I was doing a keynote for the Johnson Center for Philanthropy at Michigan State University in Lansing two weeks ago. As usual, I had written up my handouts and sent them a month in advance. One of the slides was about “Avoiding The Amway School of Governance.” I describe how Amway used to dragoon people into meetings without telling them that the meeting was really about recruiting to sell their products. I talk about how board members are asked to join boards and are also not told what it is actually expected of them. How was I to know that the meeting was in the Amway Auditorium? Gulp!
