The Empathy Edge Shilpa Alva: Non-Profit Leadership Lessons to Drive For-Profit Success
How can we balance performance and purpose to sustain growth? Well, look no further than a successful non-profit for the answer to that! And while your organization may sell anything from software to shoes to services, you can indeed leverage a clear, co-created purpose to ignite performance. And you can embrace empathy for employees or customers who are nothing like you in order to do it.
Today, Shilpa Alva shares the powerful childhood experiences that led her to this work, with a stopover in corporate America, where the skills she learned now serve her very well in the non-profit world. We discuss what her shift from corporate culture to the non-profit world was like, and how she balances mission with results, like 70% growth! She talks about values versus process and why values light the fire, so your people will achieve results. Shilpa shares how they co-create solutions with local partners, gathering input from everyone to get the most impactful ideas, and offers a great model for clearly communicating back those final decisions to increase buy-in.
To access the episode transcript, please scroll down below.
Key Takeaways:
- We are all part of a shared humanity and are way more alike than different. Exposure to different perspectives can help build your empathy muscle.
- Partner with the community, don’t just assume you know what is best for the community.
- The organization and structure that got you to where you are today is not going to be the same one that gets you to your wildest, most audacious goals.
- Bring all stakeholders in your ecosystem together in the vision to make your goals a reality.
"You keep your values and your foundation strong so that it doesn't shift. But then you use those values to guide you in achieving your goals." — Shilpa Alva
Episode References:
- Joy McBrien of Fair Anita
- The Empathy Edge podcast: Heather Hiscox: The Surprising Empathy Gap in Social Impact That Hinders Change
From Our Partner:
SparkEffect partners with organizations to unlock the full potential of their greatest asset: their people. Through their tailored assessments and expert coaching at every level, SparkEffect helps organizations manage change, sustain growth, and chart a path to a brighter future.
Go to sparkeffect.com/edge now and download your complimentary Professional and Organizational Alignment Review today.
About Shilpa Alva, Founder & Executive Director, Surge for Water
Shilpa Alva is the founder and Executive Director of Surge for Water, a nonprofit organization dedicated to addressing the cycle of poverty through access to safe water and sanitation solutions. Since its founding 15 years ago, Surge has impacted hundreds of thousands of people in 12 countries. Shilpa's journey didn’t start in the International Nonprofit world. After graduating from Johns Hopkins University with a Chemical Engineering degree, she joined the corporate world and earned her MBA from the Carlson School at the University of Minnesota. After a successful corporate career in Supply Chain Management, she made the bold choice to follow her purpose and live fully in alignment with it. She went from running the organization on nights and weekends to going all the way in!
Connect with Shilpa Alva
Surge for Water: surgeforwater.org
LinkedIn: linkedin.com/in/shilpa-alva-858b841
Connect with Maria:
Get Maria's books on empathy: Red-Slice.com/books
Learn more about Maria's work: Red-Slice.com
Hire Maria to speak: Red-Slice.com/Speaker-Maria-Ross
Take the LinkedIn Learning Course! Leading with Empathy
LinkedIn: Maria Ross
Instagram: @redslicemaria
Facebook: Red Slice
Threads: @redslicemaria
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