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Section I.
that the Seattle Community Association (SCA) faces is the lack of effective leadership and
communication from Executive Director Cheryl Cobbs in her implementation of the Anti-
Racism Initiative.
Section II.
This communication challenge exists, in part, because of the structure of the SCA and
The staff at each of the programs was used to a collaborative, semi-autonomous environment,
and the “top-down implementation” of the anti-racism initiative went against that spirit and
culture of the organization. In addition, because of the sheer number and variety of organizations
involved in the SCA, it is difficult for the organization as a whole to adopt a shared set of values
While this may be difficult, having a vision for the organization is vital to its success.
And it is the responsibility of the Executive Director to set the direction of the organization, and
to wholeheartedly embody that vision. This is something that Cobbs did well. She took the belief
that institutional racism is an underlying cause of poverty, and brought that to the organization.
This is aligned with the SCA’s vision and values, part of which states the SCA is “a leader in
advocating for the elimination of poverty, racism, and other forms of oppression in our society”.
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And this vision is something that Cobbs, as a woman of color, understands and clearly believes
However, it is the Executive Director’s responsibility to not only set direction, but to also
“motivate others to pursue the vision that drives the work” (Tschirhart and Bielefeld 2012, pg.
232). This is where Cheryl Cobbs fell short. She was unable to effectively inspire her staff to
adopt the same vision of the organization through anti-racism initiative. First, Cobbs created the
initiative as a “mandate”, without consulting many staff members. Cobbs was aware of the
independent, collaborative culture of the SCA, and did not take that into account when planning
and implementing the anti-racism initiative. Second, while the topic of racism is an important
aspect to address when serving individuals of color in poverty, it is a difficult subject to tackle,
especially in “an agency made up mostly of white people.” The employees of the SCA were all
in different places in terms of cultural competency, and each had different perspectives and
barriers to dealing with this situation. This is not something that was addressed by Cobbs in
implementing the initiative, and created problems. Staff were not comfortable sharing their true
feelings and creating dialogue, which was a goal for the initiative. This indicates a failure in a
critical principle for engagement, outlined by Santropol Roulant- the need for relational
productivity, “creating the space and skills for healthy interpersonal and group communication
are essential and highly productive aspects of organizational life” (Tschirhart and Bielefeld 2012,
pg. 239).
Because of these multiple issues, Cobbs failed to rally the SCA staff around her vision of
the anti-racism initiative. The Director of Human Resources for SCA, Kathy Crumlish, stated the
problem best: “…It sort of became an imposed vision. And when you have an imposed vision,
Section III.
One of the most important steps in revising the organization’s vision and direction is to
create a strategic plan surrounding that vision. While Cobbs’s anti-racism initiative did have a
plan, it was created by the mandated Anti-Racism Committee, with little input from other staff
members or from the board of director. This is one of the direct causes of the plan’s failure, and I
believe that the first step is to evaluate the old plan and create a new plan for moving forward
with the anti-racism initiative. One of the problems with Cobbs’s old plan was that there was
little input from the board of directors. The board of directors of SCA “should be involved in
strategic planning and monitoring the achievement of strategic goals” (Tschirhart and Bielefeld
2012, pg. 203). While boards of directors are mainly responsible for strategic planning with staff
members sitting on the periphery and providing less input, the structure and culture of the SCA
demands that staff have more of a say. Therefore, I recommend that Cobbs set up a strategic
planning meeting with the board of directors, herself, and some of the more senior staff and
managers from multiple programming areas, including those that participated on the Anti-
Racism Committee before. This is a larger, more diverse group of people, which can lead to a
greater diversity of ideas in creating a successful plan for the initiative, and eliminates the
appearance of the initiative coming down as a mandate from the upper levels of management.
To create this plan, the strategic planners can conduct a modified SWOT analysis,
specifically in terms of the anti-racism initiative and utilizing the employee evaluations and
action plans from MEDC. This allows them to examine the strengths of the plan already in place,
the weaknesses of the plan, opportunities that SCA has by becoming an anti-racism agency, and
threats that can prevent this course of action. After the analysis, planners can actually set
strategy, working within the framework of the SCA and improving on weaknesses of the past
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plan by examining feedback. They must also set specific goals for progress in increments, rather
than attempting to do too much at once. Finally, the planners must set up a plan for monitoring
the success of the plan, to “periodically review whether [the strategy] has been successful in
creating the intended results” (Tschirhart and Bielefeld 2012, pg. 104).
After the plan has been created, Cobbs, as the Executive Director, is responsible for
communicating this plan to her staff and motivating them to follow the plan. The most important
step Cobbs can take in this is by taking the time to explain to the various program heads (who
can in turn communicate this to their staffs) why the anti-racism initiative is vital to the future
success of the SCA, utilizing multiple frames of reference (Tschirhart and Bielefeld 2012, pg.
241). The anti-racism initiative is consistent with the SCA’s values (symbolic), it provides an
opportunity for personal growth in cultural competency of individual staff members (human
resources), and by becoming an anti-racist agency, the SCA elevates its credibility with
community members and those it serves (political). Cobbs can also apply the goal-setting theory
of motivation to inspire her staff to engage in the anti-racism initiative. Encouraging and
motivating staff to achieve the incremental goals set in the strategic plan can lead to a motivation
to continue and improve in the initiative (Tschirhart and Bielefeld 2012, 294).
By following the steps I have outlined above, Cheryl Cobbs has the ability to more
effectively communicate the goals associated with the anti-racism initiative and how this
program relates to the vision of the SCA. She is taking into account the structure of her
organization, to formulate a plan that involves all parties (herself, the SCA’s board, and SCA
staff) in the process to eliminate the belief that this is a “top-down” implementation of the
initiative. And can transform the “imposed vision” of turning the Seattle Community Association
to an anti-racist agency into a shared vision that will guide the actions of staff for years to come.
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References