Friday, July 5, 2013

The Recipe for Evolution


With so many candidates to choose from, spicy and seasoned Sisters must be feeling overwhelmed on who to choose.  What I have learned during this process is that Sisters are wanting something new yet reliable to take place for our Board of Directors.  When we talk about wanting evolution for our Sisterhood, everything new isn't always promising.  It's more about our evolution.

When I first drafted the Swing Evolution logo for our 41st Anniversary, I was at a pivotal moment in my first term as an executive officer.  I was proud of every idea, word, and image that I was able to create and see come to life for this organization.  For me, that's what it has always been about because the work was for my Sisters - not for me.  During my tenure as the Media Affairs and Public Relations Officer, I worked with all of the generations of Swing and it was a perfect merry of Sisterhood, professionalism, and passion.  To me, that is true evolution.  We must know where we have come from and what we are working with and breathe new energy into our growth in a new time period with old and new obstacles.  For instance, just like I tell my students, just because you can't see racism beating you in your face doesn't mean it's not there; the game has just evolved. So we have to study our history to know from which and what our people have come out of in order to understand the new dangers that await.

I'm only interested in only discussing solutions but one of our big problems in this Sisterhood is giving too much of our energy and time into complaining and lamenting over what has not been done.  Our work has been mired down due to a lack of focus in our national agenda.  Due to our small size, it is easy for us to feel overwhelmed in the work that must be done.  We take on BIG ideas, but we must figure out viable ways to keep Sisters and chapters motivated to follow through.  We struggle to communicate consistently and en masse and are left feeling as if the message has fallen into the void.  We do not properly seek out promising partnerships and evolve them into working and prosperous relationships.  We fear openly discussing our Sisterhood's issues like ageism, homophobia, substance abuse, and narrow-mindedness, all of which are diseases that will lead to our very destruction.

We have to start thinking about Swing for the next 100 years.  How will this organization look in 100 years? If you are not sure about this answer, then you have been impacted by the negativity that keeps us from being focused.  My SWING Philosophy is a stepping stone to help keep our Sisterhood alive and relevant for the next 100 years.  THE TIME IS NOW!  Some of us have to learn how to get of our own way and let leadership bloom.

This year, I have been so busy preparing myself for this moment but one of the most pertinent moments for me was working with the Public Relations team for the American Black Film Festival.  What I learned validated several things about the possibilities of leadership:

  1. Capable leaders are proven by their work ethic and relationships.
  2. Leadership is built from within and nurtured.
  3. Leadership is reliable and consistent.
  4. When leaders grow weary, they must be able to be recharged by the body from which it leads.
  5. TRUE LEADERSHIP IS NEVER COMPROMISED BUT SURROUNDED BY OTHER TRUE AND CAPABLE LEADERS.

Every where I go, I take SWING with me because not only do I represent my organization, but I learn on behalf of it. I don't have all of the answers but as a LIFE-LONG LEARNER, I know there is much to understand about being a leader.  When we look at our past history in this organization, we have seen leaders prove themselves in their era.  We've learned from their successes and failures, and in some ways, it has put us behind.  Not only do we need to usher in a new generation of leadership in SWING, we also have much work to do to bring our Sisterhood up to speed in 2013.

I'll leave you with this: as the architect of Swing Phi Swing's social media (Facebook page, The Sisters of SPHIS Group, Twitter, YouTube, InstaGram, & Foursquare), internal communications (House Report & OLA Report) and digital media platforms (Ebony Pearl TV & Ebony Pearl Radio) for this organization, author of the first Online Media Kit and Swing Brand Book, and former Editor and Chief of  The Ebony Pearl (2009-2012) that laid the foundation for a magazine style, I am proud of what I did to bring our Sisterhood into the Digital Age because it has helped us to link and network in ways that traditional means are limited in.  Sisters have attempted to shame me into believing that I am always on the Internet or that social media was going to somehow destroy our Sisterhood.  If we don't find new ways to connect, then we are only holding onto the old skin that we have outgrown and dragging along.  Plus, fear-mongering is rooted in ignorance and control issues - some of the very petty, insignificant trivialities we speak of.

You have to ask yourself: how has each of your candidates EVOLVED as leaders?

In conclusion, this is what I can promise you in addition to my PLAN:
1. I will always have a just rationale for every decision.
2. I speak in a direct and professional manner.
3. Hurt feelings have no place in the business we conduct because it represents ego and I'm not bringing it.
4. You can trust me as a proven leader, thinker, and innovator.
5. I will work hard and smart.
6. I am a consummate communicator so always expect follow up on any type of correspondence.

PR Volunteer Alaina Lewis & I during the 2013 ABFF
Find your voice and SWING!

peace & OLA,
mdgg
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