Fairness Project Leadership Tool Kit

Dr. Minor is known nationally for workshops for activist leaders on "Being an Activist Without Being a Victim" that address issues of burnout and self-nurturing as key elements of progressive leadership. In these workshops he distributes articles which inspire a new way of looking at activism as a personal healing model rather than a "war" on something.

The Fairness Project wants to make these and other especially insightful materials available to anyone interested in healthy activism from a healing model. On this page you can download and link to materials that are available to support your activist work. Contact The Fairness Project with questions or to plan a leadership workshop by Dr. Minor. We can work within your budget.

"Burnout, Blowout, and Breaking Up: Navigating the Hazards of Activist Leadership" (The Fairness Project Series) Now in it's 2nd (2011) edition, this 8-page, durably published booklet emphasizes practical principles for a model of leadership intended to provide what progressive movements need and to ensure personal growth in those who choose to be leaders. Based in Dr. Minor's workshops on healthy activism, his "healing" model breaks the patterns of the usual leadership ideals which arise out of profit-oriented institutions that don't seek deep-rooted, progressive change. Order it at a discount here. When emailing your order, ask for the current "Tool Kit" discount.

"Why Leadership Is the Most Dangerous Idea in American Business" (Inc.) An article, surprisingly from a business magazine, that calls "entrepreneurs" to move away from the unhealthy models of leadership ("heroic," "inspirational," "charismatic") proclaimed by most who write about it today. It calls for a more healing model ("antiheroic"). Read it here.

"Being Progressive Shouldn't Be Hazardous to Your Health" (AlterNet) An article by a psychologist about burnout being embedded in our culture and its relationship to personal issues often found in progressives whose lifestyles are encouraged by organizations they lead. The article emphasizes healthy, vibrant and joyful leaders and the organizations that foster and create them are the keys to creating a world that embodies these same values, and thus the importance among leaders of self-compassion and an ethic of self-care. Read it here.

"Leadership Decisions" by Charlie Kreiner. The late Charlie Kreiner was an international workshop leader on issues of gender and leadership. He was a clear voice for the combination of personal healing, the ending of oppression, and the conviction that every human being is connected to every other. Download here a brief piece (pdf) he wrote which summarized his approach -- about making decisions on how to be a leader in anti-oppression movements while not living out of one's own unhealed pain and hurt.

"Staying Fired Up: Antidotes for Activist Burnout" by Letty Cottin Pogrebin. A still insightful,1994 article by a founding editor of Ms magazine and author. "No issue is more common to all of us than the fundamental questions of how we relate to one another, how we assemble authority structures, provide access routes to leadership, and resolve conflict when it arises within the group." Download a pdf here. (Reprinted with permission from TIKKUN: A Bimonthly Interfaith Critique of Politics, Culture, & Society)

Quotations from Parker J. Palmer, Let Your Life Speak: Listening for the Voice of Vocation. (Jossey-Bass, 2000) A one-page collection of quotations for leaders on listening to one's inner voice. Download the pdf here. Order the 128 page book here.

Creating a One-on-One Support System through "Listening Partnerships." Having a support system to allow a leader to give attention to what's going on with them about their leadership joys and frustrations is essential. One way to do this is to set up intentional, mutual listening partnerships with someone or some people to reflect upon one's needs, frustrations, disappointments and dreams. Download a one-page pdf here.

"Five Myths that Perpetuate Burnout Accross Nonprofits" by Ann-Sophie Morrissette. An article, about when "the creep" happens when working in a nonprofit organization that once lit a fire under you with a list of beliefs that perpetuate the burnout/re-ignition cycle across nonprofits and what the nonprofits can do to correct this. Read it here.