200 -250 word response is required for the question at the end. Thank you

Mary F. Morten is the president of Morten Group, a consulting firm focused on helping organizations be great. She is a consultant, activist, and filmmaker committed to racial and social justice. Mary is currently at work on a follow-up to her award-wining documentary, Woke Up Black, with a new film focusing on fatherhood in the Black community. I grew up on the far southwest side of Chicago, the youngest of six children. At a very early age, I started going to lots of meetings because my mother was very involved in community activism. She brought me along because I was the youngest, and I did horrible things to my sister so she couldn't leave me alone with her. So, I would often go to these meetings and I got used to sitting and listening, hearing the same things over and over until they started to sink in. It became clear to me that you are either part of the problem or part of the solution. With any leadership position I've taken on, I've usually been the youngest person by about 10 years and maybe the only person of color. So, I felt a certain responsibility to always do well. I went into a management position right out of college supervising eight people-people who were old enough to be my parents and didn't necessarily appreciate having a younger person manage them. I was also thrown in without any kind of training. To this day, I apply "essential lessons" I learned from this experience in my work across various sectors. I recently returned to the board of an organization I cofounded almost 15 years ago. The organization is a statewide advocacy group dedicated to the safety of LGBTQ youth through public education, research, and policy. I currently serve as the vice chair of the board. Although I cofounded the organization, I eventually stepped away to create space for other community work as well as new leadership. I came back to the board about two years ago. Currently, this organization is building a new coalition that will address a number of serious concerns with the current governor's administration. The governor appointed a pastor and former state senator to an office with tremendous power and influence over Illinois public education. He is not just anti-gay, but has also made horrifically disparaging remarks about women, specifically women of color and Jewish people, and is someone you would describe as an equal opportunity offender. I'll be honest. .. I've been a little more involved than a board member would typically be in this situation-in particular because I have a lot of experience in the community doing advocacy and coalition work. My voice has become critical because I'm African American - and I'm okay with that. The official appointed by the governor happens to be African American as well. I mention all of this because as an organization, we are very clear that we don't want this to boil down to race; it's much bigger than that. When I re-engaged with this organization, we were just selecting the new executive director, who is a White man. Our current board chair is also a White man, and we were very clear that this situation could not turn into the White gay organization going after the Black minister. As one of the founders, we have repeatedly discussed the challenges of this dynamic for an organization founded on the intersectionality of multiple identities. We have to continuously consider the visibility of differences around race, class, sexual orientation, and gender identity and expression. We have to remain conscious of what our "face forward" looks like in any given situation, and that was the case in this situation. Although I'm stepping forward in my work with this statewide organization right now, there have been other times when I have consciously created space for new leadership within this group and others. Most people don't know how to step back. They feel like they've got to be out front, they've got to lead it, they've got to say it, that it's got to be in their name or it's just not meaningful. What l've come to realize is that I can do all kinds of important work behind the scenes without people ever knowing that I was even involved. People have to take out some of the ego. It has to be about the work and the goals of the work and not about whether or not you are personally recognized. I really try to approach my work from this non-egocentric place, stepping forward and stepping back as needed. My level of involvement in this statewide organization has also been greater because we have a fairly new staff who, in some cases, are not only new to the organization, but also new to this kind of community organizing work. They need a little more guidance in these roles. You have to meet people where they are and make sure they aren't thrown into things without support because that's generally what we do. We don't provide people with the training and experience they need to lead. Somebody has to sit down with people on an individual basis and work with them. How that happens and how we bring it to scale becomes an essential question. You've got to say, "This is the road map on how we're going to get you to be a leader of this organization or a leader on this project. These are the skills you're going to need, this is the time that we need to invest in specific areas, and then we're going to push you out the door. We'll be here to support you, but you're going to step out on your own." The work of leadership development has to be planned. It doesn't just happen. It's also not just about developing leaders, but also about how we work together. I truly believe whether by action or by deed we are showing people how to treat one another. When I work with people I try to be respectful. I try to be inclusive. I do have a strong personality, but I understand that everybody has to be heard. Everybody has to have some ownership, and how we create space for ownership is critical. I think relationship building has a lot to do with ownership and how we get people to feel like they have a stake in the work and that what they think matters. I also try to be really clear, whether I'm supervising people or working in coalition, that I want to hear your ideas. You may not feel that your idea is seen in the final analysis or decision, but I want to assure you that I am taking it into consideration. Because of where I sit in an organization, I may have information that you're not privy to, and so I'm hoping you will trust that I'm taking what you're saying into consideration and that I value it. I've had supervisors in the past who ruled with an iron hand and didn't consider other people's input. They weren't transparent, and it eventually backfired on them. I mean it backfired on them horrifically. I've realized that although I do play the role of a managing figurehead at times, our work depends on building relationships and collective power. influence? 3. What lessons emerge from Mary's narrative about how to navigate authority in relationships? About determining how and when to step forward in leader roles and when to step back