. In fact, they were so good that a few months ago we had our 15th annual "Tell Bill how to run Whitworth" picnic.