From the Board Chair-Talking About Talking

From the Board Chair-
Talking About Talking
By Natalia (Natty) Averett
[as printed in The Arlingtarian, August 2010]


Let’s talk about talking. I know it sounds strange to “talk about talking,” but if we don’t look at how we communicate with each other, we can’t be effective in our actions. We may even achieve our goals in selfish or inconsiderate ways, at the expense of engaged and inclusive community and in contradiction with our values.

The Board spends a lot of time focused on communication. Trustees work together to create modes of operating that honor who each of us is as an individual Trustee as well as who we are as the collective Board. Just as we are in dialogue about how we are with each other, the Board is in dialogue about how we are with the congregation and with the staff, which includes volunteer staff, or “lay leaders.”

Policy Governance is the leadership model that we use to guide our work. Its first rule states, “The board connects its authority and accountability to those who morally if not legally own the organization...seeing its task as servant-leader to and for that group ....” In fulfilling this servant-leader role, we continually seek input from UUCA members and friends who are involved at all levels in our religious community. Additionally, the Board communicates with the congregation about what we are focused on so that you can respond to how we are acting on your behalf.

As a religious community, care for others is at the forefront of what we do. We all need to engage with fellow congregants, new and old friends, in ways that keep us connected to each other and to the needs, cultures, and identities of each person we encounter as well as to the community as a whole. You may have heard some phrasing about the church becoming “relational.”

The concept of relational organizing calls on social justice leaders to set agendas for the work they do as well as structure the way they do that work based on one-on-one conversations and in-depth engagement with people involved in and influenced by the organization and its work. We want to take that further and be relational in all of our interactions with each other. Creating a caring community requires that we both communicate our own values and beliefs when engaging with others and that we give attention to what is important to others.
Becoming “relational” means that our talking will be more other-centered and will help make our community more supportive, collaborative, and inclusive.

As we strive to achieve multicultural religious community and better engage with and serve our local community, reflecting on and practicing how we communicate with others will become increasingly important. In the book, Salsa, Soul, and Spirit: Leadership for a Multicultural Age, Juana Bordas speaks to the importance of consensus-seeking, engagement- driven, collaborative decision making and leadership in Native American Indian, Black and Latino communities (she does not speak to models in Asian communities which, she states, are outside her areas of experience and research). Many leaders within Unitarian Universalism, including many lay leaders within the UUCA community, have looked to this book for advice and for principles and practices that might help create more inclusive and engaged communities.

In September, the Board will discuss the Policy Governance concepts of Ownership Linkage, which relate to staying accountable and attuned to the interests of UUCA; our impressions and ideas related to Juana Bordas’ book; and our thoughts about the culture and models of engagement within UUCA. We are called to be deliberate in our communication with others, to place great emphasis on involving others in our decisions, and to engage people in ways that allow us to learn about and honor their needs and desires. I hope that whether or not you are able to be at the Board meeting on September 21 (7:30-9:15 p.m., with a potluck reception from 7-7:30 p.m.), you will commit to ongoing reflections and practices related to engaging and communicating with others in inclusive and
supportive ways.

Call up some folks you don’t know very well and invite them to meet with you for an hour of conversation. Participate in activities that promote inclusive community and multicultural understanding. Anthropology teaches us that communication is a core component of culture. If that is the case, then all of us together will create, sustain, and enhance the culture of engagement that defines our beloved community.

In peace,
Natalia (Natty) Averett, Chair
On Behalf of the Board of Trustees
nataliaaverett(at)aol.com
703-868-8189