In 2018, my co-op faced a momentous decision. A developer wanted to pay us $53 million in order to build a gigantic skyscraper abutting our property. There were passionate arguments both in favor and against the deal.
But the closer I studied the deal the more problematic it seemed. In many cases, facts and figures being shared with our community were incomplete, misleading or wrong.
I set to work conducting extensive research on the proposed deal and developed an understanding of the situation that was very nuanced and deep. Articles I wrote were being read not only by residents of my co-op, but by the community at-large. This was big news — if successful, this would be the biggest air-rights sale in New York City history! Journalists from the New York Times and other publications sought me out for background on the proposed deal.
I wasn’t on the Board of Directors, I was on no committee, and had no authority in my co-op. I wasn’t associated with the developer or anyone else. Yet, my independent investigation significantly influenced the decision my community reached on this deal. How did I do this? Through a tactic I refer to as “subversive leadership”.
Now, just because I use the word “subversive”, don’t think I’m an anarchist! The word is important, but let me explain what I mean.
First, by “leadership”, I am NOT talking about any sort of formal role or authority. Instead, I am talking about a fundamental sense of purpose, and the self-directed action people take when they connect to their personal values, knowledge, and ideas.
This bears emphasis this — leadership is not the position, but the action. It is the action one takes in pursuit of a vision that that constitutes leadership.
In many cases, such self-directed action may not be aligned to — or may even be contrary to — established leadership structures. But that is not why I call it “subversive leadership”. Rather, taking action beyond one’s formal authority or responsibility challenges the way things are, and promotes a new vision of how things can be. Asserting one’s leadership in this way subverts the status quo!
My activism in my co-op started fifteen years earlier when I wrote an article for the co-op’s newsletter. The newsletter was cancelled, and I was left wondering what to do with the article! Then it occurred to me that, although they wouldn’t be publishing my article, there was nothing stopping me from publishing it myself. This is the internet age, after all! I registered a domain, and my online newspaper was born.
It turned out there was a whole lot of irony in my co-op, and within a month I had written a dozen snarky articles. My neighbors were turning to my site with increasing frequency. And the Board of Directors even began to take notice!
Over the years, I tackled many significant issues. There was fraud in our co-op elections, there was a portion of our property badly in need of revitalization, there was a proposed change in a nearby city park which could dramatically improve our quality of life, and there was an urgent need to address the impact of covid-19 on our community.
All-in-all, it is remarkable the breadth of issues that I, just one single person, have been able to advance through my site, and it is deeply rewarding to recognize the results that my work has achieved.
Of course, leadership doesn’t happen in a vacuum. I could have written 1,000 articles and had no effect at all. I attribute my success to my early recognition that leadership entails connection to others. From the start, I employed five strategies to make such connections.
1. Know your facts.
I research topics extensively before writing about them. I reach out to experts and take time to understand their views. In the end, the vision I aspire to is based on substantial evidence.
2. Embrace your audience.
As a writer, I recognized that people are always so distracted! Key to my success is that I write in a way that engages, entertains, stimulates, and inspires my readers.
3. Seek to unify.
I recognize my community and always speak to community values. I seek to unite people and refrain from attacking or antagonizing anyone.
4. Know your intention.
I always have a clear intent — I know what I want people to understand through the piece they are reading, and oftentimes, how I want them to act.
5. Appeal to Leadership!
Although my community consists of 3,000 people, I mostly write with twelve of them in mind — our formal leadership consists of an eleven-member Board of Directors and one General Manager. Most everything I write is imbued with a recognition of their positions, and an understanding of the role they would need to play in order to bring about real change.
In everyday life, there are more leadership opportunities than there are leaders to lead them.
When you find yourself in a position in which your leadership impulses outpace your actual authority, consider engaging in some subversive leadership of your own!
Go ahead, leaders, blaze a new trail. People seek a trail to follow.