Tips on leadership

• Strong value of a board of passionate individuals but they are not experts

• Its valuable to have organization-approved external experts to point your community to

  • You’ll have a lot of first timers seeking services, this desire is going to be met with experts that the organization can trust

• Make sure there are clear ethical lines if conflicts of interest arise, ie if a board member is also a facilitator offering services on the side and prospecting clients from integration circles for example

• Programming and essence of the society tends to follow the ED, which has been positive and negative

  • Theres a general preference for non-hierarchy but there is value in having a leader head that makes final decisions

  • Important to make sure that the people leading the society are deep in integrity

  • Lots of people want to take leadership roles when theyre excited and post-trip, make sure that the ED is able to sustain their role

• A board has a lot of expectations around it, try not to use this word unless you're actually incorporated as a 501c3, its not simple a group of people, there is power involved.

  • Unconscious perception of what their role is, better to use something specific, so that you can be clear about what you're asking them to do

    • i.e steering committee

    • Sometimes a board is financially liable for an organization

    • For example, peter is an advisory board member specifically for finances, they dont make decisions, they just lend expertise

  • Separate group of people that may not overlap with board governance

  • Advisory group, vs board

    • i.e develop a fundraising plan, but not actually being a fundraiser for the society

• Make sure your board isn’t just a face on the website, that they are actually making decisions

• Having a clear ED chosen, having a clear understanding on what they are comfortable being referenced as, and points that the org agrees upon around ways to engage with the public. Build standards of procedures/guides. Bylaw and leadership approved responses to questions. Who feels comfortable answering which questions.

• Small tip: anytime speaking with the press, ask for a quote check to make sure they heard you right.

• Don't be shy of having non-psychedelic people help you, obviously you want them to be aligned with the mission. Don't make psychedelics a necessary thing.