SHPE Issues: Organizational Structure

Thanks to Miguel Alemany who wrote the following comment: 

"We need a President that brings unity and alignment and who does not let an issue go misaligned, and we need a board that once aligned, supports the decision, the President and the CEO, and importantly the implementation"......"We need to clean house of past issues and then take the organization forward. With the size we want to be, and the political power this organization carries, we need a professional organization whose job is to run the place, and have our board focus on strategy, direction and long term vision....

My Response:
Board/President Alignment
I will not comment whether or not the board was aligned under the Presidents that I have served with since they do not really have a venue to comment on my opinion. What I will say is that during the five and a half years I have spent on the national board, we have had many motions go through with a clear majority vote and only a small handful where the vote was close and there was a lot of tension.  I will say that after many of those close votes, there was a clear split on the board even to the point that grudges were clearly observed afterwards. That is where I believe a strong President needs to come in and ensure that the board works through the issues, that concerns are addressed, and that the entire board agrees to move forward with the decision.  As National President, I will not be dismissive of board member opinions and will implement a steady, balanced approach to manage the board.  I have worked under Presidents that have taken this approach and have worked with some that do not.  The board was clearly aligned better when we had a President that spent the extra time to address issues with board members.  I promise to the board that I will strive to do the same when I am National President.

CEO Alignment
My opinion is that today there is a misalignment between the NBOD, the CEO, and staff.  This stems back to the fact that the NBOD did not fully plan out and execute a transition plan from a volunteer run national staff to the CEO structure we now have in place.  I was on the board when we approved the new CEO, NBOD, and management structure for the organization.  I also remember being at the next NBOD retreat and asking at the end of the retreat, "where is the step by step plan and measures that ensure that we get from where we are today to the CEO structure that we just implemented?"  My opinion was that we did not have a complete plan, we did not have measures to know where we were in the transition, and as a result we struggled with our first CEO and we are struggling today with our current CEO.  As National President, I will ensure that we evaluate where we are today and identify the gaps.  I will ensure that we map out the remaining transition steps and then execute a plan to ensure we have an NBOD that is focused on strategy, direction, and vision.  Lastly, I will ensure that we achieve alignment between the NBOD, the CEO, and the staff.

I believe that it is important to point out that I have a very good working relationship with the CEO and the staff today and would have their full support if elected National President.  I also believe that I can bring everyone together to close the gap and ensure that SHPE performs to its fullest potential so that we can help Hispanics across the nation can realize their fullest potential and we all can realize the reality of our vision and our dreams.

My Best,

Michael Gutierrez
www.michaelgutierrez.net

SHPE's Issues and Problems

Yuliana Porras Mendoza asked me the following question:
What do you see are the issues and problems that SHPE faces today?

My Response:

There are many issues facing the organization but I am going to address two of the most pressing issues below.

Problem #1 - We have no meaningful measures/metrics:
I'll be direct... The CEO and staff currently work with no metrics put in place by the NBOD to determine if they are successful. The NBOD currently develops strategy, plans, and value for our members with no metrics to determine if they are successful. And finally, we hold national events but have no effective measures for success.

Problem #2 - Accountability
Since we have no metrics to measure and grade the organization, we have no way to hold anyone accountable for the disappointments that occur across the organization. The fact that we are a volunteer organization does not mean we should not hold staff, NBOD, and volunteers accountable for executing a plan to a set standard. If we are going to grow as an organization must be able to admit where we are falling down.

My Solution
As National President...
1. I will ensure that we work with all our stakeholders to develop a plan and execute it to gather all the data needed to have meaningful measures and metrics.
2. I will ensure that we have complete buy in on the measures and metrics from everyone executing our plans.
3. I will ensure that our measures, metrics, and performance at all levels are completely transparent so that all stakeholders in the organization have visibility into our performance.

Staying positive, moving forward
While it is important to measure, execute, and be accountable, we also have to remember that we will make mistakes and will fall down at times. My leadership approach is to ensure that we learn from our mistakes, pick each other up, and continue to move forward, together as one SHPE.

My Best,

Michael Gutierrez
www.michaelgutierrez.net

Positive Leadership

Those who know me know that I have a positive attitude and an optimistic leadership approach. This is an important trait that the leadership of our organization needs to have in order for the NBOD and our organization to be successful. I don't attack people or their ideas because staying positive will always be a better approach than negativity.

www.michaelgutierrez.net