Chapter 4: Humility Goes A Long Way

Richard received the Megan G. Cooper Leadership Award in 2019 and is pictured here with Janet

Nearly four years after launching PLUS ME, Richard was still the only employee. The organization had recently launched successful new programs and partnerships. Things were going well. Still, there was always more to learn and Richard applied for an Executive Directors Leadership Institute program. This program, created by the Executive Service Corps of Southern California (ESCSC), is a 9-month leadership coaching program designed to help both new and experienced Executive Directors transform their leadership and guide their organizations toward long-term sustainability. Janet Nami McIntyre, then Vice President of Programs and Training at ESCSC, remembered reading his application and debating whether to admit him into the cohort. “I realized they were really, really small,” Janet remembers. “I think the whole budget was maybe $40,000 and Richard was the only employee.” ESCSC supports orgs at all sizes, and was always willing to invest in leaders and orgs that show potential. “Of course, Richard had tremendous promise with his great vision.”

Richard was in. Still, Janet was worried about his program experience. Would he feel left out? Would the program feel too advanced for a small organization? “I didn’t want to waste his time but also felt excited that there was so much potential,” Janet recalled. On the first day, all the Executive Directors talked to each other in order to line up by annual budget size. There was quite a range with Richard holding down the far end with the smallest budget in the room. After seeing how the activity ended up, Janet grew worried: “I thought, ‘This is exactly what I didn’t want him to feel, out of place among the other leaders in the cohort.’” Instead, she saw Richard recognize where he and PLUS ME were in their growth and take the program as an opportunity to learn as much as possible from the experience of the other executives in that room. “That is the kind of person Richard is. Always thinking ‘What can I gain from this moment? How can I get the most out of this session instead of being discouraged?’”

From Janet’s perspective, that is a key ingredient of PLUS ME’s secret sauce: humility and a strong vision. “Richard didn’t always know how he was going to get there, but he never wavered in his vision. I have a particular perspective about Richard and PLUS ME’s growth working in the capacity-building field. I feel like he never got to a point where he felt like he learned everything, but continuously reaches for every opportunity to grow and learn from others. There’s humility there and a commitment to lifelong learning–qualities I feel are really important for leaders.” 

Over the next three years, Janet saw Richard take advantage of a number of capacity-growing opportunities including strategic planning and fundraising training with ESCSC and the Annenberg Alchemy program which supports board governance and development. In February 2020, she attended our annual LISTEN event in which scholarship winners share their stories with the PLUS ME community. “I remember thinking this is exactly what PLUS ME does. It felt like the culmination of a lot of work to see that multi-pronged event with donors, volunteers, community members, parents, students and teachers all together.” Again, this event felt unique because it was entirely focused on the community members PLUS ME serves. “It would have been really easy for him to center himself at LISTEN and Founders do that all the time. This felt like the exact opposite. Of course his fingerprints were all over everything, but he’s so about stepping back and letting other people step in.” Janet remembers this as the moment where she saw his leadership approach come to life. Even now as she hears about the awards PLUS ME receives (primarily through LinkedIn), it's clear Richard is drawing attention to the organization’s mission, work, and progress. “I know him well enough to know that he would say ‘Oh, that is because I’m shy.’ But I think that he has every right to take up more space.” A fellow alumni of Occidental College, Janet is looking forward to seeing him receive the Alumni Seal Award and hopes to attend the ceremony. “He just exemplifies so many of Oxy’s values. Humility goes a really long way.”