By Ginger Zielinskie

President, Benefits Data Trust

Last year, as I attended the Independent Sector Conference, Benefits Data Trust was at a moment of inflection. We were growing – fast. In order to keep pace we needed to invest in our team and the way we worked together. Old informal norms and ways of working were not going to work as we grew.

Focused on this, I was excited for the conference and I was reading – a lot. I came across AchieveMission CEO James Shepard’s article, “Ready to Scale Fast, Are you Sure?” Then, by chance, at the conference, I met James. After several conversations we entered into a partnership to help BDT build a Human Talent Management Strategy. Sounds pretty consultant speak, I know. But what came out of the partnership was a comprehensive strategy to invest in the BDT team and improve how we work together.

We opened up to our whole staff and sought their feedback about how we could be better. The process was hard and emotional. We had to be open to critical feedback and willing to do things differently. I learned a lot from my team and from AchieveMission. Three key takeaways include:

• Clear, honest feedback is essential. No matter your role, if you are holding back critical feedback because it is tough – you are doing your team and your organization a disservice. Have the conversation in a professional and respectful way and move on; it’s liberating.
• Be deliberate in empowering individuals and teams across the organization to work together – There is great talent hiding all over organizations. Tapping into that passion & perspective and mixing it up a little makes organizations stronger.
• NEVER lose sight of your mission. Even when focusing intently on organizational capacity, never lose sight of why we do this work. We are here to serve our clients and meet our mission. Keeping an eye on the prize is essential to remain authentic and true.

I am grateful for that day last November at the Independent Sector Conference when I met James, because it brought BDT to this point. We are better prepared to deliver on our mission to transform benefits access.