Elevating My Psychology In Pursuit of Equity, Impact and Joy Through Philanthropy [Part Two]
By: Alex Johnston, President and Founder of Building Impact Partners
Editor’s Note: This is the second post of a two-part series. Alex’s September thought leadership piece can be read here.
Introduction: The Continuous Invitation for Growth
For all of us engaged in allocating resources through philanthropy, whether as donors, advisors or foundation staff it’s common to set our north star as the pursuit of maximum positive impact. It is also common to include an aspiration to advance equity as part of our definition of “maximum positive impact.” Whatever our particular issue area or focus, we don’t want to leave anything on the table when it comes to delivering on this mission. But with over a dozen years as a philanthropy advisor I’ve come to believe that when we drive so hard for maximum impact, even when we’ve done explicit work around concepts of race, identity and power, we risk missing the mark unless we also accept the ongoing invitation to engage in our own journey of learning, growth and deepened connection through giving. As human beings, we are all hard-wired through millions of years of adaptation for a fear-based fight or flight mental operating system. In my experience, it’s especially important to pay more attention to my own wiring when I am involved in philanthropy that’s operating across lines of difference. It’s only when I am able to break out of these default psychological settings that I am able to elevate my perspective and truly see the bigger systems of which I am a part—and to help those I am working with to do the same.
In this second post of a two-part series, I’m sharing a second framework with readers I've drawn on to expand my perspective and elevate my vantage point as a philanthropy advisor.
Framework 2: 5 States of Mind for Change Agents
This framework is a tool for expanding your perspective in two ways. First, by tuning into your own psychological state and how this orients you towards meeting your own needs. Second, by bringing awareness to how your state of mind influences the way you engage inequity and systemic bias.
Exploring States of Mind From Scarcity to Self-Transcendence
Let’s start by exploring these 5 states of mind that almost all of us experience at various points in our lives.
Scarcity: When you are in this state of mind, your overwhelming concern is that you won’t be able to get what you need. Your focus is on doing whatever it takes to get your needs fulfilled. There are certainly times in life when you need to operate from this survival-focused frame, such as when you are caught in the immediate crisis of a natural disaster. But when your survival instincts kick in, they typically narrow your field of vision. When you are in this mental mode, your choices often appear binary. Either I do what it takes to meet my needs, or I lose out. It’s costly to let a scarcity state of mind creep in when it’s not truly necessary. When you are caught up in this mental mode, you may act in ways that violate your own values to get what you need.
Externally directed: When you are in this state of mind, you are focused on figuring out the “rules of the game.” What do others expect and value in you and your behavior? You are looking to others for clues and cues about how best to shape your thoughts, feelings, and actions in order to fit in and find success within a given social order. This state of mind is an essential part of our socialization as a species. We would never be able to live together in groups and cooperate if we didn’t have a large part of our mental wiring available to process all the signals we get from those around us and shape our behavior accordingly.
Executive: When you are in this state of mind, you are focused on formulating plans, identifying and acquiring key resources, and enlisting others to help you accomplish your goals. This is the state of mind that many of us rely on to exercise “leadership” in the conventional sense.
Evolutionary: When you are in this state of mind, you see your own growth and adaptation as a key way to address challenges and find fulfillment. You operate on the premise that the best way to meet your own needs and serve others is by shifting your own approach to be more flexible and creative in how you pursue your aims. You are even willing to reconsider which aims you find most valuable. You tend to focus most on exercising positive influence rather than formal authority. The nature of the challenges you tackle is often complex, where there is no reliable formula for achieving a solution in advance. Think about Nelson Mandela and the evolution in personal outlook during his twenty-five years in prison that lay behind his success establishing South Africa’s first National Unity government.
Self-Transcending: When you are in this state of mind, you are focused on looking beyond the limits of yourself as the key actor. Some of the questions you ask yourself seem almost metaphysical: What larger truth or whole is seeking expression through me? What larger systems am I a part of, and what leverage do I have to transform these systems through my own actions and by coming together with others? What ripples can I help set in motion whose ultimate impact I can’t even predict or perceive? Your problem-solving and leadership in this mode are focused on taking yourself out of the equation. How can I develop others? How can I best position others to address this challenge above and beyond anything I do myself? Think of spiritual leaders such as the Dalai Lama when looking for inspiration or examples of this.
In this framework it might seem like an ascending hierarchy where as we become more self aware and psychologically mature, we go on a sequential journey from scarcity all the way up to self-transcending. But the reality is that each of us moves around between these different states of mind from one moment to the next.
This creates a big opportunity to elevate our perspective by bringing more awareness to the state of mind we are operating from in any given moment, and how that influences what we are able to see and do. For example, when I identify a situation as a philanthropy advisor where I’m at risk of dropping into a scarcity state of mind (such as when a donor doesn’t seem to see the value of a new grantee I’ve recommended), I’ve found it helpful to ask myself a series of perspective expanding questions. If I knew for certain that I just didn't have to worry about meeting my needs in this situation, what else would open up? What would I be able to see? What could I focus on more? What would I be able to do for other people? What gifts could I give? And what larger change could I be a part of in this situation? Lot’s more along these lines in this worksheet from the 7 Pillars series.
Connecting Your State of Mind to How You Engage Systemic Inequity and Bias
A second way to use this framework is to explore how your state of mind in the moment is connected to the ways you engage systemic inequity and bias.
I can’t speak to other people’s experience, but I know for me, as a white person, if I’m coming at the world from a scarcity mindset, chances are I’m going to be completely unaware of systems level dynamics. What bias? What inequity? Because if it doesn't affect me directly, I just don't see it in that moment when I'm all the way down with a tunnel vision focus on meeting my own immediate needs.
What about if you're in an externally directed mindset, if you're really focused on other people for clues and cues about how to behave? There are a couple of possibilities here. One is that you might avoid engaging systemic inequality and bias because it just seems too hot to handle. We see that a lot in the conversation now in this country around race and identity. I certainly know there have been times when I have stayed quiet on issues of race, identity and power because I was worried I might say the wrong thing and be judged by others. It’s also possible that when you are anchored in an externally directed mindset you might feel resistance to acknowledging systemic inequity and bias. You might say to yourself: Other people tell me I'm supposed to acknowledge this identity group or acknowledge this type of bias, but that's not what I see… Either way, when you're worried about what other people are thinking of you, it’s much harder to acknowledge complexity and make your own independent, reasoned evaluations about what's actually going on around you.
What about if you're in an executive state of mind, if you're focused on me and my plan and getting other people on board? You might well see the bias in the systems around you, but you might still be caught up as the star of your own story when it comes to addressing that bias. This can happen as a growth stage with white people who are on a journey of racial awakening, where we lean too much on people of color around us, where we want to be recognized and celebrated as allies. Jal Mehta has an insightful perspective about how stages of racial awareness connect to levels of psychological growth, and how people of color experience white people at each of these stages.
As we get up into the evolutionary state of mind you have an opportunity to see the systemic bias and your own role in it and really work on building your skills as a resourceful ally to the people who are experiencing that bias. I know I don’t always pull it off, but I’m always trying to elevate to at least this level in my work as a philanthropy advisor.
And when you go to the self transcending level in your state of mind, you can really show up as a systemic change agent, where you’re recognizing that all of us who are able to see an unjust system in action are called to disrupt it at its deepest roots. That's where some of the greatest, most lasting change can happen through the work we do in philanthropy.
Conclusion: Staying Grounded and Resourceful is Always a Work In Progress
I’ve gotten a lot of value from these two frameworks and I hope they’ll be helpful to others on the journey to help philanthropic resources flow abundantly and equitably to where they are truly most needed. By making a conscious effort to elevate our own psychological operating system, we can expand our view beyond our own immediate needs and fears. This more resourceful perspective equips us with the depth required to tackle systemic issues more holistically, thus opening the door for more enduring and equitable solutions in the realm of philanthropy.
I’ll close with one last thought from my own experience: we are never exonerated from the work of elevating our psychological perspective. We are hard-wired from millions of years of evolution to drop into scarcity-driven fight or flight responses at the slightest perceived threat. Meditation, journaling, breathwork, walking outside--whatever the flavor, there are self-care routines that we can each lean into every day to help remind our nervous system that we don’t need to draw on fear as our primary energy source. I’ve found that this daily work to stay grounded is what gives me the critical two tenths of a second when the chips are down to elevate my psychology and choose a resourceful response rather than a narrow, fear-based reaction. I’m still very much a work in progress, but the more I can see the water I’m swimming in, the better I’m able to do my part to help philanthropy deliver on its full potential to advance equity, impact and joy.
This thought leadership piece and others like it can be found in Camelback Ventures' Giving Compass ‘Racial Equity in Philanthropy' e-magazine collection. Check it out!
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The Capital Collaborative by Camelback Ventures works with white funders and social impact investors who want to deepen their individual and organizational commitment to racial and gender equity in philanthropy — but may not know how. You can learn more about how to get involved by submitting an interest form for the Capital Collaborative’s next cohort or signing up for the newsletter.