Finding Balance

When I was the executive director of a social service agency that served people with vision loss, I observed a gap between providing what our clients wanted and what they needed. This was particularly true for people who lost their sight later in life. They needed visual rehabilitation, but they wanted to get their eyesight back. Our government contracts stipulated that our clients needed to find a job, any job; but our mission called for us to help them find the job they wanted. Balancing want and need is challenging and can lead to difficult discussions and hard decisions. But, ultimately, the organization that is able to balance its stakeholders’ wants and needs will be better positioned to achieve its mission.