Altruism And Why I Want To Move To A More Self-Centred View

Thoughts of a DEI founder on our 6th birthday

Project 23 is 6 years old today! ??

And as comes with all birthdays, I feel like it’s a time for proper reflection.

What have we achieved? What have I personally contributed? Where do we wanna be? What are our ambitions? Am I good enough?!?

In 2018 when Gary Rayneau and I set ourselves up we said that we wanted to set ourselves a goal - to simply know that by the 5 year mark, we had made a positive difference to the world out there.

And so I’ve always measured our success by that somewhat altruistic guide - what evidence did we have of good work? What’s changed for our clients? What KPIs of change did we meet? How much happier are people in the organisations we work with? What’s happened to the level of diversity or belonging in these places? Places we inadvertently pour our proverbial blood, sweat and tears into.

Because it’s not about us is it?

This year, things shifted though. And it has changed me, for the better.

It IS about us.

After a recruitment process to hire new team members provided us with emotionally charged and overwhelmingly positive feedback (that I did not expect), the joyful realisation dawned on me, emerging suddenly out of nowhere like one of those “I was today years old when I discovered..” memes. It IS about us.

All the time before, I’d been solely focussed on the impact we could make and had made outside of us. Not centering the work or our own success or ourselves. Cos that seems icky for DEI consultants or coaches.

I was today years old when I discovered that how we treat people in our own team, people who come into our orbit and the positive experiences they can have with us IS the work.

Talking about and sharing our values.

Letting people know what’s important to us.

Working with people who want to help others,

Attracting and creating space for those people,

Supporting them to get paid,

Treating them respectfully and

Really listening to them.

Helping to achieve their whole life goals.

Saying sorry if you’ve made a mistake,

Humbly adapting and learning to grow.

Acknowledging their brilliance,

Asking to give them feedback.

Being honest and transparent,

Encouraging honesty and transparency.

Always looking for the times we can laugh and be joyful

And taking care of each other while always raising our game,

So that we can all do great work…

IS ABOUT US.

As a founder, I have learned that I can make a difference to someone’s day, someone’s view of the world, someone’s feeling of safety or satisfaction. And I am proud to say that we’ve created something incredible because we care about and put energy into that.

We are the case study I care most about. Our success with our clients is testimony to all of the above.

If you’ve ever implicitly or explicitly given me feedback about your experience with Project 23, know that we deeply appreciate it. If you’ve ever worked with us, know that you have contributed to our 6 years on this rollercoaster journey. I salute you! And us! We rise together.

Happy Birthday Project 23!