Non sibi send aliss, Lessons from Wounded Warrior Project

“The CEO and COO of the Wounded Warrior Project have been fired amid spending irregularities with the Project’s money. Steven Nardizzi and Al Giordano, the CEO and COO, respectively, were terminated Thursday.” (Grunt Style)

I think it goes without saying that we all saw this coming. If you are connected to the military community or keep up to date with the happenings in business this story has been developing for quite some time. As a service member and a businessman it doesn’t anger me as much as it fills me with a deep sense of shame and disgust. In what could have been one of the most powerful social organizations. However, poor management, disenfranchised leadership and a skewed vision of success created the biggest decoy for corruption we have seen in some time. As a whole, I still believe that the majority of those involved and employed by WWP value and take pride in carrying on the mission, “to honor and empower Wounded Warriors.”

As with any great failure it is imperative to look at what can be learned from the failure. What can we learn from CEO and COO to ensure that mistakes like these do not happen again? One thing stands out above the rest.

They put themselves above the mission.

Nardizzi and Giordano put themselves above the mission. There was a point where they made individual and collective decisions that lead them to believe that the missions was no longer bigger then themselves. This is detrimental to any organization Non-Profit, Civilian and Military alike. As a leader in any setting the minute you loose site of the mission and the group as a whole you have signed off on failing. The type of failure that destroys teams, organizations and military units.

Two ways organizations can ensure ongoing success by never putting anything above the mission?

1. Don’t just know the mission statement, live it: Army soldiers are taught the Soldiers Creed the day they sign their papers. Some of the most successful companies in the world have employees write the mission down in a place that they can always reference. In both scenarios constant repetition can help to ensure everyone understands that they are never bigger than the mission. It is a very simple idea but it begs to ask how different this blog would be if Nardizzi and Giordano would have done something as simple as reciting the mission ““to honor and empower Wounded Warriors” daily.
2. Checks and Balances: One of the biggest things we stress as leaders in the Army is Pre Combat Checks and Pre Combat Inspections. We use the battle buddy system to ensure each others gear is ready to go, equipment is functioning and personal lives are mission ready. The same things happen in organizations outside of the military with weekly meetings or project management tools. Where Nardizzi and Giordano failed is that they stooped doing just that. What if they would have implemented a better checks and balance system? There would have been deliberate check points along the way to ensure they had the mission at the top of their daily priority list, not themselves.

Nardizzi and Giordano made disgusting choices and took away the purity of an organization that was meant to serve those who serve us. To provide comfort to those who run towards the fire fight to ensure the majority does not have to. At this point it is important to remember under all this scandal there are still wounded warriors and their families who turned to WWP as a beacon of light in a time of darkness and they(we) must continue to serve them.

Never put yourself above the mission.