The quick backstory on how my wife Meg and I ended up in the Kiln.We saw Bryna Donnelly of GreaterGood.org receive an award in November 2014 on Fox’s Cause for Paws, so I cold emailed Pedigree offering to help whoever was working with Pedigree in 2015. The email reached Bryn and she invited us to Mississippi, enticing us with the opportunity to learn how to weld, jackhammer, build fence, and save animals. Coincidentally, I just had a conversation with a Tilt 365 colleague about how most people don’t have “business” heroes, so I immediately accepted her generous invitation and booked flights to MSY so we could meet one of ours face-to-face.
We had high expectations for what Bryn would be like and she exceeded them in every way. PhD’d professor and geneticist turns into construction, animal rescuer, and disaster response expert. I observe leaders for a living and Bryn is a truly great one: bold, focused, inspiring, decisive, flexible, likable, passionate, hard-working, patient, funny, humble, willing to admit a (rare) mistake, hands-on, a natural teacher, etc. It’s hard to decide what her greatest strength is, but I watched her interact effectively with stakeholders ranging from the local council to expert local welders volunteering their time to trustees of Mississippi to the abandoned animals themselves. Bryn was extraordinary in every context.
Here are the 5 most important leadership lessons I learned from Bryn while in the Kiln:
1. Pour your own concrete. Leaders should always be deeply involved in the foundation and permanent elements upon which the rest of your business or organization will be built. When building an animal shelter, this sometimes means pouring the concrete yourself; for your organization, this might be product development or client relationships.
2. Passion alone doesn’t get things built. Bryn embodies “be the change” - transforming raising awareness into meaningful change through execution and resilience. For her, this involves everything from raising money, identifying the most needy shelters, managing the projects from top-to-bottom and end-to-end, enlisting volunteers, negotiating prices for materials, finding local police to guard materials overnight, and even the most hands-on tasks like welding, demo, fence building, and triple-checking measurements. Bryn left the job site as sweaty and filthy as the rest of us every day.
3. Plan to be flexible because it’s going to rain or the wrong parts will be delivered or… Planning and flexibility are essential. That said, Bryn was never flexible about the purpose of the project: helping the animals of Hancock County, Mississippi. Whether advocating at a council meeting, feeding us delicious peanut butter and jelly sandwiches so more money could be spent on the build, or training someone how to make wire ties safer for puppies, Bryn was always focused on creating a safe, comfortable environment for the animals in spite of lightning, thunder, hail, rain, negligent subcontractors, etc.
4. Work smarter, not harder. This became a mantra at 7175 Texas Flat Road as we lifted steel beams, worked around a subpar foundation, constructed fences, etc. Taking a moment or two to think about the simplest and easiest course of action is essential for every organization. A related note, don’t confuse activity with accomplishment or waste time on unnecessary activities. The real work is taxing enough.
5. Always show gratitude. Bryn expertly involved every conceivable stakeholder (human and animal) and thanked them repeatedly for their important contributions. For animals, this could mean a better tarp to provide shade or rain cover in ‘exchange’ for reinvigorating break time play sessions with the volunteers; for humans, it was a thank you, smile, laugh, hug, meal, handshake, and/or post-work drink. From the generous locals who donated excellent homemade meals for us to all of the volunteers who traveled from Florida, Pennsylvania, North Carolina, Kentucky, and elsewhere, Bryn made everyone feel appreciated and valuable.
For Bryn and the other extraordinary volunteers I met this week (Yacco, Allan, Shawn, Greg, Zach, Flori, Becca, Nate, Emily, Cheese, Keith, Nancy, Roo, John, Jason, the crew from Red Rover, and anyone I regrettably forgot), I hope the weather is holding off this week so you can continue your amazing work. Thanks again for allowing Meg and I to enjoy the hands-on experience with all of you. We hope to see you in North Carolina soon, maybe in Wake County?
If your organization is looking for someone to help your volunteer or outreach program make a bigger, better impact, I suggest you contact Bryn and GreaterGood.org immediately.