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This article appeared in the October 2009 edition of Smart Business News.

James R. Klein is a firm believer that every CEO needs a “Radar O’Reilly,” just like the one Col. Potter had on the old TV series, “M*A*S*H.” Radar was always there to deflect some of the less important obligations to allow his boss to focus on what truly mattered at that moment, says the CEO of Finance Fund, a 24-employee nonprofit financial services firm.

“It’s somebody who manages your day-to-day schedule and becomes the triage that moves some of those pieces of minutiae somewhere else to a part of the system that wants to deal with it,” Klein says.

When you have that person in place, you can focus on the business and on keeping everyone in step with what it is you do best.

Smart Business spoke with Klein about how to keep your company aligned with its vision.

Q. What is the biggest hurdle to staying on track with your vision?

The main job of a leader is to be able to have a broader view of what is happening in your corporation. The complexity of this whole thing can be brought down to simple principles: Remember who you are. Know what you’re all about and what you’re trying to do and trying to accomplish. In organizational management, that’s called question zero. It’s the question you ask before you do anything else. You need to ask yourself that periodically, maybe like every morning.

Then you need to figure out what your role is. Have a good idea of who is working with you. Who is on your staff? What are their skills? What is their thought process like? You need to be able to have people you trust and give them specific tasks that you don’t have to micromanage.

What I mean by trust is, you need to be able to trust that what they are telling you is the truth. You don’t want people that are going to tell you what you want to hear. You want them to be able to tell you what the reality is whether you like it or not. You have to establish an environment that fosters that kind of reality.

If you don’t, you head off on a path that’s not real and you’ll find yourself in trouble.

Q. How do you engage these people in your vision?

Create an environment that entices employees to act on their own. If you’re a leader type that needs to be in on every decision, you create an environment that tests the edges of patience for everyone. The corporation becomes inflexible.

Have a number of different teams that have team leaders that have the job of directing thought and activity around certain parameters that you establish. Then you drive yourself to the next step.

Supervisors are encouraged to do things that attempt to maintain the entrepreneurial character of every position. We do that by just talking about it a lot and by looking for people who come with definite skill sets who are able to handle work tasking of particular positions.

But we also want people who have a broader view. They understand what the mission of the organization is or they are willing to listen and learn and get on board.

You can tell when an employee has a role that is changing from a job to a career. It seems as though their passion blooms. You can just begin to see how the passion for the mission begins to impact how they do their job.

Q. How do you ensure that your people really do hear you?

Those leaders that I have observed that are very good at it work hard at it. They establish relationships. They develop a reputation of knowing what they are talking about and being truthful and caring with their staff.

They are willing to concede that the staff is part of the whole mission you are presenting. They are not just an afterthought, but what they are is an essential piece of what you do. Leaders make them feel as though they do an important thing, whether they are putting labels on envelopes or they are saving lives, they all feel part of the whole.

What makes one leader go that way or one leader go a different direction? I think it’s a mix of personality and intelligence and really being able to be brutally honest with yourself.

I’ll tell you the honest truth. I’ve done some pretty stupid things in my time as a leader. There are some things I just wish I hadn’t done. You need to be brutally honest with yourself, admit those mistakes, learn from them and put your face to the wind again.

Q. What’s the secret to being a good communicator?

There is a distinct tendency to be insulated from what’s actually happening so the vision gets tied up in me and everybody else doesn’t get to hear about it.

I try to write every week into a blog that talks about where we are and what we are doing and how we’re thinking about things. That’s connected to everybody. It’s public, and we urge our staff to look at that. I also do writings that move to the staff about things that are coming up, ways we operate as a corporation, different strategies we would like to pursue.

I would like to have an environment that is free and open and trusting, but the environment becomes what it is. I have to put trust in certain leaders within my organization to move this message.

How to reach: Finance Fund, (614) 221-1114 or www.financefund.org

Finance Fund recently welcomed Moniqua Spencer to the position of Chief Program Officer. Moniqua brings with her 13 years of experience in the banking sector. In an effort to learn a little more about the role she’ll be playing within our team, we recently sat down and did a little Q&A where Moniqua talked about her goals and visions for her new position.

After 18 years in the private sector, and particularly in banking, what was the motivation for switching to the non-profit side of the world?

Switching from the private to the non-profit sector wasn’t the largest consideration. It was more about taking what I already knew about finance and commercial development, and coupling it with my passions. When I was at the Huntington National Bank we had an internal initiative called Huntington Hometown Partnership. It was the bank’s plan to meet a $250MM commitment in residential loans, community development, and small business lending, as a part of Mayor Michael Coleman’s 21st Century City Initiative. I was the point person in the small business lending area. Part of our goal was to make our lending more prudent in low-to-moderate income areas. We realized that when lending in re-developed or economically depressed areas, customers don’t necessarily fit in the established underwriting “box.” We worked to adjust guidelines and find partners like Finance Fund.

In essence, my biggest switch will be staying mission focused and less profit driven. Although, I will review projects with a business mind set because at the end of the day, it’s of no benefit to Finance Fund and the community at large if we lose money.

What makes you most anxious about taking this new direction in your career?

The stability of non-profit funding sources – and the future comfort level of those sources.

Additionally, after being with an organization for 13 years, you are a bit on cruise control when it comes to knowing the internal systems. Now, I’m starting over again from learning the voicemail system to new products and services. I am in the process of learning how to be focused on our bottom line, while not making decisions that will compromise our mission.

The banking industry has obviously gone through many changes in the last few years. What was the hardest loss you saw during that time? What was the greatest lesson you were granted?

The hardest lesson learned is making sure that you stay in your own back yard (rather than follow customers out of market where you don’t have a presence). There are some times when you want to say yes – that you have to say no. I also learned a great lesson on how to do business: the way you do it in the bad times is how you need to do it in the good times.

Finance Fund has a unique position within the State of Ohio. Given what you’ve learned about it in your few short weeks on the job, what’s your greatest hope for where it will head in the next 10 years?

We are a sideline partner right now. We want to be on the field playing with everyone else. This means being more proactive in the effort to re-invigorate historically economically depressed areas – and being very “loud” about how we can help you. We miss opportunities to impact communities every day by not being on the field. Bankers need to know that we are here and we can help diffuse exposures and give creativity to a project.

Lastly, as someone that will have the distinct opportunity to report to Jim Klein, how will you “herd his cats” of ideas?

Jim reminds me of a lot of small business owners I worked with over the years. I’m going to take his vision, and work hard to actualize it – with him and for him. I’m a thorough researcher – I am likely to pick up an idea that he threw out and check it out. No idea is a solution until we’ve proven it to be or not.

I have a checklist to make sure I know if I should propel a project along the line. What is the project, planning stages; I will communicate to the potential client what I need from them to be able to help them.

I will say no quickly so that I won’t string out any potential project for months and months. And when I say no, it will always be with a path to get to “yes” or clear reasons why it couldn’t be done.

It was bound to happen. Today I walked into a discussion of diapers. Being old school I place diapers in four general categories; cloth/disposable and empty/full but come to find out there are all kinds of sub groups of the first categorization and all kinds of options for the second. It appears “diaper” technology has leaped ahead. It is my hope that other technologies that help children develop and learn will experience the same leap. I’m encouraged by some examples.

We recently funded a renovation of the Kings Highway Head Start project, a part of the Miami Valley Child Development Centers Inc. This is one of many projects that Finance Fund has been privileged to work with. Those that know me, know I’m a passionate advocate for Head Start and this one was no exception.

Miami Valley Child Development Centers, Inc. serves Clark, Madison and Montgomery Counties in Ohio. Their overall goal is to prepare children, ages zero to five years, to be successful students when they enter kindergarten. Programs work holistically with families and children, balancing parent involvement, health and nutrition, social skills, literacy, and numeracy development. More than just a childcare center, Miami Valley Child Development Centers empower families by teaching parenting and life skills.

When our program team met with Miami Valley Child Development Centers, Inc., we saw their need to repair and renovate their Kings Highway facility. Using New Markets Tax Credit funding, the repairs and overhaul at Kings Highway MVCDC are underway and should be completed in October. As you can see in these pictures, the improved facility will soon provide a safe, clean and happy learning environment for the children of Montgomery County.

The Kings Highway MVCDC Entrance

Renovated Bathroom at MVCDC

Hallway at MVCDC

Stay tuned for updates on the upcoming celebration for the improved facility. And in the meantime, if you are Head Start seeking assistance in enhancing your facility, contact us. Call at 614.221.1114 or send me an e-mail at jrklein@financefund.org.

As Ohio families get ready to send their children back to school, I can’t help but reflect on how our society treats its youngest members. What long-term impact will our education and childcare systems have on future generations? A study from the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development found that children in the United States score less proficiently on education exams than numerous other developed countries. Much speculation and research surround this issue, including the importance of cognitive development during the first few years of life.

The famous psychologist, Jean Piaget, explained that child’s play is not just fun, it is an important part of their brain development. Other studies validate Piaget’s statement, showing that the first years of a child’s life determine the trajectory of their cognitive, emotional and interpersonal issues.

We must then ask ourselves how this impacts the cognitive development of economically-disadvantaged children with limited access to early childhood education. Unfortunately, the answer is not surprising. A recent study by Child Trends found that underprivileged children typically lag behind other children as young as nine months old. Those of us working toward improving the viability of low-income communities should be particularly mindful of this staggering information.

So what can be done in Ohio to ensure all children have access to opportunity? For one, we can invest in improving childcare. We cannot subject young children to emotional anorexia and expect their cognitive skills to develop effectively. A study from the National Center for Early Development & Learning found that quality child care was critical in ensuring that a child is ready for elementary school both cognitively and behaviorally. Essentially, child-teacher bonds formed in the childcare classroom prepare children for their future education.

We must make providing access to early childhood centers in our communities a priority. Both funding and resources are available to make this a reality. For example, Finance Fund had the pleasure of helping to fund the first and only early childhood center in Noble County. The Noble Learning Center had struggled for some time to find a stable location, operating out of rented apartments and struggling to keep its lease. Through creative funding, the Noble Learning Center was able to reclaim a vacant building and now operates as the four-county region’s only licensed childcare center. Projects like these improve opportunities for children in our communities to fully engage in their education.

As you begin to see school buses and school playgrounds fill with children, take a moment to ask yourself an important question. What can you do to ensure that all children are provided with the opportunity to learn and ultimately succeed? It’s imperative to our future.

We all come naked from the womb, but most of us do not stay that way. Yet again I am amazed at the rhetoric flying about the airwaves and the halls of congress concerning the Shangri-La or inferno of revamping the U.S. health care system. It’s not the topic that is disconcerting but how the opinion of the American public is so easily swayed by any titillating story, whether true or false, and how easily we are lured away for meaningful debate into the afternoon soap opera. My example is not taken to focus on any one point of view because the tactic is used by all sides of the issue.

On the radio show hosted by former Sen. Fred Thompson, New York lieutenant governor Betsy McCaughey stated that the House’s proposed health care bill contained a provision that would institute mandatory counseling sessions telling seniors how “to do what’s in society’s best interest…and cut your life short.” Citing page 425 of the bill, McCaughey claimed that “the Congress would make it mandatory … that every five years, people in Medicare have a required counseling session that will tell them how to end their life sooner, how to decline nutrition, how to decline being hydrated, how to go into hospice care … all to do what’s in society’s best interest … and cut your life short.”

Here’s what the bill says, “An explanation by the practitioner of the continuum of end-of-life services and supports available, including palliative care and hospice, and benefits for such services and supports that are available under this title.” The accepted definition of end-of-life planning means thinking ahead about the care you would like to receive at the end of your life – which may include the choice to reject extraordinary measures of life support, or the choice to embrace them.  The section would require Medicare to pay for, not mandate, some end-of-life planning counseling sessions with a health care practitioner once every 5 years. It is clear that McCaughey’s distorted interpretation of the content of page 425 was offered not to stimulate debate but to frame an atmosphere of fear and mistrust.

Several television ads sponsored by Patients United Now claim that Canadian citizens survived serious illness only by leaving the country to get treatment in the U.S. because of the length of their wait for service in the Canadian health care system, claiming “Washington wants to bring Canadian-style health care to the U.S.” The reality is that no one is advocating for a government run health care system. The president and the leaders of both parties resound with the words of Sen. Max Baucus, Chair of Finance Committee, “single-payer (government run health care) is not going to get even to first base.” Yet the ads continue for what purpose? Not to stimulate debate but to frame an atmosphere of fear and mistrust.

There was a time in this country that I can remember when someone or some group publically making a misstatement or an outright lie, the journalistic community would stand up on their hind legs and demand accountability, and there was an American public that had not abdicated their role in the republic and given place to apathy believing everything we are fed. Naked again.