Pride in Authorship for the Right Reason
I do a lot of drafting of correspondence, memos, and/or policies for clients. I always tell them the same thing. “There’s no pride in authorship, it’s more important to get it right. So make whatever changes you think are appropriate.”
And I believe that. I’m more interested, and always have been, in the right messaging rather than my name being on something. With that said, I am incredibly proud to have my name on an article that was published in the Association for Healthcare Philanthropy‘s Healthcare Journal. It was a survey of nearly 1,500 respondents on unemployment issues in the nonprofit space. You can check it out right here: https://bit.ly/3uxf12j
When I write an article like that or write the blogs like this one, or any one of the scores of podcasts, I really work hard to not make them about Randall Hallett or Hallett Philanthropy. I want them to be a contribution to the industry. Something that someone else can use to make their own professional life or the organization’s existence stronger, better for themself, or for the community. My marketing person calls this creating “evergreen” content because it is relevant forever.
While the accuracy of the statistics in the article may dwindle, as all statistics do over time, the relevance of the bigger points will be salient for the next several years. That makes me happy. If people read it, they have an opportunity to learn something. Learn something about the organization they work in, about themselves and their situation, or just the industry as a whole. That’s a contribution that I can be proud of. In the end, if it helps just one single person, that makes me smile.