From the vantage point as someone working in executive search, organizational strategy, and coaching, we spend a lot of time thinking about what it means to authentically encourage people. How do we create and sustain a universal welcome in the virtual and real worlds of our organizations and  our workplaces? What are the words, actions, and practices that might plant the right seed at the right time for the right person to take a step towards finding their place in the audience, on the team, or on the board?

When an executive leader announces their departure from an arts organization, one of the Board of Directors’ most senior responsibilities is activated: seeking and naming a replacement. This is also one of the most fraught areas of tension between board and staff at arts organizations, and rightfully so. If you find yourself debating this issue as a search is launching at your organization, you might find it helpful to frame your view by sharing these advantages to changing up the traditional search committee,  enriching the search.

We love ambitious people, and we want more people to push themselves in pursuit of their perfect next role. That perfect next role could also be (and I would argue: should be) a stretch. When sizing up possible next moves, I want to share a framework that I often share with job seekers, mentees, and students: Count Your Leaps.

Last year, as part of Tom O’Connor Consulting Group’s continued work towards living our values regarding Diversity, Equity, Inclusion, Access, and Anti-Racism (DEIAA), we drafted our own Inclusion Statement. Informed by our research and other great examples in the field, we crafted and now include that statement in all of our job profiles.

Effective immediately, Tom O’Connor Consulting Group will only conduct searches on behalf of clients who agree to disclose either a salary range or salary estimate within the job description/position profile. This is in accordance with our standards and values with regard to equity, and we also simply believe it is a practice that bestows the respect that candidates and job-seekers deserve.

If what we desire is an equitable culture inside and outside of our institutions, we cannot afford to lose the perspectives of the people of the global majority nor the experiences of those who could not purchase access with their privilege. It is not about radical change overnight, as wonderful as that would be for many. It’s about significant steps, bravely taken, in a timely fashion.