The Leadership Institute Reviews

It's a bad sign when you tell people in the real world about your workplace and they, invariably, say "that sounds like a cult." President and founder Morton Blackwell, who is the leader and principal object of this cult, is presented to employees and donors as a political wizard moving behind the scenes to save America from the left. That image falls apart pretty quickly once you start working for the guy and trying to figure out what his organization has actually accomplished over the past 4 decades. It's always "we teach conservatives how to win," with no real explanation of what that means, as further explanation isn't really possible. The training numbers are inflated or outright invented, and there are thousands of very successful conservatives out there who have no idea that LI is claiming credit for their victories just because they happened to sit through one 3 hour event they've already forgotten about, and are thus a "graduate" of the Leadership Institute. At least 50% of the funds raised by misrepresenting the organization to donors in this way go straight back into fundraising, which requires that much of the budget to compensate for the wastefulness and incompetence of its leadership. This mismanagement of the organization did not stop members of LI's horde of middle management from, in one case, describing Morton as a latter-day Thomas Jefferson, and in another case comparing a VP to the unknowable, but all-knowing, God of the Old Testament. So yes, it's a cult. And that was all before Morton suffered a debilitating stroke, a fact which has been hidden from all but a handful of donors, as communications which he's never laid eyes on continue to go out in his name. In his absence, the interim president has decided that one of the VPs needs to be put in his place. Said VP has devoted most of his professional life to becoming Morton's successor and is now facing the consequences of his presumptuousness. Unfortunately, those consequences don't seem to include a pay cut for himself, or for the interim president, both of whom receive grossly overinflated salaries courtesy of LI's generous and blissfully unaware donors. The house of cards is starting to collapse but the cult is still going strong, as few people will openly admit that they've been reading the writing on the wall and making their exit plans. There's a quiet consensus among employees that the Leadership Institute won't be around in ten years, as Morton has made no effort to build something he can realistically pass on to a successor. When this place shuts down for good I, along with many a current and former employee, will say "good riddance" and know that nothing of value was lost except for the time we wasted here.

As is the case with most poorly managed organizations LI is a revolving door of staff. Most staff only stay for 1-2 years. The organization is run by Vice Presidents. The total lack of leadership in the Programs Department has enabled overlapping responsibilities between divisions resulting in a toxic culture in which the staff doesn't respect each other and divisions are unable to coordinate. The key to success at LI is to work like a government bureaucrat--do just enough to not be a problem but not so much as to take the limelight from your boss. LI started out training college students to organize as the Left does. As the organization evolved it got into training candidates and adult activists. Unfortunately, only a few staff are qualified to teach the subject matter. The organization is very flat so there is minimal opportunity to advance. Like many non-profits in DC, management is highly compensated but their staff is grossly underpaid.