Sayu Bhojwani: I met Sayu over a decade ago in her capacity as founder and President of New American Leaders which supports first- and second-generation Americans to run, win and lead in public office, and she hired me for work I believed in! Yay! And now I also call her friend. Yay! Her book People Like Us: The New Wave of Candidates Knocking at Democracy’s Door highlighted some of the amazing leaders making change across the United States. And over the past year, I enjoy her No. 1 Immigrant Daughter newsletter. As a No. 1 Immigrant Daughter myself, I relate so much to her observations and you will too!
“ I spent so many years being dutiful and responsible – to my family, friends, work, heck the world. Somewhere along the way, I lost touch with my deepest desires. My sense of responsibility towards what needs to be done often overwhelms what I want to get done, or what I want, period. For years, this worked for me. Society rewarded the responsible Sayu, so I kept it going.
Here’s the thing about duty – it’s designed to hold you back. For women in particular, duty is about service to others, living up to an ideal.” - No. 1 Immigrant Daughter
Maurice Mitchell: I met Maurice through work in progressive politics/organizing almost 15 years ago at a memorable first meeting at the vegan comfort food place I love in the West Village! Maurice is now the National Director of the Working Families Party - my political home. More than that, Maurice is a thought leader for progressives around the country. Maurice’s piece Building Resilient Organizations was published in The Forge in November 2022, and I have sent it to all my clients, and shared with friends and colleagues in the progressive, non profit, and even private sectors. If you work in and/or lead organizations and teams working to make things better in this world for communities and people, you should find the time to read Building Resilient Organizations and watch this discussion.
“One leader or even a group of dynamic leaders cannot solve something that is very much “in the water” everywhere. It would be inconsistent for me to diagnose a problem as structural while pointing to solutions that can be executed only by a handful of individuals. We must adopt a more comprehensive understanding of leadership that recognizes that leaders and leadership exist at all levels of our organizations and movements.” -Building Resilient Organizations, Maurice Mitchell
The Management Center: But Sujata, this is an organization not a friend! Technically yes, but TMC is chock-a-block full of many brilliant colleagues and friends. I am an adjunct trainer for the The Management Center - something I love doing as part of my everyday work. I also took their training myself back in my early days of managing teams and people, and the training and tools, and their approach to equity forward management, changed my management and leadership of teams for the better. You should def attend their trainings (mostly virtual now). Most importantly for Sujata Said…is that their new book Management in a Changing World is coming out in May 2023 and is now available for pre-order, written by my brilliant colleagues Jakada Imani, Monna Wong, and Bex Ahuja. This book is for people who agree that effective management is and should be equitable, sustainable, and results-driven and want tools to do this for themselves and their teams.