Sustaining Excellence: Core Values and Design

Episode 184: Scott Harrison - CEO of Charity Water "The Power of Storytelling"

Scott Harrison is the founder and CEO of charity : water. With virtually no experience outside of throwing parties, Scott founded Charity Water by charging $20 cover for his 31st birthday party. 10 years later, they've turned that $20 into $240 million, and brought clean water to 6.4 million people.

Scott believes in: Radical Transparency, Technology & Innovation For Good, and The Power of Storytelling.

charity: water is a non profit organization that works to bring clean and safe water to people in developing nations. charity: water uses all public donations to directly fund water projects such as building wells and sanitation facilities. Since its founding, charity: water has established 25 local partnerships, funded approximately 17,673 projects in 24 countries and provided roughly 6.4 million people with clean water. charity: water tackles the water crisis by working with local experts and community members to find the best sustainable solution in each place where they work, whether it's a well, a piped system, a BioSand filter, or a system for harvesting rainwater. And with every water point they fund, their partners coordinate sanitation and hygiene training, and establish a local Water Committee to help keep water flowing for years to come. The organization's goal is to bring clean water to 100 million people by 2020.

Episode 184: Scott Harrison - CEO of Charity Water "The Power of Storytelling"

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The Learning Leader Show

"Human Beings Are Creatures Of Stories."

In This Episode, You Will Learn:

• Common themes to sustain excellence:
  • Why it's vital that you first value excellence before sustaining it -- Unfortunately not everyone values it
  • Then you must have integrity and generosity
• The "ism's" created at Charity Water
  • Design is vital in everything they do
  • They care deeply about details
  • There must be no typo's
  • All PowerPoint presentations must be designed (no exceptions). Internal and external presentations are treated with equal importance
• Always asking the question, "Was that excellent?"
• What it means to be radically transparent
  • Telling and showing people exactly where their money is being spent (using GoPro's to help tell this story)
• Why Scott wanted to reinvent charity... How to build trust
• Scott's hiring process -- The need for creative people that are likable and smart
  • Note: They had 500 people interview to be their receptionist
• Using technology to improve donations (use of VR)
• The power of story-telling
• In hiring -- "It's either a Hell Yeah! or a No"
• Favorite interview question -- "What are the most important values you live by?"
  • He wants to know that they actually have values and have taken the time to think about what they are
  • Dan Pink - Autonomy, Mastery, Purpose
  • Scott will read their last 500 tweets to see if they are a happy person or if they are cynical and "hate" on others
• Scott's advice on giving and why we should do it

"What Are The Most Important Values You Live By?"

Continue Learning:

• Go to charity water to donate: charitywater.org
• See why over 84,000 people follow Scott on Twitter: @scottharrison
• Connect with me on LinkedIn
• Join our Facebook Group: The Learning Leader Community
• To Follow Me on Twitter: @RyanHawk12

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Episode edited by the great J Scott Donnell

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