CO-LEADERSHIP: Nataka and Solange reflect on their Co-leadership
October 2019: QAYN completes a three-year leadership change process that culminated in the recruitment of two co-coordinators.
Photo Credit: Stéphane Simporé
In the region, QAYN has always been known for its strong transformational leadership. Thinking about co-leadership within the West African queer feminist movement is, in itself, an innovation. The brains behind this leadership approach are simply geniuses with QAYN’s best interests in mind.
A few months after taking office, the two Co-Co (as the Co-Coordinators like to refer to themselves and be referred to), or the SOLNAT duo (for Awa and Simon, consultants at QAYN), share how they are taking ownership of their new role as Co-leaders.
1. Communication
Co-leading requires a lot of communication. Communicate, communicate, and communicate! Thankfully, this is something we had been doing long before we became Co-Co. Indeed, we knew each other before, lived in the same city and even participated together in the fourth QAYN Activist School in Dakar.
We communicate to share our thoughts, to refine them, to deepen them. We communicate to plan and implement projects. We communicate to share our experiences, to improve ourselves, to grow; because although our pasts and experiences are different, they complement each other. We talk about our emotions to balance each other, to give each other energy and strength, in our work and beyond
For example, we talk about our move to Burkina Faso, about our vision for the organization for the next 5 years, as we need to develop a new strategic plan; each in our own corner, with our own singularity, the sum of our efforts making us stronger than ever.
2. Sharing of Responsibilities
Co-leading means understanding that you are not alone at the head of this organization with its high expectations and oftentimes daunting challenges. Managing staff, communicating with the Board of Advisors, designing projects, contacting partners, drafting contracts, negotiating with consultants, finalizing contracts, managing procedures with the fiscal host, all the while ensuring that the organization’s feminist and pan-Africanist principles are applied.
Following country regulations, being receptive to members of the Secretariat, organizing meetings, drawing up agendas, staying informed about spaces where we could be useful, learning about the history of the organization, communication, organizational documents… It’s work, it’s energy, it’s passion. Co-leading is about sharing responsibilities, but also challenges and successes.
3. Friendship
Co-leadership is like friendship. In friendship, responsibilities do not fall on one person but on all parties involved so that the friendship can be balanced and sincere. Friendship means love. It requires the contribution of everyone. Imagine an organization that is managed as one manages one’s love, an organization that is managed with love. QAYN is above all our Love. We are here out of passion and love because we believe in its vision, its mission, its goals, and are proud of its achievements. And everything is done out of love.
When two people share the same interests, the same vision, and the same passion, it becomes easy to share, to share everything, to manage everything; out of love for the action, out of love for the impact that this action will create for the organization, for our community and for society. Through love, we are able to transcend personal differences and work towards greatness.
4. Feminist Principles and Values
Co-leading is being grounded in the principles and values of feminism, in equality and in valorization. It became apparent to us that institutions that implemented co-leadership were usually strong and powerful in their actions and in their impact. We have found that sharing power, especially in decision-making positions like ours, was the best way to be equitable, fair and accountable to the work we do, to our community and to the movement.
5. Silence
While co-leading is about knowing when and how to communicate and share, it is also about knowing when to keep quiet and respect the silences and moments of reflection of the other person. It is about acknowledging that one does not always need to have a point of view about everything. Co-leading is about recognizing and respecting the other person’s moments of reflection and quests for inspiration, and being able to capitalize on their moments of creativity. Co-coordinating is understanding and respecting each other’s rhythm.
6. Complementarity
Co-leadership is about complementarity. It is about appreciating and capitalizing on the strengths of the other person, but also compensating for their weaknesses. It is mastering the art of communicating through looks and gestures. It is understanding the other person in their writings, but also in their linguistic complexity. It is knowing when to make room for French, Mina or Kinyarwanda. We are, after all, a pan-Africanist organization that should be able to value the entire cultural, linguistic and artistic heritage that we reflect.
7. Mutual Support
Co-leading also means taking the time to get to know each other, to get in tune with each other, to understand each other’s strengths and sources of happiness. It means understanding each other without too many words. A look, a gesture, a breath, a wink. To voice to the other person that we understand them. It’s saying Go! Go! Go! with nothing but a smile of encouragement or a pat on the shoulder. Co-leading is about congratulating, motivating and supporting each other, sometimes without having to say a word. It’s understanding each other’s non-verbal communication and moving forward together.
Taking the time to read and understand each other, to love each other and to know each other’s passions; questioning and encouraging each other; knowing how to disagree while respecting each other, these are the bases of true co-leadership.
8. Compassion
Lastly, co-leading is widening the range of people we can come in contact with and see ourselves through. It is seeing ourselves in others and understanding that their experiences could be ours. Such is the power of having two charismatic, authentic, different but complementary leaders.
We’re on our way. We are making progress and we know we will get there because we are taking the time to build a solid foundation for our co-leadership. And even in times of crisis, we are confident that we will be able to overcome challenges because QAYN is our love!!!
Best Wishes for 2020!
Nataka & Solange
QAYN
CO-CO