Welcome to API’s January Series on leading teams with equity. In this series, Jan Ross Sakian, API program manager, will highlight tools news leaders can use to create cultures of connection within their organizations. These frameworks and insights surfaced from the Designing and Facilitating Meetings for Equity workshop delivered by the National Equity Project to alumni of the Table Stakes Local News Transformation Program.
How often do you find yourself stepping in to serve as a “hero” for your news organization?
For many months while I worked in a newsroom as the only operations producer, I had three alter ego-inducing responsibilities: in the evenings, I did the solitary work of updating a live blog and assembling a newsletter for local audiences. In the morning, I analyzed data from five news websites and presented it to news leaders in a statewide editorial call. In the middle of the day, I attended planning meetings and plugged in where needed.
This cycle continued until others were recruited to take on the multiple mantles. However, two years later, I still feel tempted to take on the responsibility of problem-solving when everyone else is also busy and burdened — to think that it’s better to do things myself and, sometimes, alone. This “hero” mindset — swooping in to take control, thinking you know the best answers, working harder and thinking that will fix things — resonated with journalists who participated in a 4-week virtual workshop with the National Equity Project.
Last year, the American Press Institute invited NEP to lead a training focused on helping news organizations and our Table Stakes team build more equity into our day-to-day decision-making. As an alternative to being a “hero,” we were introduced to being “hosts” — leaders who facilitate essential conversations and shepherd change. Leaders who, unlike what I had become accustomed to in newsrooms, choose to prioritize connection and collaboration.
This approach has been a paradigm shift as we talk about how modern news organizations are becoming more intentional workplaces that can show care to their journalists and empower them to be leaders in their own right. These learnings also carried into API’s Local News Summit on fostering belonging and collaboration this summer.
Share with your network
- Leading teams with equity
- Be a host leader, not a hero
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