MABELLE MARIE C.

CUTARA, LPT, MBA UNIVERSITY OF THE IMMACULATE CONCEPTION

March 15, 2020

Compassion and Empathy. These are exactly the values that were within the character of Safe

Passage’s founder Hanley Denning (known as the Angel of the Garbage Dump). As I was reading the

case/story, I somehow could relate myself to how she loved helping people. What drove her to help the

Guatemalans was the fact that she believed she could be capable of doing “something” that could

alleviate the garbage pickers’ lives. And that particular “something’ was the origin of how her non-

governmental organization started. Sadly, the founder and leader met an automobile accident that caused

her life, and the Safe Passage or Camino Seguro needed someone who can take the lead in continuing

the organization.

For me, I see the organization, not just as an institution, nor an educational program only for poor

kids and their families, I rather perceive it as an avenue of affectionate learning that shows genuine

compassion to people. This compassion is the heart of the poor children’s motivation to learn and to go

on with their lives, not just for survival but for instilling meaning and outpouring the purpose of their

existence. According to the information from their website, Safe Passage’s mission is to transform lives

by providing students with an excellent education, a higher quality of life, and pathways to a job with

dignity so that they can achieve a better future for themselves and their families. It also envisions as an

international model for how a transformational education of the whole child-focused on wellness,

lifelong learning, vocational skills, and community engagement - can break the cycle of poverty.

1
Discussion Questions

1. Given the untimely death of the NGO's charismatic founder and leader as described in the case, the board of
directors at Safe Passage is seeking the advice of outside consultants as to how they should proceed. Imagine that
you were called on to give your analysis of the best way for the organization to make its leadership transition.
What specific recommendations would you make to the board? What do you recommend they do in the short term
and in the long term? What complexities are present in this particular leadership transition? How would your
suggestions differ if the urgent need for a new and effective leader were not present?
2. In your view, what specific background and qualifications are most important for Safe Passage's next leader to
have? Which typologies capture the essence of a leader in general? Which ones capture the attributes that Safe
Passage needs in its next hire? What types of capabilities are necessary for the next leader to possess so that the
transition runs smoothly?
3. The Safe Passage transition team has been successful in its search for a new leader. You have been called on
again to give your advice, this time to the new hire. What kind of coaching plan would you construct to assist the
new leader upon arrival in Guatemala City? What are the key elements the new leader will need to communicate
to all of the NGO stakeholders—children, mothers, waste-picker community, donors, volunteers, staff, top
management team, board members—to assure them that the mission and vision of the NGO will continue in the
future? What would you tell the new director?

ANSWERS:

1. There is a wide disparity between how the leadership in business-related organizations and the

leadership in NGO’s work or function. Commonly, we think of leaders as good motivators, good

delegators, and profit-oriented people; what makes leaders in the field of social work so unique is in

the sense that they work mostly out of dedication and compassion; Ms. Denning was both charismatic

and transformational when it comes to her leadership style or attribute. She tried to make things

better for poor families, while focusing on crafting an organization that was in accordance with her

dreams.

If I had to make recommendations to the board of Safe Passage, I would strongly suggest that they

should continue the legacy of Ms. Denning not in the context of continuing it, but within the

understanding of how things will work out now without the presence of the true founder. The board,

of course, could not find an exact replica of Ms. Denning; even an exhaustive search for a Denning-

clone wouldn’t be feasible. What they actually need was to put someone forward whose directions

2
 and visions are close to what Safe Passage was really all about. The board may choose somebody

from their group who’s worthy to take the lead. If it had only occurred that Ms. Denning was kind

of a family woman at an old age, it could also be an option to choose someone from her kin to continue

the legacy. Personally, I believe that the legacy of social work-related organizations might be

hindered when vested monetary motives were present, the case did not mention any, though. In the

short term, Safe Passage should move forward per status quo, but in the long run, it should also

employ new strategies and programs that will ensure the donors or sponsors to linger, say, for

example, they can think of a program that will provide assurance to their graduates’ careers. They

must have linkages with government and private entities that are looking for competent workers so

that there could be an assurance that their sponsored children could have a bright future.

Symbolically speaking, the children should not just wait for “the fishes for them to feed, but they

should be taught instead on how to catch fish and make a living. If there had been no urgency in

choosing a new effective leader, I believe that Ms. Denning could go well with her plans, especially

because most of the people in that place showed support, and gave wonderful testimonies on how the

founder changed their lives.

2. For me, the specific characteristics and qualifications of Safe Passage’s next leader should be a

combination of being a proactive, resourceful, and humble leader. The next torchbearer should be a

professional with a background in education, behavioral studies, and childhood development. Ms.

Denning was actually a teacher, she’s a degree holder in psychology and a master in education, as

well. A great teacher is one who fits the traits and qualifications of the second-line generation leader

of an NGO. Teaching, the noblest profession, was the first undertaking of the social work done by

Ms. Denning, her advocacy was certainly to eradicate poverty through education.

3
3. The new director should have the head, the heart, and the hands of a true-blooded social worker. The

coaching plan that I would like to implement to the new hire is that—it should all start with the right

communication, he/she must know their language in order to capture the hearts of the people. The

new torchbearer should also be introduced by the board to the organization’s sponsors, to inform the

latter that the legacy still goes on. There shall be collaborative learning action sessions to be done

by them in order to come up with new plans. As Scott Edlinger emphasized in his article in Harvard

Business Review in 2012, charismatic leaders are skilled communicators, where communication is

critical to any kind of management.

That’s why I believe that regular meetings with the board and the stakeholders alongside the new

director is a must in order for the new leader to know the perspectives of everyone. Since the new

hire is also competent in his/her own field, the consultant shall best work as a monitoring coach who

will provide constructive suggestions. I will personally say to the new director, “in order for you and

everyone in the organization to keep the desire to help burning, you should not just continue to feed

and educate the children, but rather create innovative ways to discover the children’s potentials,

which will be the building blocks of a more progressive Guatemala.