What is Mission-Driven Leadership? Lessons in Action
In this special episode of Thinking CAAP, Heather Holloway flips the script and interviews CAAP President & CEO Beck Moore about the heart behind the mission.
From his powerful personal story—including experiencing homelessness—to his bold vision for the future of Community Action, Beck gets real about what it means to lead with empathy, authenticity, and intention. Together, Heather and Beck dive into topics like building inclusive workplace cultures, modeling wellbeing, empowering teams, and disrupting systems that leave people behind.
You’ll hear:
How Beck’s personal experiences fuel his passion for human-centered advocacy
What real leadership looks like when the wins aren't always on the front page
Why workplace trauma needs to be acknowledged, and how CAAP is working to break that cycle
The importance of knowing your people (and yes, their coffee orders)
A call for bold, structural changes in how we serve Pennsylvania’s most vulnerable communities
If you’ve ever wondered what it really takes to create lasting change from the inside out, this episode will leave you inspired, grounded, and ready to serve.
Thinking CAAP Talking Points
00:00 - Introduction and Background
Heather introduces Beck Moore and the focus of the podcast on bold ideas and community-driven solutions for poverty alleviation in Pennsylvania.
Beck shares his journey to leadership in Community Action and the personal connection he has to the organization's mission.
00:05:27 - Finding Purpose in Community Action
Beck discusses how his sense of purpose has deepened over time and how his personal experiences have influenced his passion for supporting human potential through Community Action.
He emphasizes the importance of relationship building and the impact that executive directors and organizations have had on him.
00:10:08 - Redefining Success in Leadership
Beck defines success in leadership as seeing his team and the organizations they support achieve and celebrate their accomplishments.
He highlights the joy of witnessing team members grow into leadership roles and seeing supported organizations receive funding opportunities.
He emphasizes the importance of rejuvenating and refilling the cup of the team.
00:11:59 - What Leadership Success Looks Like
Beck reflects on the recent summit and shares how success is measured by the team feeling rejuvenated and proud of their contributions to the event.
Beck discusses the trickle-down effect of leadership and how the success of the team and supported organizations reflects the impact of effective leadership.
He emphasizes the importance of seeing people celebrate their achievements and feeling proud of their contributions, ultimately defining success.
00:12:22 - Creating a Supportive Environment
Beck acknowledges the efforts of the team in cultivating a supportive and nurturing environment.
Beck discusses the importance of finding people who culturally support each other and facilitate a thriving workplace.
The team's ability to create a welcoming space is recognized and valued by the community.
00:14:37 - Boldest Vision for CAAP
Beck shares the boldest vision for CAAP and the communities it serves.
He envisions Community Action becoming a critical part of local infrastructure and responding to a larger scope of human-related social needs.
00:16:23 - Making Systemic Change
Beck expresses the desire to make systemic change for those who can't advocate for themselves.
He emphasizes the need to grow budgets to serve a larger population and address the increasing social needs in local communities.
00:22:52 - Modeling Wellbeing for the Team
Beck discusses the importance of modeling wellbeing for the team and creating a supportive workplace culture.
He emphasizes the impact of workplace trauma and the need to prioritize mental and emotional health for herself and the team.
00:25:41 - The Importance of Self-care and Workplace Culture
Heather discusses the impact of stress on her health and the need for a more intentional workplace culture to thrive.
00:27:22 - The Importance of Compressed Work Week
Heather emphasizes the value of a compressed work week in allowing people space to take care of personal matters and recharge, leading to a more productive work environment.
00:29:11 - Leading by Example and Honoring Boundaries
Heather shares her personal experience of overworking and the importance of setting boundaries to avoid burnout, leading by example to encourage her team to prioritize self-care and work-life balance.
00:31:36 - Establishing Clear Communication Expectations
Heather highlights the significance of establishing clear communication expectations within the workplace culture, ensuring that team members understand how to effectively communicate and support each other.
00:35:43 - Embracing Recognition and Support
Heather reflects on the practice of celebrating and supporting team members during personal milestones and hardships, fostering a workplace culture of empathy and connection.
00:38:25 - Workplace Culture and Leadership
Beck discusses the importance of understanding people's coffee orders and starting meetings with pleasantries to foster a sense of connection in a virtual workplace.
00:39:20 - Maintaining Virtual Culture
Beck highlights the need to intentionally start meetings with pleasantries to combat feelings of isolation and create moments for team members to share and connect.
00:41:59 - Leading Across Different Worlds
Beck emphasizes the lack of understanding about Community Action and the complexity of human services work, including the impact of funding changes on families.
00:48:30 - Passion for Health Equity
Beck shares personal experiences as a transgender man, advocating for health equity for the trans community and the importance of being treated respectfully and equally in healthcare settings.
00:52:36 - Leadership and Authenticity
Beck reflects on his leadership style, emphasizing the importance of being authentic and genuine in their interactions with their team.
He also discusses the impact of self-awareness on their leadership journey.
00:54:17 - Advice for Emerging Leaders
Beck provides valuable advice for individuals starting their leadership journey in service work.
He emphasizes the importance of self-awareness, recognizing triggers, and finding an organization where they can thrive and be their authentic selves.
00:55:33 - Strengths and Leadership Evolution
Beck shares his experience of undergoing a strengths assessment exercise with the team and how it has helped him evolve as a leader.
He emphasizes the importance of understanding one's strengths and how they impact leadership.
01:02:31 - Supporting Team Members
Beck discusses the importance of supporting team members and creating an environment where everyone can thrive.
Each team member has expertise and we should allow them to shine in their respective areas.
01:04:17 - Ego and Title
He delves into the topic of ego and title in leadership, emphasizing the need to check one's ego and not always be the center stage.
He stresses the importance of recognizing and acknowledging the expertise of team members, regardless of titles.
01:05:39 - Empowerment and Gratitude
Heather expresses gratitude and empowerment after the interview, highlighting the strength gained from the conversation and thanking Beck for sharing wisdom and expertise.
01:06:04 - Community Action Association of Pennsylvania
Beck wraps up by sharing information about the Community Action Association of Pennsylvania and encourages listeners to learn more about their work and connect with them on various platforms.
01:07:13 - Audience Engagement
Beck and Heather invite Community Action Agencies to send in questions for a future episode, emphasizing the importance of aligning the podcast with the audience's needs.
01:07:57 - Gratitude and Conclusion
Heather expresses gratitude for the conversation and Beck’s work, emphasizing the positive impact on the world.
Transcript of Episode 14
00:00:00
Welcome back to the Thinking CAAP, the podcast where we explore bold ideas, real challenges, and community driven solutions shaping the future of poverty alleviation here in the great state of Pennsylvania. Hey, I'm Heather Holloway, founder of Holloway Media Services, and normally I'm the co-host on the Thinking CAAP, but today we're switching things up. Normally, Beck's the host and today he's gonna be our extra special guest. So on this episode, we're turning the spotlight inward to hear from someone at the heart of it all. Beck Moore, as you know, president and CEO of the Community Action association of Pennsylvania, joins us to talk leadership.
00:00:39
And not just the kind that shows up in strategy documents, but the kind that builds trust, drives change, and keeps purpose at the center. We'll explore how he defines success when the outcomes are generational, what it takes to lead across government, nonprofit and community lines, and how staying grounded in equity and empathy helps move the mission forward. So whether you're a team leader or you lead your household, or you're just leading yourself, there's gold in this conversation. So take a breath, grab a pen, and help yourself to some serious insight. So without further ado, let's get into it, my friend.
00:01:16
What's up, Beck? How you doing?
00:01:18
What's up, Heather? Always good to see you. I wish I could. And we hear this from our listeners and anytime we ever work with you. To be clear, if only I had Heather's energy. I don't know where you find it. I wish I could. I'm going to harness you and put you in my pocket. I appreciate you.
00:01:33
Zap it right into the heart, man. It's my gift to give. I appreciate you saying that. Take it. It is yours. I don't know how to bottle it. And by the way, I drink half caf. Like I like. I'm not even full caffeine. This is just Heather half-caf.
00:01:46
Girl. I have a double espresso every morning and then probably another one at some point. I. I'm trying to cut back a little bit, but like I just. Yeah, I'm gonna. We need to. We need to talk about that offline. This opportunity, packaging Heather Holloway energy drink of some kind. I don't know what it is.
00:02:04
Yeah, instead of five hour energy, just little Heather Holloway energy.
00:02:07
I'll take, I'll take it. I'll take it.
00:02:10
Yeah, we'll talk about that later. I love the double shot of espresso. So we're here to talk about leadership.
00:02:14
Yeah. Because you are leading a huge team. And have been in Leadership for a minute.
00:02:23
Yeah, it's true. I feel like every position I've ever had at some point I've ended up in a manager role. Whether I wanted it or not, it just kind of happened. And I, you know, we just, we're going through the budgeting process right now for the organization and been reflecting a lot and just, you know, we finished our summit a few weeks ago and the growth of the team and the growth of CAAP on the whole. And it's wild.
00:02:41
I mean, when I first got here, we had roughly right about five staff. Today we have, you know, 15. We've grown from just over a million dollar budget sitting at, you know, just over the 5 million dollar mark. And it's been a while. We're only, I'm only in like three and a half years. So we'll see. We'll see what happens. Crazy, crazy stuff.
00:03:00
That's a lot to celebrate right there. My goodness gracious. All right, so let's educate the public.
00:03:06
Let's do it.
00:03:07
So when we tell stories, I love to go, you know, past, present, future. So let's start all the way at the, at the beginning of time. No, at the beginning of Beck's leadership career.
00:03:20
I want to, I want to know what first drew you to this work of Community Action.
00:03:27
It's really, really honest. I didn't know about Community Action. I got a call from a recruiter about was actually on my way to a backpacking camping trip with a group of friends of mine to Lake Tahoe and had been really kind of thinking about potentially something else. I'd been at the organization I was at previously for almost 15 years in lots of different positions and I think was really looking to become a CEO, executive director, prove to myself that I could. What I'd done as a COO, executive vice president, that I could do again in another organization. But I wanted to, right. I wanted to lead the ship.
00:04:07
I didn't want to work for someone anymore. I wanted to really kind of grow and explore and cut my teeth a little bit more. So I got a call from the recruiter, you know, Community Action Association. I was like, okay, great, sure, I'm interested. You know, kind of took a quick glance at the mission statement, felt very aligned.
00:04:24
Spent some time looking at the website, really didn't understand what the purpose of the association was at that point. And. But what really, really struck me, I think at the end of the day was I knew that leaving that form organization had to be something that was mission driven and something that I cared about deeply. And so as I started to explore, really, the organizations that we represent and support in our membership. Is that right?
00:04:46
Deep poverty work, helping support people through housing, all kinds of different services. Lots and lots and lots that our listeners have heard about before. But ultimately, as someone who grew up, you know, in poverty, as somebody who was homeless, for one point in my life, I know that Community Action could have been where I would have found support and success. And to be able to speak up for those organizations and to speak up for the clients and tell the stories that, you know, are not that dissimilar to mine was important to me. And I think, you know, what I heard the board say in that recruitment process and the interview process was that Community Action was like a family and, you know, you're in a job interview.
00:05:27
I'm like, yeah, okay, maybe that, you know, we'll. We'll see. We'll see if that actually comes to fruition and if that's actually the case. But they. But it really is.
00:05:33
I mean, I think once I came to know, really, the work that the organization did, it was aligned with my skill set, and it was aligned with what my passion was. Right. And to be able to tell the story and talk about something that impacted me in my adult life and in my childhood was important and.
00:05:50
And has been really amazing to be able to be a part of. Yeah. And, you know, having the honor of joining you here on the Thinking CAAP podcast and being able to get in front of the different agencies that are members under CAAP, that story of either becoming a client and then working for the organization, or had you known of the service back when you needed it, you would have had it. And then potentially being the CEO, now that's just a through line right there, which who else but you to lead?
00:06:22
Yeah, I mean, I. I feel really blessed to have found this work. I'm so thankful for that recruiter calling. I'm so thankful for the person who mentioned to the recruiter, right, you should reach out to this person. I think, you know, it's been. Yeah, it's been full circle.
00:06:37
And I think that when I meet people, and when I do presentations, a lot of times in leadership, I talk about things that what do you assume when you meet me? And I think one of the things that I don’t really dig into that I'd like to explore in future conversations when I present is on this idea of. Right. Like, I don't look like somebody that was homeless at some point. Like what I've achieved. Look at my house.
00:06:59
You get to know me a little bit. People are often surprised by that conversation, but I would. I lived in my truck for the better part of almost two years. You know, I worked a lot of jobs. I worked as an outdoor educator, which meant over the summer I got room and board.
00:07:11
Right. I got to live in a tent all summer and play with kids, which was great. But it's something that's deeply impacted me and that I'm. In a lot of ways, I think it's growing my spirit of gratitude for all the things that I have now and I'm very appreciative for. But it was.
00:07:29
I was just at a presentation the other day for a group of kids and they said, what was it that really drove your desire, right. Or your thoughts on what did you do right, to get out of that situation? I was like, I don't know. I don't know. I just knew that I wanted better for what my life was.
00:07:47
I knew better than what I saw my family have. And I think I had a. Early on, my grandfather was an amazing influence on my life. And I know he would have wanted more for me than what I had. And so I just, I've just worked really, really hard.
00:08:01
I wish I had known about Community Action. You know, you've heard, heard some of our executive directors and frontline staff say this, how they were like, we help people recognize their dreams and achieve those dreams. And it's really hard to dream when you're struggling to pay the rent, to put food on your table, living in a truck. And so I wish Community Action had been a part of that, but I'm thankful for it to be a part of my life now. Yeah, yeah.
00:08:23
Yeah, yeah. I mean, investing in human potential. I mean, that's what you do. You support human potential. It's incredible.
00:08:32
Do you think your sense of purpose has evolved or has your why changed? Or maybe it's just deepened?
00:08:40
I think it's deepened. I think I said to the. Again, I said to the board and the search committee, when we were going through the interview process, there was a conversation about, right.
00:08:48
Like whether or not I would be the right person to represent the organization. Because I don't come from human services background, I come from youth serving membership, service based organizations. And so for somebody to step into this role and understand the work as quickly as what they needed to and to be able to be effective as the leader of the association was important. Um, and what I told them was that, look, you're not going to find anybody that's going to work any harder than me to on any job.
00:09:12
You know, whether I'm pumping gas or I'm serving a burger or I'm running an association, I'm always going to be one of the hardest people working people in the room. It's just how I'm built. I think the why has changed because of the people that I've gotten to know that run the organizations. I just, I consider my friends. They're, you know, many are my board members, but I would also consider them my friends.
00:09:32
I see they're. They're remarkable stories and it inspires me to want to work harder for them. And so I think the why has changed in that, you know, it sounds so cheesy, but Community Action is a family. I mean, like, they're pick up the phone and call an executive director when I know they're going through something hard. When we experience loss in our network, you know, a staff member passes away, a client passed away, volunteer passed away.
00:09:56
We all feel that. And so I think at its core, the why hasn't changed. It's just. It's just grown. Like I have, you know, another chosen family in my life, which is pretty amazing.
00:10:08
Yeah. And I'm-just amazing people. I can't gush enough about who you've cultivated too, you know, within CAAP and. And these executive directors that you're. You're hanging with and helping. I mean, oh, just such great people. So, okay, so the work, we haven't really evolved. We're just going deeper and deeper, which is amazing. In your field, in your line of work, where change often takes time and wins aren't always front page news. How do you define success in your leadership?
00:10:44
I think one of the things that I have always loved about being a manager, a good manager, because I've not always been a good manager, is really seeing my team achieve and celebrate one another or them growing into other roles. Seeing, you know, people that used to report to me become executive directors, seeing people, right. Running large organizations or growing in a position to become a director, that is my feel good. Right. Seeing an organization that we support get a big funding opportunity and knowing in some small way that we were part of that.
00:11:20
I don't. We. It doesn't have to be my success. Right. That is my success.
00:11:24
It's just being able to see really remarkable things. Seeing people be proud of themselves, celebrate those things. Those are, those are things I love to see. I mean, sure, like revenue growth. Great, right?
00:11:34
Growing team. Awesome. Yes, love that, ain't gonna say no
00:11:38
Right. But I think the moments that, you know, after the summit, for instance, that we had a couple. A couple weeks ago, seeing it, people leave that event and feel like they were rejuvenated, that the time that they spent away from their organizations. From their day job was meaningful. Yeah.
00:11:59
Knowing that we've refilled their cup. A phrase that I kind of hate right now, but, you know, we've refilled their cup, and that the team felt really good about all of what they did, and they all know what they did to influence that event, and everybody had a part to play. That's how I see success.
00:12:17
Yeah. Yeah. Well. And we're talking about leadership, so it's trickled down, my friend.
00:12:22
I mean, this is what you're cultivating, this is what you're curating, this is what you're supporting, you're nurturing, you're helping to grow. So well done. And being at the event and seeing it all run so smoothly and seeing the team be so joyous. They really care. Wonderful.
00:12:40
I just had a conversation with one of my dear friends, shout out to Ellen Min, who I've gotten to know over the course of the last few, few months. She was there, and she's been a participant in prior years at that event. And she said to me after this last event, she's like, the way that your team creates a space for people, the fact that you can see that they genuinely want to be there, how they both engage in as participants of an event and create the space at the same time is really remarkable.
00:13:17
And I hope that I've influenced that in some way, shape or form. I think it really speaks to trying to find people that culturally support each other in our environment and continue to facilitate a workplace that people can thrive is super critical. But that. I think the other thing about success is hearing people say that about our team also just gives me all the good feels because it's part of what. What we talk about as a membership organization. Right. We're creating. This is what we want to create. Our members matter to us.
00:13:51
Right. We want to create these. These. These spaces. But there's doing that, and then there's people feeling what our team creates. And there's a difference..And that feeling people can't help but notice. I would say the same is true of your team.
00:14:08
Oh, you're so sweet. I mean, well, listen, you're a brother from another mother, so it makes sense. It makes sense that we're calling in really kind Generous, joyful people who care. And so I receive that.
00:14:23
Thank you so much. And reflecting that, like, you know what this conversation is about is your team and, and your leadership. So. All right, when you look ahead, this is a big question.
00:14:36
Yeah, I'm ready.
00:14:37
What's your boldest vision for CAAP and for the communities you serve or that CAAP's agencies serve?
00:14:45
Yeah. I think the biggest opportunity, frankly, is that Community Action shows up in local communities in so many ways. And so it's, there's no, I think there's been no formalization. Is that a word?
00:15:00
Yeah.
00:15:03
All those in favor? Yes. Okay. Yes. The eyes have it.
00:15:06
Change approved. I think those, our organizations, our local agencies, I envision a world where they are responding to. Right. They are a part of critical infrastructure of the state where we are embedded within infrastructure in a way that we're already serving our communities. But contractually that may not be the case.
00:15:33
Yeah. So in any instance. Right. Where there needs to be a larger response around all of the human related social needs that people have in their local communities, Community Action should be embedded within that framework. And what I'd love to see is that CAAP is the administrator on making that happen so that our agencies can, we can worry about the compliance on their behalf.
00:15:55
We can track those things where we can help to make sure all of those things happen. We can see what their needs are to be effective in those things. But ultimately. Right. Pushing dollars to those agencies to continue to do more of what they already do really, really well. And we've started that in some really small ways, but just want to continue to grow those opportunities where our agencies are already making a difference and we know can continue to grow their services to even more people. So. Right.
00:16:23
Not last year alone served over 500,000 people. Why? You know, anybody who's struggling at any point here in Pennsylvania, we should be struggling. And we know that. What is it? 1.2 million people. Right. At some point are worried about putting food on the table. We can't serve all 1.2 million people without additional dollars.
00:16:45
So being able to grow those budgets so that we can serve all those people is I think ultimately what I hope to be able to achieve.
00:16:53
Yes. And now more than ever, more critical as healthcare is on the line, as prices are going up, I mean, that 1.2 million may double over the next couple years. We don't know. We hope not. But that's why we need to continue to do, to keep doing the good work.
00:17:15
And I think there's, I think there's advocacy opportunities and lobbying opportunities for us. Right. If we can help to grow the minimum wage. You know, there's, I think, being able to influence that in some small way, I think.
00:17:28
And I think the other thing on a personal note, sort of, you know, yes, it's aligned with Community Action on the whole, but on a personal note also just being a help, I think on a larger scale to make systemic change for people who can't advocate for themselves, who don't have the opportunity, who aren't invited to the table to be able to speak up for those people who are like me. Right. Or have other challenges.
00:17:52
That's part of what I want to do with my life. So if I can do more of that and fix some of those problems. Right. I want to be about helping to create change and help people thrive.
00:18:05
That's right. And this is why you're in the leadership role. This is great. Yeah. Well, listen, Beck, I imagine that you've had to make some tough decisions over the years, some tough calls. What's one leadership decision that shifted the course of CAAP? Or maybe it made a long term impact, even if it wasn't obvious right away. What's a tough decision that shifted the course of CAAP?
00:18:30
Yeah, I mean, I think we've had a lot of. Initially, we had a lot of, a lot of turnover in our team. I think, I don't. This is not a criticism of past leadership. I think there's a time and a place. I don't know. Right. The players that were involved.
00:18:48
I didn't know many of the executive directors at the time who were in place in our agencies. And so not trying to. Anybody who's listening, who has been a part of the Community Action family for a long time, far longer than I have, frankly, because I still feel like I'm a newcomer, even though people tell me I'm not, is I don't really think the association knew what they. What we wanted to be, what was core to our services. Right. What was really going to be the core of what our business was. We talked about training and technical assistance. Right.
00:19:19
We talked about advocacy and lobbying and we were dabbling in a lot of that. But I think we weren't necessarily doing any of it really well. And so honestly, I think the best decision that I ever could have made is I needed somebody as a second that I could, that I could trust and that I knew I could hand projects off to and they were going to run with them. Right. You can't, as a leader, you can't do everything on your own.
00:19:49
You just. You just can't. It's not real. And so I knew that I needed a team around me, that there was equal vision capacity to call me out when they had a better idea or say, you know what, Beck, I don't. I don't agree with this. Or have you thought about it this way? Like, I needed thought leaders. And so the first person bringing that we. That I brought on was Amanda Hopridge, who's unfortunately no longer here, who was our COO. She really helped to kick off a lot of the infrastructure that we were able to then execute on all the things and then.
00:20:25
Right. Bringing Georgia on our. Georgia Delfreo, our chief Strategy officer, who we did a special shout out article in the month of Community Action Month. Check out the article. She's an amazing human.
00:20:34
Erica Carpent, our director of operations. Every single person on our team that is here today, I don't think that those were difficult decisions. It was, but it was right. Trying to get our revenue to a point that we could grow our staff. And so trying to figure out how to do that was difficult.
00:20:52
But all of our success has been because of the team that we've built. Right. We are sort of this funny little motley crew, but we all have very different strengths. That's been very intentional on my part. And then figuring out how do we create projects and their roles that embody those strengths to make us thrive.
00:21:13
Yeah. Right person, right seat. When that comes, when that comes together, you see what happens. You go from 1mil to 5mil. You go from 5 people to 15. Growth happens through the diversity of thoughts, diversity of people. I mean, well done you.
00:21:32
Thank you. I mean, well done, team. Because I'm- I can be. I work. You know, at some point, we're gonna have another episode with some of our. With some of my team to talk about this a little bit. And I fully expect them to call me out. I know that I am not everybody's, you know, favorite when it comes to supervision. I love ideation. I love strategy. Those are two of my top strengths.
00:21:54
If you're a fan of cliftonstrengthfinders, I will often be like, say to the team, like, hey, guys, I have this great idea. Let's. Let's talk about this thing that I've just dreamed up. And they're like, yeah, no, not right now. And, you know, when we'll talk about it and sometimes I'll be like, no, yes, right now.
00:22:11
And, you know, I'll push anyway. And then there are other times that I'll say, okay, yep, I appreciate that. I mean, one of our workplace culture rules is accepting when somebody says we're at capacity, Recognizing that, accepting it. Right. And thinking about how you can shift things.
00:22:23
But this team has just really created remarkable things and brought ideas to the table again, every single person. I mean, I just can't say it enough. I love this group of people that have come together. They're. They're just remarkable.
00:22:42
Yeah. I love that we're talking about team right now. And you even alluded to it where, you know, you were the CEO, then you had a delegate, you needed somebody that could take. You could pass a baton off too. Right.
00:22:52
I mean, as leaders, we have to delegate. We are the visionaries. We're leading the charge so we can't get sucked down into the weeds. But, you know, doing all this work and sustaining ourselves in it, we wrestle. We wrestle with that as leaders.
00:23:10
Like, we can do the work, but we can't be doing all the work. Right. So how do you model. How do you model wellbeing for your team? What does leading by example look like in that space?
00:23:22
Yeah. And this is something I try really hard to do because I want to make sure people. I was just talking about this with somebody. I'm going to back up for a second. I was just talking with somebody else about this earlier today.
00:23:35
Many of us have had trauma in our. In our lives, right. Growing up, our family, how we were brought up, all of these things. So there's that trauma and then there's workplace trauma. And I would argue, and one day, when I write my leadership book, I would argue that workplace trauma and family trauma is equally as impactful on our lives.
00:23:52
And I think more often than not, sometimes it can be even worse because we don't unpack it. We don't even recognize we're bringing that trauma response to the next organization we've worked with. And so as an organization, I've said to the team so many times when they come on board, every single new person meets with every single person in the organization to just understand what they do, get a little bit of a sense of, like, who they are, just, you know, some force bonding a little bit. And what I tell every person that starts with the organization is that I just want you to. I want to say out loud, right, like, when I say something to you about workplace culture, when I say, right, like, take the day, that really means take the day.
00:24:34
What it doesn't mean is, yeah, you should still be checking your email, though, and If I call you, you need to respond. First of all, I'm not going to call you, Right. If you're off, you're off, you're off. And I try to then model that, but I'm not there.
00:24:48
This past year has been a wild year and I was getting to the point where I was, I was not modeling it well. I think for me, right, like what I've said to the team a number of times is that if I've had a really hard moment at home, my son has special needs. If we've had a really hard morning, he's escalated. I'm going to probably say, right, I'm not going to take a meeting because if I can't show up as the best version of myself, I, I'm not going to be any good to you, Right. If I'm not in a space where I can think clearly and not have, right, you know, whatever monkeys on my back from what happened a little while ago.
00:25:24
I'm not going to help you thrive and I'm not going to thrive and I'm going to be escalated, right. And so I'm going to potentially say something I don't mean and I don't want to be that kind of leader. I don't want to, you know, my frustrations of something else that happened in another room come into this room that we're in right now. So I think that's, that's, that's number one. So I, I said that.
00:25:41
But at different points this year, I was not taking care of myself. I think I was carrying a lot of stress in the day to day. I ended up having two serious injuries this past year. I had tore my ACL and I broke my arm. I broke my arm because I passed out in the middle of the night when I got up to take care of my dog.
00:26:00
And I know that that was my body's response to just being overexerted, right. And tired. And so I said to the team, I was like, okay, I really didn't need two reminders, universe. Like, one was one major surgery.
00:26:12
One major, you know, issue was enough. And so that second injury happened and I said to Jen Lindsay, shout out to her, my executive assistant. I say all the time, I'm just a pretty face. She really runs the joint. I said to her, I was like, we, we created a really intentional workplace culture and environment where people could thrive.
00:26:29
One of those is a compressed work week. So four day work week. If I, you know, take a meeting on a Friday, it's by my choice. But I was getting to the point where I was working every single Friday. And not just every single Friday, like for a couple hours, but, right, like 7:00 o' clock in the morning until 6:00 clock at night.
00:26:49
Same things on Fridays. And I just, and I wasn't, I wasn't getting anything accomplished. Like working Friday wasn't like it created any relief. And part of the idea of compressed work week is. Sorry to go long winded on this question. It’s important.
00:27:03
I love this
00:27:05
The idea of a compressed work week, right, is the Friday allows you the space to take care of the things that you can't get to in your life and the rest of the week, right? So the doctor's appointments, the, you know, got to go to the eye doctor, I've got to take my kids somewhere, I have to take care of something at the house. I need to pick something up, right? It allows you to really focus during the regular work week.
00:27:22
And then your Fridays actually allow you the space to breathe a little bit. So then that way your weekend can actually be your weekend. You get to relax, hopefully you get to spend time with your family.
00:27:33
And I just wasn't doing that. And so I said to Jen after I came back and I said to the whole leadership team after I came back from my, my second injury of my broken arm and you know, now have a metal plate and 10 screws in my arm, I'm not taking Fridays anymore. No more Friday meetings.
00:27:52
You know, unless it's a, unless it's the state calling and you know, we're a contractor on a grant and it's an absolute like they are requiring otherwise, no more Fridays. And I've held, I've held to that. And I said to the team, I was like, we have, we have, I have got to get better, we have got to get better of honoring it. There's a reason why we created it. And you know what's ironic about that?
00:28:17
And most people be like, I could never do that, right? I would never get through all the things. I have gone from carrying an inbox with 300 emails to an inbox right now. If I turn my email on, I'm at like 42.
00:28:31
I'm not saying I'm still as responsive as I need to always, but I know the relief that I feel, And so I'm, I'm trying to go back to your question, right, about how, how long, how am I trying to lead by that example? I think it's, it's saying to the team, right, like number one, when I Say something. I mean it. There's no between the lines, right?
00:28:51
Like, this is the reality of the situation. And number two, I think the last six months in particular, really trying to hold true to the expectations that I put on the team. And that's. That's hard because I think all of our mentality is right, like, well, just more hours are going to fix it, more hours is going to fix it, more hours is going to fix it.
00:29:11
And at some point, your body starts to betray you. And I learned this lesson earlier. Earlier in my career. Another health issue that I had had. I wasn't listening to my body, and it got really out of control, and I found myself out of. Out of work from a medical issue for about a month, and apparently I needed two more reminders. But that's three, right? So that should be the end.
00:29:33
That's it. Three strikes, you out, you done. You learned the lesson now. But I understand, as a leader, I understand. I also do no Fridays, and I did not honor that for the first half of this year and found the anxiety starting to creep up. And also, I'm a creative being. I need an outlet for my creativity.
00:29:57
But if I'm in meetings, which I understand is one of the top job responsibilities as the leader, is to be in meetings. I also need time to create because I'm also a speaker. You're a speaker. You know, we have things that we need to produce. I can't. If I have back to. Back to back to back meetings Monday through Friday. You can't. And I'm not.
00:30:23
There's a hard line at 5pm that's it. The laptop closes. The brain may not stop, but the laptop closes. So I feel you on that, and I want to commend you for honoring that and your team for honoring that. Because like I said, leading by example, that's a perfect way to lead by example.
00:30:41
It gives them permission to say, when I'm off, I'm off, I'm off. So.
00:30:46
And I always want to be the hardest working person in the organization. Right? But if I'm taking Fridays off, there's no reason why the rest of the team shouldn't. I mean, my calendar is still disgusting, to be clear, but. But Jen does like that.
00:31:00
This is on a podcast episode. So any CAAP employees listening right now, he's saying, take off. So when you're off, you're off.
00:31:08
Okay. We- so we're tapping into the workplace culture we talked about. Okay. Respecting those boundaries. Right. Um, you mentioned another workplace cultureism that you have. But tell me some more. What else, what else is established in, in the workplace culture there that makes it such a great place to work at?
00:31:25
Yeah, so I, I, One of, one of the, the items is around communication and creating a space where people can be honest and authentic in their communication. We have a, a, all of our workplace culture items, by the way, are not just a statement about, like, yes, we will communicate. It has a statement around the item and then it's got the behaviors that are expected. And I say this when I do workplace culture conversations. Right.
00:31:53
You have to be very clear about what an expectation of communication means. Because communication in particular is one of those things that anytime I've stepped into an organization and somebody will say to me, well, communications, Communication is bad or communication needs to improve. Okay, well, what does that really mean? Because your expectation of response is different than my expectation of response. How you communicate. Do you want an email? Do you want a phone call? Do you want a text message? Do you want a slack message? A teams message?
00:32:18
A message in asana, whatever platform you use. Right. Like all everybody, right, Everybody has all these different expectations. If I ask you what ASAP means, chances are it's going to be different than the next person's. And so we have to define that.
00:32:31
We can't be mad if we're going to a restaurant and if I'm a vegan, right, or vegetarian and I order a burger and I don't say that I want the vegetarian patty and I get a beef burger, I can't be mad about it if I didn't set my expectations. And so we can't look at workplace culture any differently.
00:32:47
Oh, we can't read minds?
00:32:52
No, we can't. I know that we think we can sometimes. And so all of our workplace culture, areas of focus, relationships, communication. Right. All of those have very specific kind of expectations around how we show up then. And part of what we also do is in our review process, our team scores every team member on how we show up.
00:33:14
Oh, wow. Team scoring teams. That's a new one.
00:33:18
So it's 360, right? All around. It's done so in a way that I'm the only person that has access to that scoring of workplace culture with the knowledge and expectation that if you tell me, right, like, Heather sucks, which to be clear, Heather, you wouldn't suck. But if you say Heather sucks, you need to be really clear about why Heather sucks. I need you to give me a concrete example. Is it because Heather didn't help unpack boxes. Is it when we got to an event, is it because Heather always starts a meeting without. Right.
00:33:46
Just saying, hello, how are you? And we're a team, by the way. That works. I said this to somebody at the summit. We only see each other collectively in person maybe three times a year.
00:33:56
Which was going to be a follow up question of like, I'll get to that. Go ahead.
00:34:00
So how we show up for each other in person, how we show up in a zoom room or a teams room or whatever, really, really, really matters. And so I take all of that feedback that team members have provided, I review it. Right. If there's a problem when I go to the team member and have a conversation with them and then ultimately our reviews are job description based. Like expectations goals, like larger goals which are not typically a part of expectation. And then workplace culture expectations. And so those are all scored equally. I don't, I need people who are good, culturally good, fit culturally in our organization.
00:34:38
I don't care what experience you've had because ultimately you could be a rock star, but if you don't show up for your team, I don't want you. Because all. And this is where I think also, like, people who have worked for me in the past get a little frustrated. We're really matrixed.
00:34:54
We look at every project as something we're going to rip apart and say, right, okay, Heather's going to get this because she's good at this. Erica is going to get this because she's good at this, and so on and so forth. Job descriptions.
00:35:07
Most of the time, our job descriptions don't match what we're doing. We try, you know, our best to theme them, but really like that other duties is assigned
00:35:20
Other duties as excite. That's what it is.
00:35:21
Yeah. And I think that when you have a team that functions like that, with that mindset, that culture piece is so hypercritical, which is part of why we lean so much into that culture piece. There are other things we do. I mean, I think, you know, we. I talk about this a lot when I present on Workplace Culture. We get everybody's favorites when they first start.
00:35:43
You inspired us to do that. I have a spreadsheet now. Yeah.
00:35:49
Yes. Every new person, regardless of gender, gets flowers when they start with us.The favorites piece is. Right. Like if somebody's celebrating something, if somebody goes through a hardship, if there's something cool that somebody did, everybody can go on SharePoint, access that favorites list and send somebody, send something to somebody in recognition of that. So much so that I was having a really hard time. This is probably, I don't know, like, a year ago now.
00:36:16
And Erica, director of operations, sent me my favorite candy. I went to my front porch, and there's an Amazon package, and I opened it up as my favorite. One of my favorite candies. Nerd cluster. Nerd gummy clusters.
00:36:26
Which are disgusting, I know, for my teeth, but I love them anyway. And it was just a note about, like, remember how strong you are. We're here for you at my heart. Like, they're doing that for me as their CEO. Right.
00:36:39
And I know they're doing that for each other, and I try to do that for all of them whenever I can. But we forget sometimes about people as humans and work and transitions in our lives are really important. I talk about this, too. Like, marriage, death of pets and family, moving, buying a house, graduation.
00:37:03
Injury, yes. Those moments matter to us as humans, and we need to recognize that that's the way we remember our lives. Like, when you think about, like, okay, I was born here, I grew up here, I graduated from here, I went to college here. Those are all transition points.
00:37:18
And so we try to really embrace that also. And it's a beautiful thing to see when it happens without me prompting it. I love that so much.
00:37:33
I love that so much, too.This is inspiring me to go even deeper on this, so thank you so much. Yeah. I'm curious. Did you play team sports when you were a kid or. Where does it stem from?
00:37:41
Honest. Honestly, I've had some pretty. I've had a lot of not so great managers, to be clear.
00:37:50
And I've had a handful of really amazing ones. I talked to you about Fran, for instance. Um, the favorites thing. I don't remember where it came from.
00:37:59
I didn't. I don't think I thought this up. It was somebody from one of my teams, and it's something that we started to do as an organization and something that I've just really embraced, particularly here.
00:38:17
I say all the time. Right. Like, knowing somebody's coffee order is meaningful, particularly if you're a coffee drinker or. I know George is a tea drinker.
00:38:25
Right. I know. To not bring Erica Dunkin donuts. I. You know, I know that she wants a skinny vanilla latte.
00:38:31
So if I'm gonna see her and meet her at Starbucks, like, I'm gonna order for her before she even gets there. That's cool. Right? Or if we do a coffee order when we're working at a conference. Right. Potentially, I could do the whole coffee order without even having to talk to somebody.
00:38:45
Wow. Do you know your people's coffee order? I mean, that. I feel like that's a blog post. I feel like we need to make a LinkedIn article on that. Beck. That's the secret sauce. That is the next level leadership that we so desperately need. All over the place.
00:39:02
Were humans with basic needs. Right. Like, yeah, yeah, absolutely. So my. My final question on workplace culture is. And you. You said it. We don't have an office. We have offices at home. So how do we keep that culture going when it's virtual?
00:39:20
Yeah. I think it sounds so dumb because it's really so simple, but I am somebody who likes to get down to business. I want to get stuff done. I don't want to sit and talk all day long about it. But. And I think people would be surprised to hear me say that because I do spend a lot of times in meetings talking about pleasantries.
00:39:43
You socialize. Yeah.
00:39:45
I do, right. Also its low, like, I work from home. Nobody's home with me when I'm working. I have my dogs, but they don't. They don't count because they're big goofers, Goofballs. I'm lonely. I know other people. Right. Have other people working from home too. But it's starting a meeting intentionally with pleasantries. Hey, everybody.
00:40:03
How you doing? Right. Can we talk about something that. That's going really well for you? Something that you're frustrated about?
00:40:11
It's easy to start to feel alone. You know, George is up in Erie, for crying out loud. Catherine is down in the Lehigh Valley. Right. We're opposite corners of the state.
00:40:19
It's easy to start to think about, like, I'm the only person with this challenge right now. And so how do we create moments that people can share? And so there are times that our one on ones, my one on ones with my team, which I'm diligent about having, the first half an hour will just be, you know, shooting the crap. Yeah. Because we're all going through stuff,
00:40:41
I don't get to walk to get coffee. My double espresso, you know, with somebody who's leaving their office to go to the to the kitchen. I'm walking downstairs to my kitchen where there's nobody but barking dogs. We've got to figure out a way to force ourselves to spend time with each other.
00:40:58
And that can be irritating to people who just want to get down to business. So even if you have to put it formally in an agenda.
00:41:08
Do it. Pleasantries, welcome. Icebreaker, whatever. Like just something so that people have a feel good moment to like feel connected to another human.
00:41:18
Yeah, we do that as well. Every meeting. You know, our weekly Pulse meetings or our one on ones. The first five minutes is how we doing? What do you got? Checking. Yeah, check in, check out. The other thing we do is headlines. What do you have to celebrate?
00:41:34
So what are our headlines for the week? So I love that so much. Okay, so we talked about workplace culture, we talked about where we got the leadership, we talked about where we're going, bold ideas for CAAP. Let's talk about some partnerships, because CAAP alone isn't running on its own. So you work with such a wide array of partners, from government to nonprofits to private sector allies.
00:41:59
What's been your biggest insight about leading across these different worlds? Because I imagine from private to public to government, it is all different.
00:42:10
I think it's a couple of things I would say, trying to think here of what I. How. How I want to dig into this question, I think.
00:42:22
And number one, I mean, something that we talk about on the podcast all the time. How many people don't understand Community Action? You know, the framework in which we were created, why we were created, how we were created, how we function, how we address, you know, local community needs, I think is number one. It never ceases to amaze how a group of organizations who have been around for 60, 60 years officially are just still such a hidden gem and shouldn't be because of the number of people that we've helped for the last 60 years.
00:42:51
So there's that. I think the other thing that is just how few people understand all of the layers that go into human services, work, health, human related, social needs, social determinants of health, whatever phrase you want to use to talk about the types of programs that our organizations manage. You know, even if you look at state infrastructure, for instance, part of the programs that our team manage, our organizations manage. Some are at the Department of Community and Economic Development, some are at the Department of Human Services, some are at the Department of Health, some are at the Department of Education. So you have all of these different state departments that one of our organizations is touching, all with separate rules, all with separate reporting expectations, but all have to be housed within one organization that facilitate all those things.
00:43:46
And so how you start to pull the thread of one of those services and the impact on that organization in order to continue to facilitate all of those services is really complicated. And there's just so few people who really understand how one thing leads to the next. That leads to the next. It leads to the next.
00:44:07
And I think the economic impact that the people that Community Action serves, the clients of Community Action, it's not, you know, long term, it's about economic mobility. It's about helping those clients. Right. Become less reliant or not reliant on welfare systems. It's about. Right. Growing their household income to a point that they're no longer reliant and thriving and growing. Which means. Right. The community grows and thrives.
00:44:33
They have more money in their wallet to be able to pay for the nice things which grows community. Right. That ecosystem of care. Because that's not just about. Right. Economic mobility. That's human needs that are being addressed through our organizations. The complexity of that is deep and complicated. And I think particularly right now, at a point where we're really strongly advocating for our organizations to maintain their current funding is such an important thing for people to try to understand. Right.
00:45:09
If the Department of Health and Human Services on a federal level changed this one thing, the snowball effect for families is crazy. Like Megan Shreve told this story about on the podcast, I think about a client who. Their family income changed by $26 a year.
00:45:33
And it kicked. It made, you know, it made them lose a number of benefits. Yeah. That people have this perspective of poverty. Right.
00:45:42
They have this perspective of, you know, oh, you're just giving handouts. People aren't working. We know that almost every single person that walks through the doors of Community Action is. Is working 1, 2, 3 jobs to make ends meet. And so I think it's just, I think it's all of that.
00:45:57
And then I think it's. The other thing that I would say from just an organizational leadership perspective is human services organizations are often just so inundated with all of this work that then what tends to happen a lot of times when I talk to folks is I'll ask the question about how many of you are managers in the room? How many of you are meeting with your staff on a regular basis, even just once a month, Even just you and your team member that you directly supervise? And more often than not, and I'm not just talking about Community Action, to be clear, you know, this is larger scale human services folks. More often than not, people say they don't have time.
00:46:41
And I believe that, that they think that that is true because they're so busy doing, doing all of this work. Right. There's, there's competing priorities all the time. I get it.
00:46:51
But again, to go back to this, you know, leadership point here, right. If we're not supporting our team to thrive, for them to do the best jobs that they can do, to surround them, Everybody deserves one on one time with their supervisor. Yeah. Like it or not, investing that time may feel like a problem in the, on the front end, but long term, right. It's going to make you more successful as a, as a supervisor
00:47:15
So I think it's all of those things right now. Right. The human needs of our local communities are growing for all kinds of different reasons. And we need people to really stop and ask themselves, do I really understand where this funding is going to impact here or here? And don't just assume that somebody says it on Facebook or TikTok or a reel on Instagram or you listen to it on one news outlet and you turn on a new. You gotta, you gotta do some digging. Right, folks? You gotta, you gotta really seek to understand. And I think that's, that's also been a frustration point.
00:47:50
Yeah, yeah. Well, and that's, and that's messaging. And we're working to bring those messages out to the public, to educate the public, to get them aware of. You're right. It's 60 years old and still a best kept secret.
00:48:05
So we're doing that work together. Let’t talk about equity and systems here. I want to move into systems. When it comes to systems and equality, whether we're talking education or housing or employment, what are the ones that you feel most passionate about disrupting or redesigning?
00:48:30
Yeah. I think I'm going to take off my Community Action hat for a second about one of my personal passion points. So as a, you know, as a transgender man, I think health equity for the trans community is really hypercritical to me, is not, you know, the opinion of the organization, to be clear. It's my opinion as Beck, you know, Beck Moore, trans man who lived 38 years as a, as a woman and now five years later. Right. Living as a, as a man and, you know, appearing with passing privilege where nobody looks at me twice when I walk down a hall into a bathroom, et cetera.
00:49:07
When I first started my transition journey, I had really good insurance and trying to find just basic healthcare was really difficult. Even just finding somebody to like, seriously, I was having really serious abdominal cramping. It wasn't about. I didn't need gender affirming care.
00:49:23
I didn't need a doctor to provide me hormones. I didn't need a doctor to help me with my transition or deal with any of those healthcare needs. I just needed a doctor. And every time I would go into a doctor's office or I would call a doctor's office, they would say, well, we can't see you because you're on hormones. Well, just go to the emergency room.
00:49:41
I don't want to go to an emergency room. I'm not in an emergency. I don't want to pay the $200 copay that I have for my emergency room copay. I need. I need to establish care.
00:49:49
I just moved back to Central Pennsylvania, and I was very transparent about who I was because I don't know how this one drug is impacting this part of my body. I don't know how this drug is interacting with this drug. I'm not a doctor. I don't want to be a doctor.
00:50:04
And so health equity to me is. Right. It's. It's about how I'm treated in a health environment, what my care providers look like. The fact that, you know, I tell.
00:50:15
I advocate to my trans community often about this. My doctor works for me. I don't work for them. They're not my boss. And so if I'm going to go into a room where I need something addressed, you better bet I'm going to try to demand their attention.
00:50:29
Get off your tippy, tappy little computer and look at me and listen to what I'm telling you. I don't feel good. Your job right now, I'm paying you a lot. My insurance is paying you a lot.
00:50:39
My organizational insurance is paying you a lot. Right? Help me feel better. And unfortunately for me, that experience and coming back to Central Pennsylvania has been very difficult. I have a great doctor now, an amazing provider at Union Community Care, and I'm so thankful for having found my doctor.
00:51:00
But my, you know, brothers and sisters and those beyond the binary in the trans community, I know that they're not treated respectfully or equally. And I. Nobody should be scared about going to the doctor. Right. And being treated differently.
00:51:17
And that's something that is really important to me. And it's part of why I. I talk about being a trans man and people's perceptions of when they meet me, because it's. There's this assumption, right, that if I've transitioned from female to male, I can't look masculine. If I've transitioned from female, from male to female, I can't look feminine.
00:51:38
That there are people that exist beyond that binary structure. And that's just not true. And so it's just it's. Healthcare providers need to seek to understand the community. They need to understand that standard operating procedures in their hospitals do not meet the needs of their patients a lot of times.
00:51:59
And that potentially you're putting me in danger because of those standard operating procedures, not being thoughtful about who I am as a patient.
00:52:07
Yeah. And don't they take an oath, do no harm. Right. Don't forget that. Don't forget that. Well, thank you for leading that advocacy and for helping folks in our community. I can't speak from this experience. I can only advocate and help and try to get the message out, letting people know where resources are. And so really appreciate you not taking a back seat.
00:52:36
Yeah, no, of course.
00:52:37
Again, leading. This is a leader, folks. This is a leader. All right, We've been talking for a minute. Beck, you doing all right?
00:52:45
I'm okay. It's a little warm here. I don't have air conditioning right now, but.
00:52:50
No, I need to get one in here, too. All right, well, let's bring it full circle then. All right, what. Let's see. What do you hope? Oh, this is a good one. What do you hope people say about your leadership long after your 10 year ends?
00:53:04
I just hope that people. I mean, I've said this before. I think we talked about this before in a prior episode that you interviewed me and I said out loud, I was like, you know, I know that I've not always been the best. Best version of me. You know, my wife. My wife. Will I tell the story often. My. My wife worked for me years ago, and when we first met, she didn't like me very much because I wasn't the best version of myself.
00:53:25
Now, you know, we got together after we were no longer working together, and she, you know, she likes me just fine. Now, I'd like to think, you know, we've been married for almost, almost, I think two years, officially this October.
00:53:37
But I just hope people know that I genuinely care about my team. I genuinely cared about them, and that I tried to do everything I could to help them be successful and see something in themselves that they didn't see for themselves and that, you know, at least there's hopefully one or two people out there that that's, that's the case for at some point. Yeah, so that's, that's, that's my hope.
00:54:09
I guarantee it. And listen, y', all, send him a message. Let him know how he doing. Let him know. All right, final question, final question.
00:54:17
I'm ready. If someone's listening to this amazing, soon to be award winning podcast, if I may, so if somebody's listening and they're just starting their leadership journey in their, in, in your line of work, in service work, maybe they're a frontline worker, maybe they're a community organized organizer, emerging executive. Do you have a piece of advice that you would give them right now?
00:54:46
I would say know yourself really well, right? Recognize your, the things that piss you off, know how to control your ego, figure out your triggers and learn how to, you know, work beyond those things. I feel pretty strongly that I really didn't become the leader that I wanted to be until I knew myself. You know, I look at, we go through an exercise with all of our team going back to culture, right? We do an exercise with every single team member that starts here that we have a consultant that takes our team through cliftonstrengthfinder.
00:55:33
So they take the quiz, they, you know, they get the book and then they meet with that consultant for at least an hour to walk through those strengths and to understand how those things show up, how does it resonate for them? And we, we joke sometimes as a team when somebody new starts, like, get ready because it's going to feel like therapy. Because it is. It really is.
00:55:56
And so when I look at, you know, 10 years ago, let's say when I took that survey then struggling, you know, trying to feel out my way in terms of what was expected me as a leader, how I was showing up what I thought I needed to be, knowing how I was struggling inside with, with who I, who I wanted, who I felt on the inside and was debating about letting that person out or not. I can see so clearly how my strengths reflected that and how I showed up with my team, how I showed up with volunteers, how I showed up in my, my, my personal relationships. And now I look at the strengths now and how they've evolved and I'm like, you know, it's kind of like when I look in the mirror now, like, oh, I see me. That, that's, that's the me that's been in there that I've wanted to, wanted to be able to embrace and show.
00:56:48
And once I really, I think embraced who I wanted to be, right? I'm not afraid of showing up as my authentic self and just being really honest about how I'm feeling. That has completely evolved my leadership style, my ability to get things done, how, you know, the bag that I carry with myself, you know, for myself when I walk in a room for the first time. And I've got a network with a group of people that I don't. I know, you know, an ounce of the tons of information that they know.
00:57:21
I just don't. You know, I'm somebody that when I would go to like go to Starbucks for instance. Right. And stand in line for coffee, the self consciousness that I would feel bearing down on me, it would be an anxiety attack driving to just stand in a line, Heather. And know that feel like people were looking at me.
00:57:40
So to know now that really like I can stand on a stage and sure. I still get nervous. I'm always still worried my flies down. Like I sometimes get a little fidgety.
00:57:48
Yes. I get a little sweaty. You know, I usually one, one suit wearing and I'm done. Like it's go to the dry. Sure those things still happen.
00:57:54
But I think the relief and just authenticity that people feel and the confidence I think that other people feel when they hear me speak, it's because I've done the work to understand those things. Yeah. So I think that's number one. And if you don't know how to do that for yourself, try to find an organization or a leader that will believe in you and lean into you and provide that opportunity. I just said this to another friend, to a friend of mine, about.
00:58:23
Right. Everybody deserves to work in an organization that you don't have to, you don't have to dull your shine. You don't have to show up as anything other than yourself. Everybody deserves that opportunity. And so find that place.
00:58:39
Right. And tell them what you need to be able to be successful. And if that's to go through a strength finders, you know, exercise, call me. I know, you know, somebody great to do that for you. Um, but find, find a place where you know that you really can.
00:58:53
Can thrive and don't settle until you find it. No, we, we get into these cycles, Right. I think sometimes where it's like we stay too long. We're worried so much about leaving our team.
00:59:12
Or a ten year relationship.
00:59:15
Or a ten year relationship. Right. I've been there. I, you know, I, it's at some point that comes with, that comes with all kinds of other impacts on our life and ultimately. Right. I think if we're, if we're settling again, it's. We're not thriving and then we're not the best person and the best version of ourselves to show up the way our teams need us. Or you're not showing up as the best frontline staff member, right, because you've got all this anxiety about.
00:59:50
I'm carrying all this anxiety about who I am. How do, how can I serve my client? I'm too, I'm too worried about if. Is this, you know, is this the appropriate thing I should be wearing? Is my hair too short?
00:59:59
Is my hair too long? Is my hem too high? Is my hem too, you know, too low? I'm not comfortable in what I'm wearing. You know, everybody else around me is doing this.
01:00:10
I don't understand why that's happening. Like, if you're feeling that way, there's a reason why it's. It's happening. And so how do you. You gotta, you gotta find a place where you can thrive. And, you know, I was really. I was very honest about who I was when I started working. When I went through the interview process at CAAP, I said very specifically to the executive, you know, search team, here's who I am. Are you comfortable with a leader that is these things? And if not, that's okay.
01:00:38
I'm giving you permission, right? Yeah, that's fine. Because if I can't show up about who, you know, in my. In my truest version of myself, and I don't, this is not the place for me either, and that's okay. So also, ask the hard questions. When you're going to work somewhere, do you have workplace culture and value statements? What does that look like? How do people show up for each other? You know, if I'm, if I'm, you know, am I going to feel guilty for taking PTO because of whatever reason?
01:01:08
What do relationships look like in the office? Right? Like, all of those things, they add up. And unfortunately, more often than not, I just don't. Again, we forget about just basic human need when we're working for ourselves and for our employees.
01:01:26
And so how to create that environment is super important for ourselves and making sure that we don't just settle. Don't dull your shine. Know your value. Don't dull your shine.
01:01:38
That's right. You're the light, not the lamp. You are the light, not the lamp. I love this so much. And I see that in the diverse team that you have, you know, whatever gender spectrum, wherever you're on, I see it all in the room, and it's beautiful because they have a place. You've, you've, you've created, you've.
01:02:01
You've made this space be so rewarding and filling. And I think, I think, if I may be so bold, is like, this episode is about alignment as a leader and how you can get in alignment and what that means for partners, for co creators, for teammates, for everything. Messaging alignment seems to be the key.
01:02:27
Yeah, well, I want to, I want to say, I want to say one other thing and I think is also important about being.
01:02:30
This is your podcast. Go for it.
01:02:33
That is, I think that's true is that I've worked alongside, I've seen other leaders that this is a challenge for. I've seen other people react to working in an environment where this is a challenge, is that I don't have to be the person who's always on center stage. Right. I, you know, now I have a group of people who, not everyone's comfortable on stage.
01:03:00
So I also don't want to put them in a situation where it makes them deeply uncomfortable. Like, I don't want to have, have them have a panic attack while they're on stage. If the stage is not your thing, tell me that's fine. I won't force, I won't force your hand maybe a little bit to get the accolades that you deserve. But, like, I'm not going to force you to, you know, give the keynote at our conference, for instance.
01:03:17
But I think what's really important is, right, like, I want if Erica, for instance, our director of operations, who is going to be on again, she's going to be on a future podcast episode. We just talked about this and she's like, I knew you were going to ask me. I was like, yeah, because you should be on it. If she's the best representative of a topic, if she knows more than I do, why am I talking about it? I shouldn't be.
01:03:44
Right. Let your team thrive and show what they know best. So in one of our workplace culture statements, it says, like, we recognize that, you know, while we have, you know, these vast skill sets, that there are times that we're, we don't know something best and we're not going to acknowledge that and say that out loud. I don't have to know all of the things. Right.
01:04:08
I'm never going to know about some of our operations pieces as deeply as what our director of operations does. That's her. That's her job. I want to let her shine in that way. Right.
01:04:17
Georgia, there are things about certain federal funding pieces that she has always, she's done this work for 25 plus years. She's going to know it best. I don't want to get in her way. And for whatever reason, I think sometimes people, as particularly as an executive director and, or just a manager in general. It's like, right.
01:04:34
Like, well, I'm, I'm the face. So I've got to be the person to talk about it or I'm leading the team, so I'm going to be the person to talk about it. And so we're going to do a presentation on this. I'm going to take on the majority of it. You're going to take on this piece.
01:04:47
Sure. There are some times that I'll be asked to speak and I'll say, right, like I'm really not the best representative of this. Is it okay if I have my, you know, director of. Or this person speak about it and they'll say we really want you back. You're the CEO.
01:04:59
And that, that that title matters. But I'll always make sure right. In that presentation then that I will speak to and say there that person's name who's really doing that work and say this is representative of this team member. So I make sure to that their accolades and the things that they're doing really well are front and center. But I don't need to be the person.
01:05:17
Like, what is, what does a title mean? Right. Lucky son of a gun that got the job. Yeah, yeah, right, right.
01:05:28
Well, again, that's going back to check that ego. So one of the golden rules. So well said. Well, I can't say this enough. I love this conversation.
01:05:39
I love this topic. As a leader myself, I feel like I am stronger having had this interview with you. So thank you so much for sharing all of your wisdom and all of your expertise, your heart, your perspective. Before we close, tell us or tell the listeners where we can learn more about, of course your work, where we can learn more about you. And where can we get more episodes of the Thinking CAAP?
01:06:04
Absolutely. So you can find us at theCAAP.org you can find all about Community Action association of Pennsylvania and the 42 Community Action agencies that we serve every single day. If you're looking for who your local agency is, you can go to the tab on the right hand corner, find an agency look to see would encourage you to please, you know, think about giving your time, talent, resources that can be dollars or time, of course, just learn about who they are, what they do. The other thing is please connect with us on LinkedIn. You can find me Beck S. Moore, you know, work with Heather and her team on publishing a lot of articles about these types of topics and other things that impact Community Action on the whole.
01:06:43
And so please follow me. Follow Community action association on LinkedIn, Facebook, Instagram, all the things. And of course, you know, listen to the Thinking CAAP. You can find us on Apple, Spotify, YouTube. Go to our website.
01:06:57
There's a part on our website where you can find more episodes. But please, please, you know, take some time to learn more about the organizations we support. And if you're a Community Action agency out there in Pennsylvania and you have a question for us, I think the other thing is we don't get a lot of questions about our pod for our podcast. Send us some questions.
01:07:13
We want to answer them. We want to have an episode where we just tackle questions. So send those emails to info@thecaap.org and we'll make sure a future episode features that question and give a shout out to the person.
01:07:27
Give a shout out. In the spirit of alignment, we want to make sure that this podcast is aligned with what you need. So please talk to us because we're here to answer all the questions.
01:07:37
Thank you for being my amazing host.
01:07:38
Oh, my gosh. As I said before, I'm just your Robin. You're the Batman and you're the best. Beck, thank you so much. I'm sure I speak for everyone that you work with. Just thank you for being you and for doing all the work that it's taken to be you at this very point, because this world is better for it. So thank you so much for this conversation. It was beautiful.
01:07:58
Appreciate you, Heather.
01:08:00
All right, we'll see you next time.
01:08:01
Sounds good.
01:08:05
Thank you for being a part of this episode of the Thinking CAAP. Check the show notes for resources and links to other episodes, and don't forget to subscribe and follow to be notified when new episodes are released. If you have any Community Action questions you'd like Beck or one of our local experts to answer in a future episode, please email your questions about Community Action to info@theCAAP.org subject line, thinking CAAP.
If you have any Community Action questions you’d like Beck or one of our local experts to answer in a future episode, please email your questions about Community Action to info@thecaap.org—subject line: Thinking CAAP.