I recently went one-on-one with Eric Rosenbaum, CEO of Project Renewal.
Adam: Thanks again for taking the time to share your advice. First things first, though, I am sure readers would love to learn more about you. How did you get here? What experiences, failures, setbacks, or challenges have been most instrumental to your growth?
Eric: I’ve had at least four really different careers, and all of them have brought me to the work I’m doing today. I studied biology in college, but I never considered how to turn it into a career. I got rejected from medical school and PhD programs, not because I wasn’t qualified, but because I didn’t have my heart in it. I worked as a lab tech for a year, then got an MS in Public Health, which taught me how to use data to distinguish cause and effect. I went on to earn my MBA, which taught me how to translate science for business professionals and vice versa. That translation ability has been the enduring thread of my entire career.
I was a management consultant in biotech for five years, based in Boston. I was an executive with Colgate-Palmolive for a decade, including three years building a supply chain function in India. I moved to New York and left Colgate in 1997 after my mentor was killed in a helicopter crash in the East River. I returned to consulting, this time focusing on supply chain management, and was out of work for a year after 9/11. It was a personally challenging time, during which I became president of my synagogue and was encouraged to consider a career change, bringing my previous experience into the non-profit community.
In 2007, I got my first job in the non-profit sector, as COO of Women in Need, now WIN. I was there for ten wonderful years, until I was ready to become a CEO myself. In 2018, I was appointed CEO here at Project Renewal. It’s the best job I’ve had in my entire career, and I feel very blessed to have this calling. I’m still a translator, though; now it’s about applying the best management and leadership practices I learned in my corporate career to a large, complex, mission-driven non-profit.
Adam: What are the best leadership lessons you have learned from leading non-profit organizations?
Eric: Be clear about the boundaries of your mission. Ask yourself key questions: What is your organization uniquely good at? Where does the organization truly lead, and where are you more of the implementation arm of your key funders?
Adam: In your experience, what are the defining qualities of an effective leader?
Eric: First, humility in leadership comes from earned self-confidence. I don’t agonize as much when I screw up anymore, because I’ve proven I’m a competent and respected leader. I acknowledge my mistakes, take personal responsibility, and fix the issue. It doesn’t diminish my reputation; it builds trust and models accountability. Second, but equally important, when a problem seems unsolvable, either zoom in to find the one detail that unlocks a solution, or zoom out to bring in other variables that could lead to a new approach. Don’t confuse this with delegation or micro-management. Sometimes, you have to grab hold of a situation, but make this rare.
Adam: How can leaders and aspiring leaders take their leadership skills to the next level?
Eric: Find ways to keep learning and growing as a person. Don’t spend too much time reading how-to business books; you’ll get better insight from great literature, biographies, and spending time with art, theater, and music. Be active in outside organizations that expand your community of professional friends and colleagues. If you want to know how best to work with your own board, serve on other boards to get the other perspective.
Adam: What are your three best tips applicable to entrepreneurs, executives, and civic leaders?
Eric: Acknowledge your ego and keep it in check. Remember that for everyone who did everything right and succeeded, there are 100 people who did all the same right things and failed. Never underestimate the role luck plays in success.
Adam: What is your best advice on building, leading, and managing teams?
Eric: Know your personal leadership strengths and weaknesses. Get a professional 360-degree evaluation and be willing to learn from the feedback. If it’s a well-done evaluation, some of the feedback will be hard to hear, but take it to heart. Pick a team that complements you so the whole is bigger than the sum of the parts, and pick people who are not afraid to challenge your thinking, but who can do it in a supportive way. You will feel undermined if you don’t trust that even when your team disagrees with you, they stand behind your leadership.
Adam: What is the single best piece of advice you have ever received?
Eric: If you’re going to believe all the praise you get, you should be equally willing to believe the fault people assign to you. Develop the ability to see through what people project onto you, both the positive and the negative. Take the feedback people give you with a big grain of salt.
Adam: What can anyone do to pay it forward?
Eric: Any time someone reaches out to me for a networking or informational interview, I give them the time. I especially look for people who don’t come from privileged backgrounds or didn’t grow up with access to leaders.