Why John Bromley is Cynical But Optimistic

Posted on September 9, 2013 by institute B

institute B has been working closely with CEO John Bromley and wanted to share his thoughts on the importance of alignment and culture for a growing company. And why the first step as an entrepreneur is to respect and understand what it means to only be as good as your people.

Benevoland is a grouping of organizations, some for profit, some not-for-profit, and some charitable, that are aligned around empowering people to act on the human spirit of charity.

iB: How does Chimp fall in the Benevoland group of companies?

John Bromley: It’s fair to say that Chimp will become the public face of Benevoland because it is the most broadly based consumer or people focused company we have. Chimp empowers people to manage and amplify their charitable impact and has a mission to increase access to, participation in and knowledge of charity. Those words are easier to say than they are to achieve; however, and as such, the full spectrum of knowledge we continue to develop in Benevoland needs to work together and be aligned in order for Chimp to succeed. The knowledge in Benevoland is all “charity” centric but ranges from law, finance and compliance to communications, marketing, design and technology.

Why are you so passionate about charities + social entrepreneurship?

At some level, it’s in my DNA. My grandparents were lifelong missionaries; my mom has been an advocate, working and volunteering in social and health services for as long as I can remember. And my dad is one of the pioneers of charity law in Canada and a globally recognized thought leader on charitable structure and finance. So I grew up surrounded by the practice of charitable activities, the understanding of charitable structure, law and policy, and the business side as well (fundraising and management). Layering knowledge, theoretic mastery (head nod to Malcolm Gladwell’s 10,000 hours), and DNA, you end up with a deeply rooted understanding to analyze issues and eventually you start to feel how and why things could and should change. That’s the place I work from today but isn’t to suggest that I don’t come to work everyday eager to learn new stuff and do things better.

I characterize my passion and perspective as being “cynical but optimistic” about the potential for charity to be rediscovered and re-experienced. The web is bringing about changes to how charity is discovered and experienced and many of those changes have been powerful but dangerous. Others are powerful and positive.

How have your entrepreneurial motivations changed since you started?

I felt like I had to become an entrepreneur when I discovered how hard it was to accurately transfer ideas to others for them to pursue. In other words, you can’t easily advise others on how to build your own ideas…you have to do it yourself. My motivations for being an entrepreneur relate much more to my deep passion and engagement in the subject matter of charity and are less related to a lifelong dream of wanting to start and drive companies. But of course, the two end up going hand in hand. I remain committed to solving systematic problems in the charity sector and my motivation is tied to this commitment. I don’t see that changing. What has changed and will continue to evolve are my approaches, ideas and products.

You built Chimp to be a cause - neutral tool. Can you explain what this is?

At Chimp we don’t advocate for any one charity or charitable cause, this we stress, is the donor’s responsibility. That is why every registered Canadian charity is listed on Chimp. You can’t both build a platform that is about access and participation in charity while restricting charities of choice. And you can’t increase people’s knowledge of charity by only highlighting some charities. Donors have differing opinions about what is good, bad and ugly when it comes to charity. So while Chimp will build more discovery tools to help people make more informed charitable choices, we won’t tell them when or where to give.

How do you ensure all your companies align on your vision and mission?

The first thing you do is decide yourself, as the entrepreneur, that alignment is important. In other words you take alignment of people and culture seriously. And then you hire institute B. That’s the way I did it anyhow…and it seems to be working so far!

How do you ensure your employees are integral part of your company’s mission?

Is it cliche for a company to say “We are only as good as our people”? If yes, it’s because it’s true. While one person can be responsible for a company and its vision, one person cannot do all the different things required to turn a vision into reality. So the first step as an entrepreneur is to respect and understand what it means to only be as good as your people. The second is to work on communicating where the company wants to go, and what role each individual employee plays in the journey.

What has been your most valuable personal growth experience?

The most valuable personal growth lesson relates directly to working with my dad. My dad is a legitimate and genuine thought leader on Canadian charity law and likely the world’s leading comparative law expert when it comes to international charity. On many issues, he is way ahead of his colleagues and the regulators. While it is lucky for me to have ‘learned charity’ working directly with him, his innovative nature and (rightfully) stubborn respect for the law (ahead of policy, for example) comes with its challenges in a charitable marketplace that is hardly engaged with or knowledgeable about the law. While there are more and more professionals taking the charity sector seriously, there are still relatively few very deep and robust thought leaders on matters of charity in Canada, especially when comparing the charity sector to other industries of a comparable size and importance. This reality, as I see it, means the marketplace is only able to handle so much change at one time. I have grown a lot professionally learning from “mistakes” we’ve made with regards to under-investing in alliance building with other sector leaders, under-investing in the communication necessary to share knowledge, and trying to accomplish too much change too quickly.

What has been the most profound wakeup call as a leader?

It can be profoundly difficult to communicate vision and ensure alignment across all levels of people in a growing business. I live and breath the vision and purpose of my companies so you have to stop yourself and look around and think about who the people are around you and how they ended up there. To communicate well in a company, you have to do it with purpose and intent. Knowing the importance of communication isn’t rocket science but achieving good communication is incredibly difficult.

How do you strive to motivate your team to meet your goals?

We have spent a few years now pre-market. The transition to being market oriented is just starting. In the pre-market context, I found it difficult to articulate short term goals so I focused on trying to communicate “why” we were doing what we are doing. As we shift gears to move towards being more market oriented, it is becoming easier to set measurable and metrics oriented goals that our full team can align around and work towards. Once goals are set, motivating a team to achieve goals is primarily about alignment and communication. The assumption I’m making is that the team is a good one. My experience is that when good, talented people know what’s up and they are aligned around an ambition, they motivate themselves.

What is the bigger contribution Chimp is making to the world? What will be your legacy?

We want to see more people consciously being responsible to themselves, other people, and the environment in which they work, rest and play. This is the broader vision into which Chimp fits and charity is but one avenue through which this broader vision is achieved. One way to interpret people’s engagement in charity is as an expression of the human spirit and how it values doing things for others. In that context, if I were to look back in twenty years, I would want to say that Chimp was fundamental in amplifying the role our human charitable spirit plays in the world.