Successful leaders today must exhibit essential qualities such as humility, empathy, resolve, entrepreneurship, and both cognitive and emotional intelligence, said Charles McLister. Among those, resolve stands out, especially for organizations like Elwyn.
“As a 172 nonprofit, it is essential that Elwyn’s leader continuously raises expectations in alignment with the environment, and the needs of its members,” he said. “For human service companies like Elwyn, the leader must be resolved and determined to solve problems, respond to changes, and to align the organization on behalf of its members, in other words, its people.”
That is the true nature of human service leadership that McLister embodies as the president and chief executive officer. Elwyn is a human services organization with a mission to make life better for people with developmental and behavioral health challenges.
Seven years ago, McLister inherited a historic organization that had failed to modernize its systems of care and back-office function, and it was apparent in financial performance, especially cash flow and the income statement. The last two years of strong financial achievements underscore the organization’s newly acquired agility and resilience, especially post-COVID-19, said McLister.
“This is particularly important as our industry braces for payer and regulatory challenges in the coming years,” he said. “Furthermore, it reflects the strength of our team, and our ability to work collaboratively toward the organization’s goals.”
The landscape of services for individuals with disabilities is in a state of flux, as balance sheets return to previous positions and state budget contracts to pre-pandemic levels, said McLister. “We spent the last year exploring potential affiliations with other service providers, specifically a merger that would have resulted in a combined nonprofit organization generating well over $1 billion in annual revenue,” he said. “Although this specific merger did not materialize, creating a nonprofit with the scale and agility of a commercial company is still our main strategic objective.”
This experience was one of McLister’s greatest leadership lessons this year since he was named a Titan 100. “The last year taught me to be critical of my own agenda, especially when my decisions can affect a vast number of different stakeholders,” he said. “In the end, I had to make a difficult decision to delay a strategic opportunity to represent the interests of all the organization’s members.”
McLister has also focused on mentoring and leadership development in the past year. “To help current and future leaders meet their full potential (and become titans), it is essential that we create a robust learning environment,” he said.
As a result, Elwyn has committed to engaging its 60+ key leaders in executive development and learning six times a year. “By creating these kinds of opportunities, we retain the interest and commitment of our current leaders, while becoming more attractive to candidates from outside the organization.”
