I recently went one on one with Heather Jenkins, CEO of The Literacy Lab.

Adam: How did you get here? What experiences, failures, setbacks, or challenges have been most instrumental to your growth?

Heather: When I found The Literacy Lab, I knew I found my home. As the mother of two young children (now grown women), I centered cultivating early literacy in my parenting. As an educator, I prioritized the development of reading and writing skills for my middle school, high school, and college students. As a teacher-leader, I advocated for the inclusion of teacher, parent/caregiver, and student voices in decision-making. As a nonprofit leader, I have dedicated considerable time and energy to knowing and understanding the people I serve, whether that is students, staff, or both, to bring an ethic of care to my work.

I consider myself to be an avid learner who embraces setbacks and challenges as a vital part of the learning process. As someone who also leans into innovation and experimentation, I have numerous examples of efforts that have not gone according to plan, and the ways in which I revised, regrouped and moved forward thereafter. One of the most important areas of growth in recent years, the last six months in particular, has been focused attention on my and others’ mental and emotional well-being. My primary teacher here, other than my own body, mind, and spirit as I’ve aged, has been my younger daughter. She has navigated mental illness and substance recovery for the past several years with courage, grace, and humility, and will do so throughout her life. I’ve learned from her that without creating and maintaining the conditions for our mental, emotional, and physical well-being, all of which are deeply interwoven, we cannot engage in meaningful work. 

I read several articles about the CEO role before joining The Literacy Lab. There were several stressing the need to take care of oneself and that this must be a top priority for CEOs, given the rigor of our roles and how much of our work requires creativity, visioning, strategy, and sustained engagement with others. They cautioned that not doing so would mean we could only be positive forces in our organizations for about two years. I did not heed these articles during my first year and a half and found myself wearing a blood pressure monitor, struggling with extreme, unrelenting fatigue, and sleeping only three hours per night. While I constantly spoke with our staff and leaders about taking time for themselves and putting their well-being first, I did not follow my own guidance.

Adam: What are the best leadership lessons you have learned from leading a non-profit organization?

Heather: 

1. Embrace a both/and mindset. I must show care for people, remain humble, and be open and proximate AND I must set clear expectations and accountability measures for myself and my team. I must be focused on driving our impact and investing in our programming work on the front end AND focused on our infrastructure and the systems that drive the work on the back end. I must be strong and present internally and externally. I must invest resources back into the organization and maintain financial sustainability.

2. Embrace change and uncertainty. If the world has taught us anything over the past three years it is that we will not know what is coming our way in the next 12 months, even the next six. We need to have plans, of course, but they must be adaptive and we must be flexible. 

3. Never waiver on your values. It is very easy to lose sight of our values in the face of uncertainty, turmoil, crises, pressure, and challenges. This is the time when we need to hold our values closer and tighter.

Adam: What are your best tips for fellow leaders of non-profit organizations?

Heather: First, I would say attend to your health and well-being the way you would your top strategic priorities. I can’t stress enough the importance of being well and whole when you execute your responsibilities and commitments as a leader. Nonprofit work is as challenging as it is rewarding. It requires a significant amount of energy and focus.

You should also embrace the Engine 1/Engine 2 concept. I learned about this concept recently and it is at the core of our and other nonprofits’ work right now. Many of us are asking questions about how we evolve and adapt to deepen our impact. Some of us will need to reinvent our programs and some of us will need to add new programs, all while continuing our day-to-day operations and work. Engine 1 is our current work and way of working and Engine 2 is our innovation and reinvention. For nonprofits to thrive and meet the changing demand for our work and of our work, both engines must run well, simultaneously.

Additionally, practice active listening and create feedback loops. I gather a lot of feedback from folks across the organization. This is done via annual surveys, quarterly pulse checks, visiting all of our regions, and having at least one 30-minute individual touchpoint with each staff member annually. As a trained educational researcher, using data has always been a top priority. In this role, it has taken on a new meaning. While I am certainly focused on feedback about our programs and services, I am now hyper-focused on how people are experiencing the organization in ways I was not as attuned to in prior roles. Putting people first is and always has been a core tenet of who I am and how I lead.

Adam: In your experience, what are the defining qualities of an effective leader? How can leaders and aspiring leaders take their leadership skills to the next level?

Heather: 

1. Empathy & Equity: Whether we are in a for-profit or a nonprofit, the people are the work. If we do not show authentic, consistent value for who they are and what is important to them, we will not succeed. Further, we must ensure that those most impacted by whatever we are working on have their voices and perspectives centered in decision-making.

2. Growth Mindset & Humility: I receive feedback almost daily from folks across the organization. I view it as a gift. The day I stop receiving this feedback, and/or stop approaching it with humility and care, is the day my leadership is no longer viable.

3. Adaptivity & Accountability: This is simply a must. We need to lean into adaptive thinking and problem-solving. It’s not easy, and, as such, we must ensure we have strong accountability measures for how we think, behave, and decide. It is very easy to slip into more tactical, either/or thinking and behaving, unless we are holding ourselves accountable and pushing through the discomfort that often comes with being adaptive.

4. Stability & Security: With the world being uncertain and unpredictable, my team needs to feel stability and security in how I lead. I can only breed commitment to trying new things and letting go of “the way we've always done things”, or asking people to step way outside of their comfort zones if I provide a safe, secure, stable work culture and structure.

5. Courage & Creativity: I believe that doing all of these well, consistently, requires a significant amount of courage and creativity. Leading has never been easy or straightforward, and it has become less so over time. We are often called upon to act without all the information or clarity we would like (and others would like for us) to have. We are often asked to take bold steps without knowing whether or not they are going to work. We are asked to approach our mistakes with humility and curiosity. This is the reality of leadership. It is the courage and creativity to lean into these other four mindsets that will set us and our organizations up for success. 

In order for any of us to move to the next level, personally or professionally, we must look at ourselves as a work in progress and be diligent about our learning goals and plans. If we do not create a plan for and prioritize our learning and development, they will easily fall to the back burner, or off the stove entirely. It is imperative that we set goals that are bold, attainable, and measurable, and enlist a coach or mentor to help us stay on track and hold us accountable. 

Adam: What are your three best tips applicable to entrepreneurs, executives, and civic leaders?

Heather: 

1. Build an Irresistible organization. I recently finished a book titled Irresistible, by Josh Bersin, urging leaders to lean away from scarcity and practices formed during the Industrial Revolution, and into practices rooted in abundance and a new way of working. The core message resonated deeply with me. If we focus on the obstacles, control, and compliance, the obstacles, control, and compliance will be the focal point of all of our thoughts. We will not be able to think about or even see, more often than not, anything else. This will limit the potential and creativity of our people and our organizational efficacy.

2. Block ample time for reflection, learning, and visioning. One unhealthy habit I developed early in my tenure was to try to do all of my visioning, learning, writing, and reflection well before or well after a full day of meetings. Doing this well before meetings start would mean not attending to my daily workout and meditation sessions or forgoing my evening yoga stretch or time with my family. I do not do this anymore. I block time during my regular working hours, which are long enough for this. 

3. Assemble a Board of Directors and leadership team reflective of those you serve and the goals you set. Having the right people around you is critical. Our Stewardship Team, all of the folks who are my “first team”, is an amazing group of leaders. I am incredibly lucky that I was able to build this team as I stepped into my role. Together, we recently revised our mission, vision, and values, and recruited an outstanding group of folks to serve as our new Board of Directors. The synergy and alignment here allows me to be my best self, and have people with me who will speak the truth when I am not. 

Adam: What is your best advice on building, leading, and managing teams?

Heather: We often call a group of people who work together, meet regularly, and have some shared goals or purpose a “team”. What I’ve learned throughout my career is that intentional, consistent work must be done to create and maintain the trust, mindsets, habits, alignment, and deep collaboration to be a high-functioning team. Teams need to have regular conversations about how the team is working together and whether or not changes are needed to ensure they stay on track. Further, specific team-building activities, that include fun, laughter, and joy, along with deep thought and introspection, must also be part of the team’s regular practice. Lastly, collective and individual feedback and accountability must be facilitated in ways that are transparent and focused on people’s humanity and development.

Adam: What is the single best piece of advice you have ever received?

Heather: My dear friend and colleague, Adeola (Ola) Whitney, has been a considerable source of strength and inspiration for me. As I moved into this role, as a first-time CEO, I took all of her thoughtful guidance willingly. One of Ola’s many attributes is that she is unapologetically,  authentically herself. When I started in the role and reached out to her to meet, she told me that I have everything it takes to do this work exceptionally well. She told me in a way that I felt it within myself. She told me to trust myself and surround myself with people who “have my back”, people like her. As this role can be rather daunting and lonely at times, this is the best possible advice I didn't know I needed. 

Adam: What can anyone do to pay it forward?

Heather: Mentor and coach younger professionals! I did not have a mentor or coach until very recently. I didn’t have anyone to ask for guidance or with whom I could share my honest thoughts, questions, and worries. And I didn't have anyone who looked like me sitting in leadership roles to look to for support or inspiration. I view it as a significant privilege and responsibility to provide such a space and voice for young professionals, particularly women of color. In fact, I am launching an initiative to do this at The Literacy Lab and hopefully within the broader nonprofit sector and beyond.

Adam: Is there anything else you would like to share?

Heather: I love talking about leadership! I hope my stories and examples resonate with your audience. If so, I would be happy to chat and can be reached at hjenkins@theliteracylab.org.


Adam Mendler is an entrepreneur, writer, speaker, educator, and nationally-recognized authority on leadership. Adam is the creator and host of the business and leadership podcast Thirty Minute Mentors, where he goes one on one with America's most successful people - Fortune 500 CEOs, founders of household name companies, Hall of Fame and Olympic gold medal-winning athletes, political and military leaders - for intimate half-hour conversations each week. A top leadership speaker, Adam draws upon his insights building and leading businesses and interviewing hundreds of America's top leaders as a top keynote speaker to businesses, universities, and non-profit organizations. Adam has written extensively on leadership and related topics, having authored over 70 articles published in major media outlets including Forbes, Inc. and HuffPost, and has conducted more than 500 one on one interviews with America’s top leaders through his collective media projects. Adam teaches graduate-level courses on leadership at UCLA and is an advisor to numerous companies and leaders. A Los Angeles native, Adam is a lifelong Angels fan and an avid backgammon player.

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