Pronouns of Organizational Leadership

Pronouns in the workplace and the digital world are now ubiquitous. But pronouns should not just be seen from an identity lens. The pronouns that are used in an organization are very telling, and can portend success or lack thereof. If you were a fly on the wall in the boardroom or the organization what pronouns would you hear?

The very nature of a nonprofit board is that no individual should be making decisions at the behest of the board. If your organization has an administrative leader (Executive Director, ED) that person is the only employee of the Board. The dynamic between the board and the ED is the board sets policy and the ED carries out policies set by the board and runs the day to day operations of the organization. 

Organizations are made up of various constituencies. For example, in the nonprofit I presently sit on the board, the constituencies would be board members, staff, clients, donors, past clients, and former board members. As a collective these groups make up the organization,  and each constituency can see itself as a discrete entity. Each of these constituencies may have a hierarchical structure. The board has a Chair, the staff has a lead administrator, clients may have a voice within the organization as well.

If pronouns such as my, mine, and I are frequently heard in an organization there needs to be a reset. Us, we, ours should be replete throughout the organization. This example should be led by the board. If the Board Chair stands up at an annual meeting and suggests the organization is theirs, there is a problem. If the ED refers to the organization as my or mine privately or publicly this is a warning sign. Nonprofits are service organizations and they serve the purpose they have designed. No one person or group of people can co opt this purpose. While this might be stating the obvious, I have participated in organizations that have confused their pronouns. Pronouns that suggest ownership is poor organizational leadership.