Over the past decade The American Red Cross has been overwhelmed by rapid turnover of leadership and has struggled to restore a reputation damaged by the downfalls of leadership and harsh criticism of response reactions in recent disaster situations, such as Hurricane Katrina. Prior to the current president and chief executive, Gail McGovern, taking control in April 2008 the organization was led by Mark Everson, who was forced to resign because of an inappropriate relationship with a female subordinate. According to The Washington Post, the board of The Red Cross “concluded that the situation reflected poor judgment on Mr. Everson’s part and diminished his ability to lead the organization in the future” (Rucker, 2007). Everson had only held the position for six months and was the fifth CEO of The Red Cross in six years. Ever since McGovern has taken on leadership responsibilities, she has changed the way the organization operates and communicates.
To prevent the organization from continuing on the same path of high turnover McGovern and the other members of the management team need to demonstrate a leadership style that can bring respect back to the organization. Because the organization relies heavily on volunteer time the chapters must rely on the salaried leadership to articulate a vision and communicate how this vision will be achieved. McGovern has taken steps to increase her legitimate power by motivating the organization in the direction of established goals. According to the Red Cross Website, “McGovern has initiated steps to invigorate the $3.3 billion organization, including dramatically reducing its deficit and streamlining its operations” (Red Cross, 2010).
Although McGovern has demonstrated transactional leadership qualities by motivating the organization toward established goals, she is not able to reward most of her staff with the rewards given in other organizations, such as performance ratings or pay increases. She must instead rely on recognition or praise because the staff consists of mainly volunteers. It appears as though Gail McGovern has also been able to further the success of the organizations goals by inspiring the different chapters to transcend their own self-interests, which in turn promote the workings of the Red Cross and help again to establish the credibility they have been working so hard to attain. Her new approach to communication between chapters has had a tremendous response as demonstrated in Chronicle of Philanthropy, “…chapter leaders said that Ms. McGovern's efforts to involve them in setting a new course for the 128-year-old organization have already helped dissolve fund-raising competition between national and local branches of the charity and led to better communications with and about donors” (para. 8). The unique structure of the organization also greatly affects the manner in which power is imposed on members of the organization.
The Red Cross has expressed their commitment to stand up to their values and is prepared to assist whenever the situation presents itself. This commitment expressed by McGovern filters down through to the volunteer staff of the organization. The Red Cross has a significant advantage over many other organizations due to its ability to help fulfill intrinsic needs. The sense of commitments its members experience is based on fulfilling these needs and the inherent desire to assist humanity. This can be demonstrated by the amount of time the Red Cross has been around, regardless of how many ups and down the organization has been through. Volunteers constitute 96% of our total workforce to carry on our humanitarian work (Red Cross Website, 2010). The amount of volunteers that the Red Cross has only attests to their longstanding reputation. The American Red Cross has experienced many rough times but has proven to be a stable figure in the world. Their recent success in regaining respect can be attributed to Gail McGovern and her successful leadership approach. Ms. McGovern uses her influence and power in an effective manner and will continue to motivate her follows during her time as their leader as long as she continues to practice open communication. She has a staff of eager volunteer awaiting her next goal.