Marc Pitman: Welcome to the Concord Leaders Podcast. I’m Marc Pitman, the CEO of the Concord Leadership Group, where we’re helping leaders navigate these trying times without losing their focus. Today our guest is Meghan Barp. She’s the President and CEO of the United Way of Greenville County, and I am super thrilled to have somebody from Greenville here. Thanks, Meghan.

Meghan Barp: Happy to be here, Marc. Thanks for the invitation.

Marc Pitman: How long have you been in this position now? It’s been a couple years, right?

Meghan Barp: Yeah, it’s been a couple years. So February 2018, we packed up from Minneapolis, Minnesota, and moved to Greenville, and love it here — love being part of this community.

Marc Pitman: Where were you in Minneapolis before? Were you at another United Way?

Meghan Barp: Yeah, so I was at the Greater Twin Cities United Way as their Senior Vice President of Community Impact, and then got the phone call about Greenville and hopped on a plane to interview, and truly fell in love the minute that I got here.

Marc Pitman: That’s what happened to us too. We moved about five years ago from Maine, and I did what I called the sniff test — I flew down and checked it out and fell in love with the community. And then my daughter said she kind of likes wherever he’s at, “Can we get a say in this too?” But it’s been good for our family too, that’s great. So with the different leadership positions you’ve been in, what do you love about leading?

Meghan Barp: Oh, I love the people I get to work with in the community. At my core, I really care about the mission of United Way and our ability to affect change in the community. And the privilege and honor I have of working with so many people who feel the same way is absolutely my favorite part. Part two of that, I would say, is the unpredictability of leadership. And that’s never been more obvious than first with COVID-19, and now the race equity conversations we’re having in our community — being able to lead in a time of uncertainty, but also of a path forward, has been really rewarding to me.

Marc Pitman: That’s a really, really good way to put it, that’s really nice. What is it like coming into a new place and then having to navigate those rapids? Because it seems like any jarring word wouldn’t be enough to describe all that’s going on right now.

Meghan Barp: Yeah, you know, I have said this to members of my team — I’m grateful that I’m two years in here at United Way and with the community, to be able to really lead and make some changes. I think what’s been apparent to me in the last few months, starting with COVID, United Way has really been seen as the trusted partner to convene people, to bring people together, to invest funds from very generous folks in our community to create change. I really value that. We’re of course not doing it alone, it’s all about collaboration and partnership, but I have a lot of respect for what we’re able to accomplish in that realm of just doing something, right? And then adding to that with what’s happening to African Americans around our country, and what has been happening for hundreds of years — for United Way to be able to step into that conversation, again in partnership with others, I think has been really important. And to me, Marc, for any organization, more so now than ever, it’s important to be credible and relevant in the times we’re living in. The days of being neutral, or not having a point of view about something — I think those days are over. So I think that’s been most important as I think about this work: that we’re a credible and relevant voice in a really important time in our country’s history.

Marc Pitman: I love that. When I was on the board of a United Way up in Maine, they had us kind of rate our United Way’s board service on different tiers of effectiveness, moving from just writing checks to being the community convener. And it was really eye-opening to consider United Way as the convener in the community for important topics, and the unique space United Way has created for being able to have so many people that they’re talking with. So I love that that’s what’s happening here already.

Meghan Barp: It was aspirational — it is, you’re right. People really trust the work that you do, and so you’re able to just jump in when crisis has come.

Marc Pitman: That’s really great. Well, we know that it doesn’t always work out the way we want to when we try to do some stuff in leadership. So I love to ask people, what was a time it didn’t work? Does a time like that come to mind for you?

Meghan Barp: Oh my gosh, a million of them — we don’t have enough time on your podcast to talk about all of them. I think I learned early on — I’ve grown up a lot in the United Way system, if you will, and I was with Greater Twin Cities for about 10 years. I had some early and hard lessons, I would say, transitioning from an individual contributor to leading teams, and ultimately now leading an organization, that were so hard at the moment but really, really important. I remember a very specific time in my previous life where I was sort of rising through the organization, and I’d been that individual contributor, and we had a really interesting opportunity for some Race to the Top money through the U.S. Department of Education that came up when the government was actually shut down in Minnesota. So our government partners couldn’t work on the application — United Way, along with some of our corporate partners and community partners, stepped in to actually get the grant written and submitted, and it was successful. We ended up getting about $45 million from the U.S. Department of Education as a Race to the Top state. What I learned during that time, Marc, was how important it is to bring people along, right? I expected people to have the same passion and enthusiasm as I did, to work 24/7 to get this done. And it turns out, not everybody has that same level of passion and enthusiasm — still working hard, still wanting to get things done, but maybe not at the pace I had expected it to get done. So this idea of working as a team, collaboratively, to move important work forward has been something that stuck with me the whole time. And I’m driven by urgency because I see the need so clearly in the community and feel real responsibility around that, but also understand the importance of bringing people along around those issues. So that was an early lesson of bringing people along, and the importance of relationships in that, that has stuck with me ever since, in terms of who I am now and how I lead through that.

Marc Pitman: Wow, that’s interesting. I love the way you couple being driven by urgency with needing to bring people along, because not everybody sees what you see — that’s why their contribution to the team matters. What were ways you found to help people get the vision or feel the urgency that you feel?

Meghan Barp: Yeah, I think a big dose of patience, right? I’m a big fan of Brené Brown, which my team knows, and she has a phrase around “clear is kind.” That really sticks with me — clear is kind, and the importance of clarity and simplicity in bringing people along, of really saying what you mean and working at that pace. So I think that’s been an important reminder for me as I think about that urgency and wanting to get things done, and bringing people along, and giving them meaningful roles in the work we’re doing — really understanding talent, recognizing talent, and giving people opportunities to grow, has been really important. We’ve seen that in COVID-19 for sure — my gosh, my team has been incredible, working with so many people around food, around continuing to get taxes done, continuing to make sure we’re working with Prisma Health and others to connect with what’s needed in our community. So I’ve really seen this team rise to the occasion and just hum along, because we’ve recognized that talent and given the opportunity for other people to lead. So I think keeping that space at the table, if you will, for others to shine and maximize their skillset has been really important.

Marc Pitman: That’s really inspiring. Well, thank you so much, I know we could talk forever because my mind is firing with all sorts of different thoughts about things you said. If there were one thing you would recommend leaders do — and at the time we’re recording this, there’s the pandemic, there’s the amazing time of, hopefully, cultural change, but definitely civil — the talk of equity, and that conversation is permeating further than it has, it seems, in a while — is there anything you’d recommend a leader do to get better at leading, or to take care of themselves in this process?

Meghan Barp: Yeah, so you’re right, Marc, that we’re in such unique times as a nation, right? And my hope is that this is a really pivotal moment where we do a lot of deep reflection and make changes. What I would say to leaders, and I’m reflecting deeply on this, I’m sharing this with others, is that we need to be courageous, we need to be bold. I think about my role as a white woman leading an organization like United Way, and where I can influence change, and where I can shift the way we do things when it comes to diversity, equity, and inclusion, which is and has been a passion of mine for a very long time. I by no means believe that I’m an expert, or that I’m always going to get things right — I continue to educate myself, I continue to learn, I continue to relearn things I need to relearn in this space. But having the courage to do that is really, really important. And using our privilege — for me, using my privilege as a leader in this space to influence other leaders — I think that the conversation happening right now in the African American community, and more broadly speaking, can’t rest purely on our African American colleagues or friends to solve, right? We need to be allies, and where possible, agitators in this space. And I take that very seriously, around having the courage to do that, having the courage to work with others to make that happen, because there are a lot of different factors at play, I would say, to not do that. And so my hope is that people do have the courage to do that, to learn, to continue to reach out to others and push themselves both individually, but also within the organizations we have the privilege and honor of leading. So that would be my advice in that space. Your question around taking care of ourselves — that’s a hard one. I think especially in the nonprofit sector, for leaders and for our teams, the idea of self-care, and the idea of creating space to avoid burnout, is so critically important, because I don’t think we do that well. I think most people are in this sector because they’re passionate about changing lives and leaving the world in a better place. My advice there is that our teams watch us, right? If we’re responding to emails after hours, if we’re working through vacations, if we’re always “on,” that sends the message pretty directly that we have that expectation of our teams also. So I try to be hyper-aware of not only saying that self-care is important and that taking time is important, but also trying to embody that as much as possible, so team members feel like, “Okay, I can take this time too.” And during COVID-19, and this continues, it has been amazing how little people have taken time off, to the point where we would say, “Take a break, Marc — you’ve been working straight, 24/7, for the last five weeks, go take some time,” right? So I think really encouraging that, and living that with our teams, is important too.

Marc Pitman: That is so good, because you’re right — I was talking to another leader last week who said they thought they were setting the right expectations of “take the time you need,” and all, but they hadn’t taken it themselves. And it was amazing how their team followed their lead, not their words. That’s great. Well, Meghan, thank you, this has been thoroughly enjoyable. Where can people find out more about the great work you’re doing at United Way, and that your team is doing at United Way of Greenville County?

Meghan Barp: Yeah, please visit our website, unitedwaygc.org. Lots of great opportunities and ways to get involved — a lot of virtual volunteer opportunities for people who have some time on their hands right now. It’s been our number one request, “How can I give back during the global pandemic?” There’s a lot of ways you can volunteer virtually and learn more about the great work we’re doing. And Marc, I so appreciate this opportunity, so thank you.

Marc Pitman: Well, thank you so much. I know people are going to want to listen to this again and again, and you can find it at concordleadershipgroup.com/podcasts, with an S. Until next time, remember that healthy organizations start with healthy leaders.