Liam's got issues: April 11

I recently helped found Friends of Grameen (friendsofgrameen.com), a global solidarity movement set up in response to the attacks on Grameen Bank and its founder Muhammad Yunus. The bullying, smearing and campaign to remove him continue as I write and the dangers to the very survival of Grameen itself are real.

Some in the social entrepreneur world have been fantastic allies to Yunus, working their butts off to do the dull but important grunt work required when quick action is needed. Others – and some very well known – have done bugger all. A timely reminder that we are not all on the same side and that, underneath the group hugs and love-ins at Voice, Skoll and Davos, there is no one ‘movement’. Truth is there are many chancers, bandwagon jumpers, who are neither use nor bloody ornament, but only interested in their own careers and profiles. They should hope not to cross my path any time soon.

And can I just say this once again: blogging, tweeting, speaking at conferences alone IS NOT REALLY DOING ANYTHING THAT CHANGES THE WORLD. It may help the bank balance, make you feel worthwhile and get you noticed, but often is just piss and wind.

Deep breath, Liam. Get on with sensible article writing.

One commentator said about Yunus: ‘The bigger the halo, the bigger the target’. I’ve ranted before about the over-heated rhetoric about social entrepreneurs and social enterprise. The situation in Dhaka shows, acutely, the dangers of giving credence to the myth of the social entrepreneur as part Richard Branson, part Mother Theresa and part Superman. Luckily, all we have to worry about in the UK are some really irritating public school boy multimillionaires who can’t do anything properly. But still the lesson from Dhaka is the power of the team and the crew when enemies come calling.

So, social enterprise leaders, have you thought about your succession strategy recently? What happens when you get a better offer/get made a Lord/get bored/are hit by a volunteer-driven bus? If you haven’t, you are betraying the organisation you say you love.

And, if you put off again the job you know must be done to bolster the governance of your organisation ensuring the board holds you to proper account – especially if you live one way or the other off taxpayers’ money – well, you deserve everything bad that will happen to you when a crisis hits – as surely it will.

Liam Black is co-founder of Wavelength. Contact him via thesamewavelength.com or via Twitter @LiamABlack