leadership

Talking About Diversity
Some people have a very limited view of diversity. Most people avoid the topic completely in the absence of EEO, HR, and “progressive” mandates. I thought seriously about staying out of the fray but here I am!

Jumping Into The Pool
There are a few reasons that I have made the leap. I am one of the “And People.” My nature and nurture make me an embodiment of The Mosaic. My children have the same gift/curse. It is also not lost on me that many people have made a significant living out of the topic – some deservedly so. I regard myself as an equal opportunity critic when speaking truth to power. This means that it was important for me to enter the field in order to confront the Diversity Mafia. I have the most experience with this group at the independent school level. They are often the Talented Tenth who somehow got discovered and marched on to claim their elite education birthright. They know all the diversity buzzwords and jargon and control the red velvet rope against those who don’t. Their class fears are as strong as the those of the oligarchs whose “accomplishments” they worship.

Taking The Cheap Way Out
Albert Einstein stated, “The significant problems we have cannot be solved at the same level of thinking with which we created them.” Yet the purveyors of the party pablum insist on fighting the battle of diversity on the fields of cultural and identity diversity. School administrators and diversity coordinators love to put on the cultural events that celebrate their efforts at open-mindedness. Like reform efforts in public school accountability, these events are cheap and easy to do and everyone feels that they have done their part to make the tent bigger.

Fairness
I have worked with too many children who will never get the chance to see their cuisine sampled, songs sung, or humanity dignified. The common denominator for these children is their poverty. We allow private schools, elite colleges, and Fortune 500 companies to conflate race and ethnicity with deprivation. The five year-old of any race, growing up in a poor household will never have the chance to be invited to the dance.

Most people in this country will profess and believe they are open-minded on issues of race, gender, ethnicity, etc. It’s generally not popular to be a bigot. Ask people to contribute to a system that ensures educational equity for all poor children and they avert their eyes while their fingers point to the nice wall displays for Black History Month.

As the author Walter Benn Michaels asserts, “celebrating diversity shouldn’t be an acceptable alternative to seeking economic equality.”

We should not allow discrimination. Stereotype rigidity and the “Stereotype Threat” (see the research by Claude Steele) are very real problems and have to be addressed. This should not prevent debates on ideas and ideologies.

Most people don’t have access to the elite education that will open the doors to the American Dream. No one should be let off the hook just because their school or business seems appropriately diverse – there’s still that tiny, nagging issue about equality.

My adventure now includes a role as a volunteer high school football coach.  In fact, my posts haven’t been as regular as I’d like because of the “two-a-days” being conducted at the high school’s field in the Bronx.  This post is not going to be profound.  In writing it I get to be a little wistful, a little amazed, and a lot frustrated by the experience.

Each time I show up to the school, I enter into an unapologetic man’s world.  It’s one of sweat, profanity, chewing tobacco, childish humor, and talk of the glory days long past.  My own football glory days were limited as my high school had only enough personnel to field a team for two of my high school years.  With the recent revelations about the brain injuries that football can cause, I now believe that my truncated career was a blessing.  But I now get to engage in mature reflections about the game and at the same time improve my cognitive function by learning its intricacies.

I’m working as the strength coach and assistant running back coach at one of the largest high schools in New York City.  Their four-year graduation rate is under 30%.  Despite the challenges, a group of 45 young men show up in the summer for ten hours of daily character-building.  In between sprints, pushups, and blocking schemes they are directed to pull up their pants, eliminate the use of the “N word,” to support each other, and to “finish strong.”  These tough teenagers look you in the eyes, thank brand new coaches for their advice, and begin to figure out that they should have a cause bigger than themselves.

They don’t know, that despite this work ethic they are developing, that their life choices are being unfairly limited by people they have never met and by circumstances that they had no hand in creating.

This coming weekend is football camp in upstate New York.  I’m taking my 9 year-old son with with me but it still means time away from family, close living conditions with the other coaches who are not in touch with their feminine side in the same way that I am (and who also happen to be strong, engaging male figures for these boys), and time away from the marketing that is critical for my fledgling leadership coaching business.  However, there are men to build – 45 African-American, Dominican, West Indian, Puerto Rican, and Russian teens who deserve to get a little traction on the path to the people they deserve to become and who are fighting against incredible odds.  Stay tuned.

This post is short and (hopefully) sweet –  á la Seth Godin. I’ve talked about “values” in the past.  This one is about VALUE.  Perhaps it’s the ravages of middle age but I am losing my interest in potential.  Talk to me about what value you bring NOW.  In fact, someone may not have the entry level skills for a retail job, much less the ability to survive TEOTWAWKI (go ahead, look it up!).  If you have the desire to be of value to your community, then you are the kind of person I want to be around.

When someone wants to be of value, they are seekers – they have to be curious.  Integrity is more important to them than having the opportunity to show their cleverness.  They work to be a  part of the community. All I know is that when I’m done, and to paraphrase Albert Einstein, I would “rather be a man of value than a man of success.”

This post provides elaboration for two more points from an earlier piece for new nonprofit leaders.

4. Develop your network before the big job so that you can bring in your own team.
5. Get a guarantee that you can bring in your own team.

The Honeymoon

When you begin your new nonprofit job, you will almost definitely enjoy a “honeymoon period” with the existing staff.  These are the same people you met when you were interviewing.  If they knew you are a finalist for the job they almost certainly put on their most charming faces at that time.  Now, many will be prepared to put their heads down and continue to do their jobs.  Others will try to figure out the best way to curry favor with the new Boss.  The trick for you will be to determine who is who.  If these people were in leadership positions with the old regime, this calculation becomes critical to your survival.

Your Team

The safest method of leadership team building in this situation is to bring in your own people.  I should point out that there is one exception to this.  If there is someone in the organization who seems to be a natural enemy  - for instance, someone who had been an internal candidate for the job that is now yours – if you retain them and promote they can become one of your most valuable allies.  People you might regard as friends can too often become jealous of your success.  They are also in a better position to hurt you because of inside information from the friendship.

Bring in people who can fill in the gaps in your skill set.  Make sure you bring in someone who can complement your role in a “Good Cop, Bad Cop” routine.  Make sure as you move through your career that you have the kind of network that you can call on to create your team.  This means you should always look for opportunities to mentor others.  Do favors for people whenever possible. Develop a reputation as a “connector.” Evaluate people during periods of pressure and in settings that require teamwork.   How do they handle their alcohol? In Vino Veritas!

Care and Feeding

When you have the personnel, provide timely feedback, give the group opportunities to act together as a team.  No matter how often you get stabbed in the back, continue to believe in the Law of Reciprocity.  Help your people realize their dreams.  Understand their values.

If you run into someone on a Habitat for Humanity project, who’s been competing in judo and rugby since they were kids, and who can handle their own at the karaoke bar you two have been to a couple of times, you may be looking at your future COO.

Be nice until it’s time to not be nice (Road House), stay humble, don’t let anyone get too close, do a regular values audit, push hard for the right thing, and never become too attached to the results.

Have you built a leadership team or inherited one?  How did it go?

This is point #3 in Nonprofit Leadership.

I am a member of the Founders Club.  I’ve started three schools and I’m proud of the changes I was able to make in people’s lives.  In two instances I made the decision to leave rather than gain Pyrrhic victories in a battle of egos.  I’m not sure I would have wanted to work for me.  I was so mission-focused that the touchy-feely stuff  some adults seemed to need from me just wasn’t there.  That was me.  There are a host of reasons you should run screaming from a job offer to replace any founder who intends to remain active in the organization they started.

Ralph Waldo Emerson said “Every institution is the lengthened shadow of one man.”  That can become a good thing or a bad thing.  I have experienced both with founders I have encountered.  One thing I do know is that I will never work for/with another founder and I would not recommend it for anyone who is looking to make a difference in their nonprofit work.  If you are bold enough to venture forth anyway, get a contract and factor in some sort of additional compensation into your contract for the pain you will inevitably experience.

The qualities that were responsible for launching the founder’s vision can often end up being the same qualities for which the founder eventually becomes despised.  A pioneering spirit turns into ego-centrism and dictatorial decision-making.  The board of directors is often ineffective in this kind of a setting.  When new board members, not under the thrall of the founder, try to make changes, the scene is set for a terminal battle.  The only hope at this point is probably an organizational coach with the skills of King Solomon.

If you end up working for one of these people, know that a lot of your time will involve as much ego-stroking as client work.