Atlanta Business Chronicle just announced our 2021 Atlanta’s Most Admired CEOs honorees. They will be recognized at a live, in-person awards event on Aug. 19 at the Coca-Cola Roxy Theatre at The Battery Atlanta. Here’s a Q&A with one of the honorees, Steve Stirling, president and CEO of nonprofit group MAP International.
Q: What can other CEOs can do to win such great admiration from their stakeholders?
A: I’m humbled to be nominated as one of the most admired CEOs in Atlanta. I have a dedicated group of senior leaders at MAP including board members who are passionate about providing life-saving medicines to people in need around the world. This passion and commitment runs throughout the organization which makes possible what we do together.
Q: What are the keys to CEOs building a high level of trust in their organizations?
- Set clear goals, expectations and priorities (God, family and work).
- Hire the right people, for the right role and with passion for the mission of the organization.
- Be transparent, open and engage with staff. Admit when mistakes are made, apologize and give the credit to the team for a job well done.
- Provide the right resource, remove bottle-necks and get out of the way so your team can get accomplish great things.
Q: What does leadership and being a leader mean to you?
A: Enabling others so they can reach their God given potential and their dreams.
Q: Who is a favorite leader you admire, and why?
A: President Jimmy Carter. President Carter has lived and continues to live his life with purpose. He is a humble servant-leader who serves others and gives credit to others for what has been accomplished and glory to God.
Q: Please explain how you and your organization make tough decisions.
• Does the decision align with MAP core values and guiding Christian principles.
• How does the decision align with the organization wide goals?
• Is the decision best for the people we serve and our partners?
Q: Please give some details about one of your top accomplishments of the past year that you are most proud of.
A: MAP working with our partners has served +20M people around the world in need of life-saving medicines and health supplies. We accomplished this by working together in a very challenging environment by being flexible, nimble and focusing on our mission to help those in dire need of medicines and PPEs.
Q: How is your organization changing or adapting to prepare for the future?
A: MAP International’s 5-year strategic plan and goal is to double impact by 2025. The World Health Organization estimates there are 2 billion people in the world who do not have access to life-saving medicines. MAP is working with partners to increase our impact by 2X over the next five years.
Q: What top piece of advice would you share with other CEOs?
A: I believe God has prepared each person for good work so that he/she can contribute to make the world a better place to live. Lead an organization that helps people and build up staff so that they can unleash their full potential.
Q: What’s one of the best books you’ve read recently, and why?
A: "An Hour Before Daylight" by President Jimmy Carter. The stories shared by President Jimmy Carter of his early childhood growing up in the South, serving in our military, running for public service and becoming our 39th President is an encouragement to me. President Carter leveraged his life experiences to establishing the Carter Center which now promotes peace, justice and health around the world. MAP works with the Carter Center to help provide psychotropic medicines in Liberia.
