UNICEF USA CEO on how he changed careers from journalist to chief executive
Michael Nyenhuis never thought he’d rise to the top to be CEO one day. Here’s how he was able to do it.
Transcript
00:00 We're drawn to our work at UNICEF USA because of the mission, because of the ability to
00:04 have impact on the lives of children all around the world.
00:08 But day in, day out, what do I do?
00:10 I run a business.
00:11 I run a business with hundreds of employees and hundreds of millions of dollars of revenue
00:16 flowing through it and all of the issues that any other leader who runs a business has,
00:23 we have the same ones.
00:24 [music]
00:25 I started my career actually as a journalist.
00:32 Actually came across the work of humanitarian organizations while I was reporting and just
00:38 had an epiphany moment one day that that's really what I wanted to do.
00:41 What I did is I found the linkage between my skill sets in the journalism world and
00:46 the needs within this not-for-profit sector.
00:50 When I first started in the humanitarian non-profit world, never occurred to me I might be a CEO
00:56 one day.
00:57 But opportunities came along the way that I wasn't afraid of, that I took some risks
01:03 on, that I jumped at once in a while.
01:07 And I think those are the things, the surprises that come our way are usually the path to
01:12 the next best thing.
01:14 [music]
01:15 In terms of my leadership style, I don't think any of those who work with me would
01:22 call me a micromanager.
01:23 I do believe in putting together a great team and letting them do the work.
01:28 So I really focus my time on building team, building culture, building cohesion in our
01:34 strategy and our mission and our understanding of what we're all trying to do together,
01:39 and then let the team do their thing.
01:40 I asked early on, "What's our mission statement?"
01:43 And I would get answers like, "Well, we say it this way.
01:45 Well, we wrote it this way.
01:47 Well, in our annual report, we articulate it this way.
01:49 On the website, it says this."
01:51 I don't want to overplay the power of mission statement, but it is an indicator of a cohesive
01:57 organization and a cohesive culture.
01:59 So we spent some time developing a mission statement that is now clear and written everywhere.
02:06 And from that, we did strategy.
02:09 [music]
02:11 I had the privilege to be a CEO in the nonprofit sector for about 20 years now, three different
02:18 organizations.
02:20 And I think several things have changed.
02:22 Employees, whether they're employees of a company or a nonprofit, expect more from their
02:28 organization than they did in the past in terms of how we operate, how we create environments
02:34 for them to be healthy workers, how we stand out and stand into the culture in which we
02:39 live.
02:40 All of those things are more complex than they used to be.
02:43 Those expectations on the part of our staff are probably higher than they have ever been,
02:47 that we are not just preaching a good mission, but actually carrying it out too.
02:54 [music]
02:57 The to-do lists are pointless.
02:59 If you really want to get something done, you have to put it on your calendar, and that's
03:03 how you get it done.
03:04 So I work really hard to keep my calendar free for the first couple hours of the day
03:09 to focus on the things that I need to get done myself before I'm drawn into meeting
03:14 after meeting after meeting on various topics.
03:17 So I believe strongly in sort of healthy body, mind, and spirit, and feel like you can't
03:22 do your best work unless you're working on all of those things together.
03:26 I get up early.
03:27 I either go for a run or a cycle in the morning, get that in before the day starts, or I'll
03:32 never get it done later in the day.
03:35 And frankly, I get to bed at a reasonable time because I know I'm going to get up early
03:38 the next day and start it all over again.
03:40 [music]