Know your role

Hey friend,

The past few weeks, I’ve been reflecting on what is necessary to sustain the work of making social justice changes within your organization, school, or business. After this week, I’m pausing this series and shifting gears, so I want to leave you with one more thought on the matter (for now!).

This is critical for preventing burnout: know your role.

Being clear about your role in the process of making changes helps you clarify what you can do and what you can’t do. It also helps you take change from something big, abstract, and maybe overwhelming and turn it into something specific, achievable, and realistic.

Think about the various groups you are a part of, then think of the actual role you play within a group or organization. Maybe at your work, you’re not in the position to be a decision maker. You can propose changes you’d like to see in the office, but you don’t get to decide if or how they’re implemented.

But in your local neighborhood association, you’re on the leadership team, and you have a direct say in what policies and practices your organization adopts.

Trying to do the same thing in both places is going to lead to frustration and maybe to giving up altogether. Being clear about what kind of say you have and where helps you be clear about what role you can play in making these changes.

Remember: there are small changes you always get to implement, no matter where you are. You can always respect people’s pronouns and names. You can always choose to use non-gendered language. You can always decide what media and social media you’re engaging with in your personal time.

What roles do you play in the various organizations? What help do you need clarifying what you can do to work for social change within those roles? I’d love to hear from you—reply to this email and let me know.

Fondly,
Cate

P.S. May is Mental Health Awareness Month—I’ve been working with my team to come up with a month full of Instagram content that highlights the work being done to support the mental health of gender-diverse folx all month long. Find me at @authentic.self.consulting if you haven’t already followed! <3