Lessons from Leaders: Featured Guest Gary White, CEO & Co-founder, Water.org & WaterEquity

04/03/23 • 26 min

I had the opportunity to sit down with Gary White, an inspiring problem-solver and innovator. With three degrees in civil and environmental engineering, Gary tells of his passion for social justice began in his 20s when he became aware of the alarming statistic that 1.5 billion people worldwide lacked access to water and even more lacked access to sanitation. As an engineer with a solution-seeking mindset, he was determined to find answers.

In our conversation about his unique start, Gary shares how his seed of information was found during his early exposure to TED, a key source of inspiration. He felt like a "kid in a candy store," exposed to so many diverse ideas and perspectives that were outside the engineering domain. He continues, "To be able to sit for a few days and hear ideas and concepts from people who are doing nothing like you were doing, and yet all of those ideas could kind of be borrowed or kind of bent in your direction. I think that's where the concept of bending microfinance towards water and sanitation was. Here was this thing that was happening around the world with others, and it was completely divorced from what we were doing with water. Why does that have to be? Let's bring those things together."

Gary shares his experiences and insights on how he drew on this wealth of outside-the-box knowledge, bent it to become relevant to his work, and co-founded Water.org, a groundbreaking organization that helps finance water and sanitation solutions for individuals living in poverty.

Gary's work is a testament to the power of creativity and passion in solving complex social challenges. Quoting Thomas Edison, Gary shares, 'I feel like I've never done a day's work in my life because it's all been fun.'

I am grateful to Gary for sharing his insights and inspiring us to think outside the box when faced with challenges. I invite leaders to listen to this episode and emerge with new determination and fresh ideas.

To connect with: Water.org - https://water.org/

To connect with Gary White on LinkedIn: linkedin.com/in/waterpartners

To connect with: Water.org - https://water.org/

To connect with Gary White on LinkedIn: linkedin.com/in/waterpartners

Previous Episode

Lessons from Leaders: Featured Guest Morgan Lance, CEO at OneSky

This week’s Lessons From Leaders guest is Morgan Lance, CEO of OneSky. Her story and insights as the first CEO to transition into the position after the founder and leader of 24+ years are noteworthy simple truths.
As the new CEO facing difficult decisions, Morgan shared:
“When there's tough decisions to be made or moments of leadership that I know are going to be difficult for me, I always go back to that question: What is best for the kids that we serve? What is best for the children? What decision do I need to make now, or what do I need to do or embody in order to move the mission forward? And that's a really clear, really clear decision-maker for me. It makes things a lot easier.”
“I learned the speed with which decisions need to be made at the CEO level is far quite different at other leadership levels within an organization....leaders are remembered for the pace at which they make decisions, not necessarily the outcome of those decisions.”
Morgan’s message is timely as leaders refocus on the importance of an organization’s values and mission to revitalize in 2023.
Thank you, Morgan, for sharing your transition story and the reminder to re-evaluate: what's our purpose?

We hope you enjoy this episode and look forward to hearing your comments.

Next Episode

Leadership is Nurturing Growth in Others

Are you curious about the transformative power of leadership development? Join me in this latest episode, where we dive deep into the incredible journey of Marjorie Newman-Williams, President of Search for Common Ground.

Early in her career, she encountered an ineffective boss, which sparked her interest in good leadership and its impact. Marjorie found herself asking, “Can you learn good leadership, and what are the basic things you need to know?”

Marjorie shares how, in the middle of her career, she wasn't particularly focused on leadership and had the opportunity to be working at UNICEF. UNICEF was growing women’s leadership at the time and Marjorie became part of a leadership development program that aimed at fostering leadership potential and increasing women's presence in leadership roles. The program centered on self-awareness, recognizing self-sabotage behaviors, making clear and open decisions, and emphasized networking and support among women.

“The leadership program validated my instincts to trust myself and taught me it was okay to ask for help. You don’t have to change your identity or your natural instincts. You just have to use them in ways that are intentional.”

Marjorie underscores some wonderful advice regarding leading through transitions and that leaders need to have these vital skills during times of change: the need for courage to step outside one's comfort zone, consistency, fairness, transparency, and self-care outside of work.

Remember the question she had...”Can you learn good leadership, and what are the basic things you need to know?” She answers, “Leadership is no longer climbing a ladder, your focus needs to shift to being the person who enables others to be their best selves. Leadership can be taught, and you have to have the desire to lead and then figure out how to lead well.”

Big thanks for hanging out with us today, and a big thank you to Marjorie for this enlightening conversation and your openness in sharing your journey.