I was asked a pointed question the other day, someone said “Sadia, what is it that made you step out of your direct role as a non-profit leader into this supportive role you're in now”.
As I thought about it, I had to reflect back on the last 14+ years of being in senior and executive level roles. In those roles I had to hire people, promote people and lay off people. I had to build departments and programs from the bottom up and raise millions to support them, then later I got to give away millions to support others and help them build organizations from the bottom up or scale them to new heights. I got to build my own organization and a culture from scratch, to watch it succeed and in fact do what 99% of non-profits don't, which is to achieve the mission I set out for and write myself and my team out of a job.
See, fear makes you hold onto things longer and tighter, but creativity and curiosity allows you to roam more freely, to take chances and have those breathtaking breakthrough type experiences.
I’ve sat at each seat of the table - as the team member, the team leader, the founder, the funder, the fundraiser, the board member and the advisor. I have seeded and launched new organizations and I have also been asked to close others down. I understand the 360° perspective and that’s why I call my approach Bloom 360 Workplace.
Over the last 14 years, I have supported my teams through marriage, divorce, parenting, immigration, death, loss, elderly care, relocation, lay-offs, promotions, job changes, leadership transitions, grief, uncertainty and even situations of attempted suicide.
I am not perfect, no one is. I made my own share of mistakes, and I listened, learned and stayed intentional in how to adjust and adapt. In a few situations it took time, to process, grieve and mend while accepting my role in a poorly handled situation or outcome. Each time lessening the chance of repeating those failed patterns, and instead creating new healthier, more effective and happier ones.
During the periods when my teams and I worked together I created trust, confidence, transparency, equity, longevity, excellence, cohesion, creativity, friendship and most importantly an experience that the work we do together - no matter how hard it got - actually contributed to increasing the experience of joy and fulfillment in each of our lives.
Each and every one of them mattered, each one was exceptional, unique and talented. They were funny, smart, kind, hopeful and like us all, they experienced a full range of emotions - the highest and the lowest. Through it all, I encouraged them to live in their fullest self-expression even when it was messy and uncomfortable. I did the same myself. Each one taught me something new and expanded my impact exponentially. I am grateful beyond measure.
I didn’t get to this team experience with huge salaries, big cash bonuses or fancy perks. It was much more personal and intentional than that. It also cost a lot less money than people think and created the outcomes and experiences that everyone most longs for at work, but don’t know how to express or achieve.
Most recently, I gave my team 10 months to transition before sunsetting my non-profit and yet they chose to stay till the very last day. They were all in, until we were all out. A team till the very end.
So what’s the secret? It’s a series of simple yet intentional approaches to finding solutions that meet real-time needs and make the experience of working together feel extraordinary. Not because of the external mission - though that does help add some extra oomph - but it was because of the culture we co-created into lived reality. Together.
So for the next few weeks, I will share insights into how I navigated each topic I mentioned above.
Now let me be clear, I am not selling utopia. Thriving doesn’t mean no bad days or uncomfortable situations. A cohesive team doesn’t mean you aren’t ever comprising or renegotiating. Equity doesn’t mean we all get everything we want all the time. However, the experience of this, collectively can be one that feels positive, supportive and growth oriented marked by moments of happiness, well-being and true excellence.
If you want this, then let’s talk. I already know it’s possible, I’ve led it and watched it unfold. I also know if I am capable of co-creating it then so are you. The question is, will you?
