“Getting out of the way”, however, does not mean abandoning a course of action with a community partner – it means that organizations stay engaged (until they are asked not to) and behave with humility, reflexivity and courage; find opportunities for immersion, and practice the art of the pause.

1. Humility – It really does matter if the words you speak match your internal thoughts and intentions. While people can say things correctly (political correctness), sometimes due to our internal biases, we are thinking something different. Everyone has a bias. When your words don’t match your thoughts (or you slip up and say the wrong thing!), be good to yourself – when you unearth a bias use tools like Harvard’s Project Implicit test to understand it and then actively work to learn to manage it.
2. Reflexivity – Related to humility, ongoing self-reflection (reflexivity) should be built into both personal and organizational practices. Staff should take time to reflect not only on how a project, program, or meeting achieved its outcomes, but also on the quality of the process of achieving those outcomes. Ask yourselves things like: Was the process fair? Who spoke more than the others? Were diverse ways of participating encouraged?
3. Immersion – Anytime you can get out of your office, building, neighborhood, city, state, country – do it! The most powerful opportunity to be humbled and practice self-reflection is when we are made uncomfortable by unfamiliar surroundings.
4. Courage – Working on wicked questions takes a significant amount of “mental and moral strength to venture, persevere, and withstand danger, fear, or difficulty”, something epitomized by civil rights leaders, community organizers and activists that work tirelessly to change the world. Read about them, make friends with them, get out and walk the streets with these amazing, courageous role models. As we explain in another VNL blog post, relationships too will help you be a more courageous leader.
5. Pause – Many organizations, with the best of intentions, have been created to “save” others. This can set up a false dichotomy, with the organization seen as having the knowledge, resources or expertise, and the community on the receiving end. The reality is that everyone is an expert. When faced with the opportunity to provide something to the community, resist the reflex to “save” them and instead, pause, take stock of your organization’s expertise AND the expertise in your community partners. Think instead – How could we tackle this together?