More From Light and Drucker

There is too much of a hopeful quality imbedded in aspirational goals to be helpful. Aspirational goals become something to shoot for, but with the understanding that you might not actually achieve them. For example, at a 2007 conference of the Asia Pacific Economic Cooperation, the Australian Prime Minister announced the agreement among APEC members to set a "long-term, aspirational, global emission reduction goal." When the world press pushed for an explanation, it became clear that the goal was voluntary and nonbinding on the member nations. Presented as an aspirational goal, the message is obvious: this goal is nice, good, maybe even the right thing to do; but expect only the noble to reach for it.

Another example can be found in the U.S. Bar Association's Model Rules for Professional Conduct. Rule 6.1 makes a strong statement:

Every lawyer, regardless of professional prominence or professional workload, has a responsibility to provide legal services to those unable to pay, and personal involvement in the problems of the disadvantaged can be one of the most rewarding experience in the life of a lawyer.

Service to anyone in need of a lawyer but who cannot afford one is not only the right thing to do, it is one of the most rewarding things you can do in your career, no matter how rewarding your career has been.

The rule goes on to state the goal:

Every lawyer has a professional responsibility to provide legal services to those unable to pay. A lawyer should aspire to render at least fifty hours of pro bono legal services per year.

In case you are not clear on the use of "aspire" here, the title of Rule 6.1 is Voluntary Pro Bono Public Service.

I believe Light would be more on target if we turn to the second usage of the word. "Aspiration" in phonetics is the strong burst of air after sounding some consonants (as in "how", "when" or "key"). Thinking again about the soul of the nonprofit industry, I'm reminded that the Greek and Hebrew words most commonly rendered as "soul" connote "breath" and the divine breathing process. I'm suggesting we make spirituality a distinguishing characteristic of high performing organizations. High performers are awake in that they are conscious of who they are and what they represent. They are awake to the Spirit.

Light said it this way: "High performance can only be achieved and sustained if an organization knows why it exists, who it serves and when it is successful." Drucker focuses on the mission statement with the acknowledgment that the real world to us is the world of public and not private good. Drucker says mission statements must ultimately state the difference we intend to make in individuals or society at the end of the day.

Consciousness is being aware of your position in the "real world." Just what is real and what is unreal is the basic spiritual issue. Buddhists say that none of the world around us is real. All is illusion. After his eyes were opened by the ground-of-all-being, Paul saw a radically different world. Christ speaks of two worlds, both real, but with only one worthy of our consciousness.

Next: Living, working and serving in two worlds

Are We Conscious Yet?

Peter Drucker and Paul Light call for nothing less than a radical shift in thinking about nonprofit management. When combining and extending their thoughts on mission, performance and, in a fundamental way, our very reason for being, a loud call is heard to stop marching toward mediocrity as if it were the only course available. Both men ask nonprofit managers and their boards to open up to high performance as a way out of a second-class existence.

Before we apply their teachings, we should engage in a bit of self-examination. How did the sector get to this point? I believe it is a matter of consciousness. Do nonprofit managers really read capacity-building books and then slap their foreheads from the overwhelming revelation that high performance is right around the corner for anyone who sets reasonable, quantified and appropriate goals?

The underlying cause of low performance simply cannot be that we never thought any better before. Obviously, managers know about goals and how to set them. The root cause of our malaise has to be hidden, or just beyond our consciousness, or simply avoided and ignored until everyone agrees that the Emperor looks dandy in those new clothes. We must wake up.

Light comes close to identifying consciousness as an important factor when he suggests a loss of soul if the sector adopts a more business-like definition. To avoid losing our soul, he suggests forming aspirational goals to lead us to high performance. "Aspirational" has two usages. I'm guessing that Light intends to convey the sense of having a strong desire or a longing for success. 

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