Lately I’ve been thinking about the phrase “we encourage you.” It’s a key phrase from two essential paragraphs included in every job posted as part of TOCG’s Executive Search work. As a former teacher and teaching artist you’d think those three words would be embedded in my psyche, but somehow their clear and simple resonance in a different context didn’t jump out at me until recently. Like so many of us in the arts, I have been in the midst of a career change over the last few years. Transitioning from being a client to working on behalf of clients has impacted my perspective on the subtle art of values-based practice. Or more specifically, I'm noticing the role reversal creeping into the daily work of putting my values into action. This is the first in a series of posts reflecting on just that, the successes and failures in a values-driven approach to executive search and organizational strategy.

We encourage you to apply…

Over the course of my own career, only once have I read a job description where I knew in my bones that I truly met every qualification on the page. Even then I wasn’t sure about applying because I had gained that experience piecemeal, in freelance roles as a teaching artist, seasonal arts management work in festivals, and various other one-off projects all of which took place outside of the US. Taking the leap and throwing my hat in the ring changed the course of my career and my life. With the benefit of twenty some years looking in the rear view mirror and through the generosity of many colleagues and collaborators, I recognize that the place I held in the world as a white woman with an almost completed PhD afforded me the confidence to put myself out there and the privilege of a “they just don’t get me” mindset ready to protect me from rejection.

From my current vantage point as someone working in executive search, organizational strategy, and coaching, I spend a lot of time thinking about what it means to authentically encourage people. How do we create and sustain a universal welcome in the virtual and real worlds of our organizations and our workplaces? What are the words, actions, and practices that might plant the right seed at the right time for the right person to take a step towards finding their place in the audience, on the team, or on the board?

A few days ago I happened upon an episode of the podcast We Can Do Hard Things with Glennon Doyle with guest Sonya Renee Taylor, author of The Body Is Not An Apology. Taylor is a multi-hyphenate extraordinaire–an artist, poet, author, thought leader, and activist +. She also has an M.S. in Organizational Management. I’ve thought often about what our approaches to arts management could learn from artists and/or from the collaborative, creative processes of theatre in particular. Taylor’s quote below underscores for me the power of looking to the words of artists to better understand the systems that we are actively or passively supporting. And an artist with a degree in organizational management, well, that just makes so much sense as we push ourselves towards change.

…the acorn. It doesn’t have to be told to become an oak tree. It doesn’t have to do anything to become an oak tree. It simply needs to exist as itself inside of the conditions that are fertile for oak trees. And I think part of what humanity or societies have done is we are all these acorns with all of the wiring and encoding necessary to become oak trees. We’ve created a world that is incompatible with our ability to grow into what we authentically and inherently are. And so part of what I’m always asking us to do is first realize that it’s already in you. That just like that acorn, we do not have to figure out how to radically love ourselves. We have to figure out what conditions have paved over the fertile ground that allows that thing that is naturally in us to sprout, to grow, to continue to grow.

Because it’s not even that we were an acorn and then we fell on some concrete and now we’re never going to grow. It’s not even that. It’s like we were already a growing budding plant and then somebody was like, you’d be better as a parking lot in a Target. And at some point enough people said, you’ll be better as a parking lot in a Target. And we were like, you know what? Maybe they’re right. Maybe whatever it was that I thought I was, maybe that’s a lie, maybe that’s not true at all. Maybe what’s true is what I keep hearing.

- Sonya Renee Taylor: What If You Loved Your Body?

Here Taylor is describing the quest for radical self-love and healing. She could just as easily be describing the systemic roadblocks that have taught job seekers, women and others who have been systematically marginalized, in particular, to hold themselves back from an opportunity that isn’t a “perfect” fit or, perhaps even more significantly, to hold themselves back from, to stick with the metaphor, becoming an oak tree because the system taught them that they were meant to be a parking lot.

Bringing this to an organizational level, I’m thinking about companies that may be struggling to follow through on the actions that could shift their public personas and workplace cultures from performative narratives of change to the authentic dismantling of structures and priorities that have depleted its once fertile ground. Sometimes the path of least resistance is to just stay a parking lot. But imagine what could happen if we encouraged our organizations to become forests full of oak trees? Cultivating a values-based practice means working to create the conditions for people and organizations “to grow into what (they) authentically and inherently are”–to sprout, take hold, and to THRIVE.

I am very fortunate to work with folks who are committed to this kind of organizational agriculture. We are constantly asking ourselves a version of this essential question: what conditions have paved over the fertile ground here AND what can we do to dismantle them? And then, how can we help to restore the soil so everyone has an opportunity to grow?

Here are the 100+ words that make up those two, critical and non-negotiable paragraphs of encouragement that started me thinking about acorns and the systems that block them from becoming oak trees. Penned by our TOCG colleague, Jordan Sanford:

Not sure you meet 100% of our qualifications? Research shows that men apply for jobs when they fulfill an average of 60% of the criteria. Yet, women and other people who are systematically marginalized tend only to apply if they meet every requirement. If you believe that you could excel in this role, we encourage you to apply.

We are dedicated to considering a broad array of candidates, including those with diverse workplace experiences and backgrounds. So, whether you're returning to work after a gap in employment, simply looking to transition, or taking the next step in your career path, we will be glad to have you on our radar.

I had a proof of concept moment recently when a search candidate said to me: “those words are EVERYTHING.” In the last month or so, I’ve heard a version of this from 3 or 4 other candidates–all women of color spanning a broad spectrum of career stages. Each woman went on to share a snippet of what was especially important to them. One said “returning to work after a gap in employment,” resonated in particular. Another shared that the research statistics confirmed a long held suspicion that she was never quite certain about, but felt over and over again. Another shared, “I wasn’t supposed to have the career I’ve had. People where I come from don’t work in the arts. It’s hard to move forward with that in the back of my mind, but this statement turned that voice down.”

If you believe that you could excel…

Again, a simple statement calling in self-belief. Another value from my time in the classroom and in the community. So what’s the deal? Why so impactful? I am so very grateful to the women who generously shared the power of those paragraphs with me. Not an easy thing to do in an interview situation. The experience has me wondering, what is it about work and workplaces that can so easily cause us to suppress, or worse, become numb to what we know to be true and of value? I’m going to sit with that for a long time. Meanwhile, I’m going to employ “we encourage you” more.

Job seekers - if you believe that you could excel in this role, we encourage you to apply. Arts leaders - if you believe your organization will thrive once you examine the systems and structures that tell people they don’t belong on the team or in the seats, we encourage you to change. We share your beliefs. We’re here to encourage you.

I’m going to be thinking about the conditions I can create for seeds to sprout and take hold. Sometimes all it takes is two intentional, well crafted paragraphs. Thank you Jordan. Thank you job seekers and organizational changemakers. Thank you Sonya Renee Taylor.

Systems do not maintain themselves; even our lack of intervention is an act of maintenance. Every structure in every society is upheld by the active and passive assistance of other human beings.” - Sonya Renee Taylor, The Body Is Not an Apology: The Power of Radical Self-Love

Edie Demas is the Vice President, Organizational Strategy of Tom O’Connor Consulting Group. TOCG is a NYC-based consultancy for arts and cultural institutions and leaders, offering two complementary services: organizational strategy and executive search. Edie has led Executive and Senior leadership searches for a range of organizations and has spent 20+ year in arts leadership across a variety of art forms and settings, ranging from performing arts venues to festivals to community and academic/school environments. She served most recently as Executive Director of the Jacob Burns Film Center in New York. Edie resides in the DC metro area and maintains strong ties to NYC’s robust network of arts leaders. In 2019, she was recognized as a Leading Woman in Business by 914INC and in 2018, she received a Responsible 100 Award from City and State Media, honoring New York's most outstanding and socially responsible thought leaders and visionaries making transformative change. She holds an MA and PhD from NYU’s Program in Educational Theatre.