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Neal Keny-Guyer, CEO of Mercy Corps International, built his organization by following the advice of Theodore Roosevelt: 'Be smart enough to hire good people and have sense enough to get out of their way'. For eight years, Keny-Guyer helped Mercy Corps grow in size and scope and by 2001, delivered $117 million in social programs to people in over 30 countries. Convinced that much of that success had come from empowering front-line managers to lead the agency by pursuing opportunities in the field, he wanted to continue the approach. But recent developments had challenged that view. Recent experiences in Afghanistan had exposed some weaknesses in Mercy Corps' ability to maintain an entrepreneurial approach in an emergency situation. What had worked so well in an organization of 200 was encountering difficulties now that worldwide staff exceeded 2,000. At a global leadership conference in late October 2002, Keny-Guyer met with his senior leadership team. In addition to wrestling with the political complexities of working in Iraq, he wanted to get their input on how Mercy Corps should respond if they decided it was the right course of action.