Genius at Work

"There has got to be a deal here"

It's 4:15 on a foggy, drizzly April afternoon, and inside one of the amphitheater-style classrooms at the Harvard Business School, the subject is Bill Strickland.

There are 145 students in the room - leaders of nonprofit organizations from across America and Europe. They're here as part of an Executive Education seminar hosted by the school's Initiative for Social Enterprise. Most of the people in this room have just had their first exposure to Strickland: They have finished reading a 22-page case study; set in 1993, the case lays out the situation that Strickland and his twin programs faced at that time.

Under the gentle prodding of visiting professor John Vogel, the nonprofit leaders voice their opinions of Strickland and his work: "It's one of the most moving case studies I've ever read," offers one. "He consistently challenged the community to help itself," says another. "It's a customer-focused organization," comments a third.

But they remain divided on the big question raised in the case study: Where should Strickland focus his next efforts? Should he concentrate on fund-raising for BTC, which at the time had a dicey record of getting money from the state government? Should he expand his operation into a real-estate development project? Should his for-profit food-services company - a spin-off of BTC's culinary training program - make a bid to manage the employee cafeteria at the newly expanded Pittsburgh International Airport? Or should he try to franchise his programs in other cities?

The choices that Strickland faced back in 1993 prompt a heated debate among the students. Everyone has an opinion about which strategic move Strickland should make, but no clear consensus emerges in the room. One thing is clear: Nobody - absolutely nobody - thinks that it makes sense for Strickland to pursue all four options simultaneously.

When the debate ends, Strickland stands up. In his usual, understated way, he announces, "I've got some pictures to show you of what I do for a living." And then he proceeds to blow everyone in the room away: As Strickland runs through his slide show, it becomes clear that what he did back in 1993 was, in fact, to pursue all four of the case-study options. Simultaneously.

Yes, he concentrated on fund-raising: Through relationships built with Pennsylvania statehouse politicians, Strickland secured a permanent place for BTC as a line item in the state budget, guaranteeing funds of $3.5 million a year.

Yes, he pursued the real-estate development option: He just broke ground on a new project - a 60,000-square-foot office building that will sit across from the existing facility. Part of the space will be used to accommodate expanded training programs for BTC. But the new building will also turn Strickland into a commercial landlord: UPMC Health Systems at the University of Pittsburgh has committed to leasing 30,000 square feet of office space.

As for the bid on the employee cafeteria at the airport, yes, his food-services company made a bid and got the contract. No, it didn't work out. But he's continued to build the food services company - which has revenues of about $1.5 million - and this year expects it to show its first profit. What's more, Strickland is now aiming for a food-services contract with Pennsylvania's turnpike authority, a deal worth roughly $250 million a year.

And franchising? Yes, that's going forward as well. In fact, Strickland reports, he has just teamed up with San Francisco Mayor Willie Brown and musician Herbie Hancock to build a project in a poor neighborhood on the shores of the San Francisco Bay. If all goes according to plan, the San Francisco program will be up and running in three years.

Strickland winds up his comments by turning the spotlight back onto his peers in the room. "If this country has a future," he says, "it's because of you guys. Because of your ability to form visions and to form partnerships. I believe that we can change the United States of America in my lifetime, and I'm not out of my mind. We've got to change the way this country sees itself."

The crowd goes wild. Strickland gets a standing ovation and is soon surrounded by people who want to exchange business cards, learn more, come to visit, change the world. They are believers.

Later, Strickland turns the tables, and offers his views on the challenges facing nonprofits. "Nonprofits have to recognize that they're businesses, not just causes," he says. "There's a way to combine the very best of the not-for-profit, philanthropic world with the very best of the for-profit, enterprising world. This hybrid is the wave of the future for both profit and nonprofit companies."

It's a message that Strickland repeats over and over again on his travels, which keep him on the road as many as 12 days a month. It's a message that is winning over the toughest, most bottom-line-oriented businesspeople, people who are interested in concrete results, not wishful thinking.