Connecting with Sloane Davidson

How have relationships influenced your professional development and leadership style?

I love learning about leadership and thinking about my own style, so this is a topic I take really seriously. I have hired leadership coaches three times in my career. Each time I had a specific set of challenges and opportunities, and those experiences were catalytic for me in my career.?

I deeply believe that my relationships tend to be a blend where we talk about work and life. Many of my close relationships happen to be with women whom I look up to, and so I love being able to learn from people I know and admire on a personal and professional level.

Do you have any tips for maintaining and building strong relationships?

Time, forgiveness, joy and curiosity.?

It’s important to know that relationships take time. Time is the greatest gift we have to give, and it can be hardest too. For me, in the past six years I became a mother, moved back to my hometown after 16 years away, and built a high-impact, high-growth nonprofit organization. That’s a lot! I worried that a lot of my longstanding relationships may have been strained during this period, and maybe some of them have. I have put a lot of time into those relationships over the years before this insane period in my life, and so those relationships are stable and can take a little break and pick up right where they left off.

We have to be forgiving as we all try to balance our relationships and navigate this divisive world we’re in. I’ve frequently been told that something my organization does well is not pass judgement on others, but strives to educate and put in the time to have difficult conversations. I do that in my personal life too, and I think it really matters.

Not much to say about joy, I think it speaks for itself! I had the opportunity to meet a former president recently. After decades away from the office - when asked what was most important in his leadership - he said, “No one wants to work in a workplace without joy.” That really stuck with me. Even in one of the highest stakes offices that exist, there was still time to ask about peoples’ families, build culture and find ways to laugh. That’s so important.

"Curiosity" could be my middle name. I could think of 100 questions to ask anyone. I want to know what matters to other people and their backgrounds and cultural history. It all makes me a better listener, a better friend and a better leader.

How have you intentionally built inclusiveness into your circles?

My work at Hello Neighbor is built around inclusiveness. We have families enrolled from 17 countries, and I’m in a really privileged position where I feel like I get to have friendships and learn about other countries and cultures daily. However, even within our work, there is more we can do. It’s a choice, and we are constantly talking internally about how to do more of what we do already.

Many people are in very narrow circles of influence and that’s not just race, it’s education-level, literacy, socioeconomic background, religion and family structure. Through Hello Neighbor we see what happens when you stretch even one of those groups, let alone all of them. It’s deeply rewarding and also humbling to be able to help facilitate and create relationships for my new neighbors every day.

What community or communities are you proud to be a part of?

The Hello Neighbor community here in Pittsburgh, and then the Hello Neighbor Network community nationwide, are my favorites. Not only because I’m the Founder and CEO. I love what we’ve created, and the team that brings this work to life every single day, and the refugees, immigrants and neighbors with whom we work.

Who’s a Connector that's made a difference in your life??

I’m going to say my mother. My mom was an entrepreneur and business leader all throughout my childhood. She really has set an amazing example for how to connect people and build meaningful relationships.?

Susan McPherson is a serial connector, seasoned communicator and founder and CEO of?McPherson Strategies, a communications consultancy focused on the intersection of brands and social impact. She is the author of The Lost Art of Connecting: The Gather, Ask, Do Method for Building Meaningful Relationships.?

Follow Susan on?LinkedIn,?Twitter?and?Instagram?and order her new book,?The Lost Art of Connecting, also available on Kindle and Audiobook.