[nagdu] FW: letter to the board of directors of Guide Dogs for the Blind

[Michael Hingson]

The petition voices your opinion.  I am talking to someone involved with GDB
right now.  People are noticing the petition.  Please sign it.


Mike Hingson

-----Original Message-----
From: nagdu [mailto:nagdu-bounces at nfbnet.org] On Behalf Of Star Gazer
Sent: Thursday, June 06, 2013 10:06 AM
To: 'NAGDU Mailing List, the National Association of Guide Dog Users'
Subject: Re: [nagdu] FW: letter to the board of directors of Guide Dogs for
the Blind

What exactly does signing an online petition do? 
Does it have any legal standing? Does anybody at GDB care? 
It sounds like they've been on this road for awhile. 
I'll look over the letter. I also don't have a dog, and don't plan to get
one. 
And lastly, if you had to get a new dog today, would you go to GDB given
what they are doing? 


-----Original Message-----
From: nagdu [mailto:nagdu-bounces at nfbnet.org] On Behalf Of Michael Hingson
Sent: Thursday, June 06, 2013 1:01 PM
To: 'NAGDU Mailing List, the National Association of Guide Dog Users'
Subject: Re: [nagdu] FW: letter to the board of directors of Guide Dogs for
the Blind

Thanks.  Even though you don't have a guide dog I would appreciate you and
others signing the online petition.  GDB has made some decisions which
reflect badly on its positive attitudes of blind people.  Already today I
have seen several letters from people telling me that because of what has
been occurring at GDB they and others will not be getting guides from there.
On the petition page comment 125 is from a former prominent GDB board of
directors member who resigned last year because of actions and attitudes of
the current CEO.

What is happening at GDB affects us all.

Thanks for the nice comment on "Thunder Dog".  We are getting close to
having a children's version and we have begun working on another book.  Too
early to comment on the second book yet, but we are excited.

Take care. 


Best,


Michael Hingson

-----Original Message-----
From: nagdu [mailto:nagdu-bounces at nfbnet.org] On Behalf Of Sheila Leigland
Sent: Wednesday, June 05, 2013 10:26 PM
To: NAGDU Mailing List, the National Association of Guide Dog Users
Subject: Re: [nagdu] FW: letter to the board of directors of Guide Dogs for
the Blind

hi, I don't have a guide from gdb but was familiar with them while growing
up In california during the sixties and seventies.
wWe lived next door to a blind couple with dogs from gdb and my Dad always
hoped that someday I would get a dog from them. The letter is well written
and I understand your concerns. I hope their issues will be resolved in a
favorable manner for all involved.
By the way, I loved reading thunderdog.
On 6/5/2013 10:05 PM, Michael Hingson wrote:
> All,
>
> The following is a letter I just sent to the board of directors of 
> Guide Dogs for the Blind, Inc.  Although it may appear that the 
> content of this letter is guide dog specific I believe you all should 
> be aware of this issue as it reflects on how agencies which should do 
> better are in fact treating blind people and their own staffs.
>
> There are now significant problems within the Guide Dogs for the Blind 
> organization which stem from bad leadership by a relatively new CEO.
> The problems in part are due to a poor attitude about blindness and 
> partly they stem from his lack of competence in managing well a 
> nonprofit organization, at least as far as I am concerned.  Actually, 
> hundreds of consumers have already sent letters concerning this issue 
> to the board and many others have signed a petition concerning this.
> The petition is located at
> http://petitions.moveon.org/sign/tell-the-board-its-time?source=c.em.m
> t&r_by
> =7790633.
>
> I am widely disseminating my letter because many of  you may be asked 
> about this issue, especially around the convention.  Also, as many of 
> you know I happen to be a quite visible guide dog user due to my
experience on 9-11.
> The fact is that what is happening at GDB should not be permitted nor 
> ignored.  You may wish to sign the petition and I ask you to consider 
> so doing.
>
> There are issues I did not discuss within the letter in order to 
> protect staff at all levels within the organization.  However, suffice 
> it to say that the amount of outrage and pushback by consumers and 
> other stakeholders toward the leadership of Guide Dogs for the Blind 
> is
unprecedented.
>
> Again, I send this for your information.  Should you feel it necessary 
> to contact me please feel free to do so at info at michaelhingson.com.
> Thanks for reading.
>
>
> Best,
>
>
> Michael Hingson
>
> -----Original Message-----
> From: Michael Hingson [mailto:Mike at michaelhingson.com]
> Sent: Wednesday, June 05, 2013 08:47 PM
> To: bburke at guidedogs.com; gkerscher at guidedogs.com; 
> sodell at guidedogs.com; ruthann.dodson24 at gmail.com; jboyd at guidedogs.com; 
> mwatkins at guidedogs.com; sbutton at guidedogs.com; dgershen at guidedogs.com; 
> jharris at guidedogs.com; amathieson at guidedogs.com; 
> smansfield at guidedogs.com; jackscott at guidedogs.com
> Cc: mike at michaelhingson.com
> Subject: letter to the board of directors of Guide Dogs for the Blind
>
> Dear Members of The Board of Directors, Guide Dogs for the Blind,
>
> For some time I have been monitoring the changes at our school and the 
> stakeholders' reactions to them.  I am writing to express my feelings.
> Before proceeding let me introduce myself to those of you I have not met.
> My name is Michael Hingson.  I received my first guide dog from GDB in 
> June, 1964.  For the past forty-nine years I have used guides only 
> from GDB.  I grew up with the school, its staff, and its advancements 
> in guide dog and student training.  While a college student I assisted 
> Guide Dogs' staff in preparing testimony concerning pending 
> legislation to change current guide dog laws in California.
>
> I am a firm believer in the value a guide dog brings to blind persons 
> who can effectively learn to use it, and I know firsthand the value 
> and strength of the human-animal bond.  You see my fifth guide, 
> Roselle, and I worked in the World Trade Center and escaped from the 
> attacks on 9-11, 2001.  Because of a story GDB put out concerning our 
> escape Roselle and I became quite visible throughout the world.
>
> After 9-11 I came to work at GDB where I stayed for six and a half years.
> During that time I worked to keep Guide Dogs for the Blind visible to 
> donors and prospective donors, possible students, and others.  I 
> successfully raise hundreds of thousands of dollars for the school and 
> I met with countless donors and spoke to tens of thousands of 
> interested persons about the organization.
>
> In June, 2008, after a change in the leadership at GDB I left the 
> organization to continue a developing speaking career.  I now travel 
> the world talking about issues like strengthening the Human-Animal 
> Bond.  In
> 2011 Roselle's and my story was published in a book called "Thunder 
> Dog, the story of a blind man, his guide dog, and the triumph of 
> trust" which became an instant New York Times Bestseller and which has 
> now been published in 12 languages.  Today I continue to travel, 
> consult,
and speak worldwide.
>
> I tell you all this to say that I understand change and know the 
> challenges change and new ideas bring to any organization.
> Specifically I have seen much change during my 49 years associated 
> with Guide Dogs.  I have seen the school lead by several different 
> CEOs each with their own leadership style and priorities.  I also have 
> seen the concern each time a new leader came along and took the school 
> in a different direction.  I never have found it necessary to speak 
> out
concerning a CEO until now.  Below are my thoughts.
>
> When Bob Phillips took the reins in 2001 he brought something new to 
> the school when, for the first time, the CEO had a daughter who was a 
> graduate of GDB.  Bob's empathy permeated throughout his leadership as 
> he worked to bring more of a marketing effort to the school.  During 
> his term Bob helped the school grow to be the largest guide dog school 
> in
the United States.
> While some were concerned that he was bringing too much of a "business 
> approach to the school", what he did was to improve the efficiency of 
> the organization, and he helped enhance the reputation of GDB within 
> the guide dog community, the service animal world.  He supported 
> actions which improved the reputation of Guide Dogs within the ranks 
> of blindness consumer organizations.  I participated in efforts Bob 
> promoted to integrate GDB more into the local and Marin business 
> community.  In short, during 2001 to 2007 Guide Dogs for the Blind 
> began to move out of a role as a large nonprofit, but relatively 
> isolated from the world around it to a responsible community family 
> member which was growing in stature and standing within the world
community.
>
> After Bob Phillips left the organization a new CEO was hired.  We need 
> not go into her contributions except to say that for the most part 
> Nancy Gardner's leadership proved destructive to many of the 
> initiatives begun by Bob Phillips and his predecessors.
>
> When Paul Lopez began his term as CEO there was much optimism for 
> continued growth among many stakeholders.  Some of us had concerns 
> that he did not have a good grounding in a positive philosophy about 
> blindness, but everyone took a wait and see approach.  Rather than 
> growth Paul has demonstrated that his approach is not well suited to a 
> nonprofit philanthropic organization such as Guide Dogs for the Blind.
> I know you have heard from many concerning the issues stakeholders 
> have with Paul's leadership and I do not want to go over ground you 
> already have encountered.  However, I believe my perspective is 
> somewhat unique since I have a 49-year history as a student, and a six 
> and a half year back ground as a GDB mid level management and 
> leadership staff member.  Also, I have served in management positions 
> within various companies including serving as a company president, 
> vice president, and I have served as a senior level manager in more 
> than one sales organization.  I know first-hand good leadership as 
> well as poor and disconnected leadership.  Paul Lopez is not 
> demonstrating
good leadership for the benefit of Guide Dogs for the Blind.  Let me
illustrate.
>
> 1.	 Consumer Relations.  To date Paul Lopez has not made an appearance
> at any of the blindness consumer organization National meetings, and 
> it is my understanding that he has not even attended any of the 
> California affiliate meetings.  I know he has received such 
> invitations in the past because I delivered one to him personally last 
> year long before the time of the National convention season.  I also 
> know he has received written invitations this year, but has not 
> accepted them.  The National organization conventions are the best 
> places for any new leader to learn about the issues blind people find 
> important.  Also, they are the best platforms for any new blindness 
> related program director to market their organization and to promote 
> discussion.  The fact that Paul has not attended National conventions 
> among blind people is noticed by blind people throughout the country 
> and red flags have gone up especially since his lack of action is 
> directly opposite to what Bob Phillips did to promote relations during 
> the early 2000s.  Given the lack of visibility by the school and its 
> newest CEO, and given the bad press within the consumer world I 
> believe any positive momentum concerning consumer interest is gone.
> Furthermore I believe Paul Lopez's lack of visibility concerning 
> consumer
organizations is a bad reflection on his value of input and cooperation with
blind people.
>
> On another front I have heard from many students who have attended 
> classes over the past year and a half that Paul will not spend time 
> with them, or at least he spends very little time with them, 
> especially in the past few months.  This is the exact time Paul should 
> be selling his decisions and actions to his consumers, but he seems to 
> be
having none of that.
> 2.	Budget.  Earlier this year when the announcement of lay-offs took
> place we all heard that the decision to terminate eight employees was 
> in part a budgetary one.  The local newspapers also reported the 
> layoffs and stated that the reason was related to a need to reduce or
adjust the budget.
> This makes little sense especially when the stock market and the GDB 
> reserves are growing.  Also, given that ten employees lost their jobs 
> in a similar move during the Nancy Gardner administration it is hard 
> to understand why an additional eight, mostly long time employees, 
> were dismissed.
>
> I like the concept of establishing the new call center which can help 
> improve efficiency if handled properly.  It seems to me that any time 
> a call goes unanswered for more than one business day any organization 
> which permits this is remiss in its obligation toward the consumers it 
> serves.  If students' did not get return calls before and if that has 
> changed then well and good.  Creating the call center should help 
> improve
efficiency.
> However, laying off several long-term key staff people and choosing to 
> terminate the head of graduate services given his standing in the 
> world-wide guide dog community and the vast amount of knowledge and 
> respect from consumers he brings to GDB does not seem efficient or 
> wise.  The community at large does not buy the budget and efficiency 
> arguments for laying off some of the people who were terminated 
> earlier this year.  I agree with them.  It can never be good to lose 
> people of the caliber of those employees who were let go and expect 
> any organization to continue to operate as well as it did before.
> Also, one aspect of decreasing the number of field reps while 
> increasing the call return effectiveness is that you may find that 
> more people actually need visits from a GDB rep.  While Mr. Lopez has 
> chosen to believe it more efficient to send people from GDB you cannot 
> yet know if it might have been better to keep the people you lost, but 
> work to keep them busier with visits as well as better involving them 
> in GDB's marketing effort.  Also, given that some of the employees 
> worked on campus might it have been better to reassign or split their 
> duties rather than dismissing them outright?  Please do not say it was 
> for budgetary reasons as GDB was not and is not in peril of going under.
The "business decision" to let them go is a bad one by any basic business
staffing morale standard.
>
> Speaking of morale, I have not heard any positive comments about 
> moving Barbara Browning away from the switchboard and removing the 
> friendly face that greets visitors to the administration building.
> The approach taken with Barbara again shows a business orientation not 
> suited or appropriate for a nonprofit like GDB.
> 	
> 3.	 Trust.  While blind people go to guide dog schools to obtain guides
> and gain the additional mobility assets they feel come with using a 
> guide dog, the trust of the senior staff of guide dog schools often is
lacking.
> Senior staff have, for example, in the past changed school policies 
> concerning dog ownership, reduced consumer representation on boards, 
> reduced the influence levels of or eliminated consumer advisory 
> committees, and downright ignored issues and input by stakeholders.
> Many of us have seen new senior staff come with ideas of "making the 
> organization run more like a business" and "improving efficiency"
> while all they do is to alienate stakeholders and not grow the 
> organization.  The result is that students go to schools because of 
> positive experiences with the staff members who work directly with 
> them and they ignore leadership which they view as something which 
> doesn't concern them, or they go elsewhere or decide not to use a 
> guide
dog altogether.  I have seen all three happen regularly.
>
> The unfortunate reality is that "business oriented CEOs" do not 
> understand the subtleties of running a nonprofit or philanthropic 
> organization.  Yes, nonprofits should operate more in line with 
> business practices than most do today.  In fact, some of today's 
> concepts regarding the "good" operation of a nonprofit are the very 
> things which keep it from growing as they go against what makes any 
> organization grow in our changing world.  However, while trying to 
> bring good business practices into the nonprofit arena the "corporate 
> way" as it exists today also tends to exclude some of the very 
> attitudes, drives, and strengths which make good nonprofits great.
> The most important of these is Trust.  If a CEO arrives and changes 
> some of the very core foundations upon which an organization is built 
> without obtaining support from stakeholders then he or she loses the 
> faith of those individuals and probably staff as well.  Nonprofits 
> must have emotional buy-in and support in ways many corporations today 
> seem not to have and seem not to need in order to be successful.
> Corporations can buy loyalty while today's nonprofits cannot.  Also, 
> with an organization like GDB consumers have no permanent stake in the 
> organization since they have many choices of guide dog schools.  So, 
> if they become disenchanted or dissatisfied with one school they do 
> not suffer a financial hardship when deciding to attend another.  
> Trust
and emotional buy-in are all the building blocks a school like GDB has to
make a consumer relationship work.
>
> In the past five years 18 people have been laid off from GDB.  Right 
> or wrong no employee had ever been laid off before.  Before 2008, 
> budgets were cut, some staff perks were cut, some positions and 
> departments were realigned, and puppy raisers and breeder keepers were 
> asked to shoulder more financial obligations to care for their 
> charges, but no employee was simply eliminated in order to decrease 
> staff size.  When the first ten people were separated there was 
> grumbling and concern, but in general, stakeholders felt that the 
> programs would continue and thrive.  However, with the latest staff 
> reductions, programs and staff directly connected to consumers were 
> dramatically affected.  Well loved, trusted, and effective staff 
> members were removed.  Personal access to trusted staff was 
> eliminated.  Consumers were asked to trust a decision maker who had 
> not established any kind of bond with them as he made changes those 
> very
consumers considered part of the fabric that made GDB better than ANY OTHER
SCHOOL.
>
> Also, it didn't stop with the lay-offs.  Two very senior staff members 
> retired at a time many of us find suspicious at best.  Terry Barrett 
> and Don Frisk worked at GDB long after they might have retired simply 
> because they loved their jobs and because they wanted to continue to 
> make
contributions.
> I tell you that you will have a very hard time convincing consumers 
> that the timing of these two retirements is a coincidence.  In 
> addition, at least one other training supervisor has quit and left the
guide dog field completely.
> Right or wrong, again, many of us find this additional departure not 
> to be coincidental.
>
> If all the "changes" aren't enough Paul Lopez has further eroded 
> consumer confidence in his leadership with what he has done concerning 
> Guide Dogs for the Blind's reputation and involvement in the 
> international guide dog community by reducing the number of GDB 
> certified assessors for the International Federation of Guide Dog 
> Schools from four to one, all in the name of saving money.  Previous 
> administrations spent time and effort to move GDB into the 21st 
> century including establishing relationships and connections which 
> made our school one of the preeminent guide dog organizations in the
world.  Trainers came to consult with the GDB staff.
> GDB experts helped insure that other schools throughout the world were 
> held to high standards of excellence in all aspects of their 
> operations.  GDB could do this only because it is so large and staffed 
> so well that it had the necessary expertise within its ranks.  Even 
> before the lay-offs three assessors working at GDB were told to 
> withdraw from their IFGDS commitments which also mean that fewer 
> individuals will attend International Federation meetings.
>
> Guide Dogs for the Blind has lost the trust and confidence of much of 
> its consumer base.  I said earlier that due to my 9-11 experiences I 
> am a highly visible guide dog user.  I am contacted daily by GDB users 
> who tell me they will not return to this organization for their next 
> guide.  I have been told by people who are in a position to know that 
> staff is demoralized in ways never experienced before.  I have spoken 
> with past members of the board who tell me that they are angered and 
> outraged at the way the organization is being run today.  I am amazed 
> that the board has not done anything visible to stem the tide of 
> outrage and anger and that its only public position is that people 
> simply do not know the internal issues and budgetary challenges which 
> led to the decisions we now discuss.  When I am asked my opinion and 
> guidance I do not have positive encouragement I can offer because I 
> have come to have the same views as others.  I know I will be asked 
> about the GDB issues when I attend the consumer National conventions 
> this summer, and I do not have anything I can say with confidence that
will alleviate consumer fears and concerns.
>
> It is hard for me to write this letter.  I love GDB, but I, like many, 
> have no confidence in Paul Lopez and I am concerned that the board of 
> directors has not done anything obvious either to show the value of 
> Mr. Lopez's decisions or to remove him as CEO.  I call on the Guide 
> Dogs for the Blind board of directors to take a vote of no confidence 
> toward Paul Lopez and I call on the board to remove him as CEO and 
> begin a search for a truly qualified replacement.  Thank you for your 
> time
and consideration.
>
> Best,
>
> Michael Hingson
> The Michael Hingson Group, INC.
> "Speaking with Vision"
> Michael Hingson, President
> (415) 827-4084
> info at michaelhingson.com
> To order Michael Hingson's new book, Thunder Dog, and check on Michael 
> Hingson's speaking availability for your next event please visit:
> www.michaelhingson.com
> To purchase your own portrait of Roselle painted by the world's 
> foremost animal artist, Ron Burns, please visit 
> http://www.ronburns.com/roselle
>
>
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