Companies and community service - who benefits?
BusinessWeek has an article on companies who encourage execs to get some "field" training by doing community service. The article was brought to my attention through a note i received from BuildingBlocks International. Jennifer Anastasoff, who is the ED for BBI, is a champ - she runs this very lean organization that encourages companies to do this very thing...and imagine the perspective, insight and energy an employee would have after coming back from one of these excursions.

"We pay a heavy price for our fear of failure. It is a powerful obstacle to growth. It assures the progressive narrowing of the personality and prevents exploration and experimentation. There is no learning without some difficulty and fumbling. If you want to keep on learning, you must keep on risking failure - all your life." - John W. Gardner

David Batstone has a site (blog?) called The Right Reality...great commentary on CSR, corporate stakeholder relations, etc. One of his editorials is titled Where CSR Gets Stuck, and if you work in this field, or care about it, you should read this.