Respect people enough to be honest with them. Sometimes things are terrible, and it’s gaslighting to say otherwise. It is worse to give people false hope than to give them no hope: It some of the toughest times, such as during leadership transitions or cashflow issues, I had the urge to say things would be OK.Being stressed and underpaid is not a badge of honor. Take vacation time and mental health days. Advocate for equitable pay and benefits, paid family leave, retirement matching, etc., including for yourself if you have formal leadership roles. I was harming other colleagues through depressing wages and setting bad precedents. Self-sacrifices are not always noble they often harm others: For years I thought I was doing my organizations a favor by taking salaries way below the average when I was the ED.Do not accept any “best practice” as gospel stop and ask who determined that it’s best and whom does it most benefit. But many “best” practices are only best for those with the most privilege in our society and often reinforce inequity. Many “best practices” are inequitable and we need to reexamine them: In the beginning of my career, I accepted many things I was taught as sacred and immutable: Board governance structures, fundraising tactics, hiring practices, Robert’s Rules of Order, etc.And if you’re “ chaotically creative” like I am, you might feel terrible, but that there are plenty of research that shows that those who are messy, forgetful, etc., are often very creative and are able to come up with solutions others may not think of. But some of the best leaders are introverts. For example, extroverts and organized people. Many things society considers weaknesses are often strengths: On the other hand, society has a bias toward certain people and qualities.Being aware of your strengths and limitations allows you to find colleagues whose skills complement your own. It’s good to develop skills and improve on things you’re weak at, and it’s also good to acknowledge some things just don’t come naturally to you, and that’s OK. It’s OK to acknowledge that you suck at some stuff: Because of the ineffective way nonprofits are resourced, we’ve had to “wear many hats” and do everything.Doing the right things is often harder and sometimes goes against established laws and rules, but this is often where we find our humanity. There is a major difference between doing things right and doing the right thing: Peter Drucker said, “Management is doing things right leadership is doing the right things.” The former is about processes, filling out the right forms, following the laws, etc.Go ahead and add a zero or two to your grant requests. Especially if you come from marginalized communities and have been told you should settle for crumbs. Have the audacity of ambition, even if people doubt you or laugh at you: The scope of injustice and inequity is so large, so our ambition must be large enough to address it.
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