Tamra Ryan says leadership is about confidence and convocation.
“The most important risk I ever take as a leader is having the courage of my conviction that I am doing the right thing. Even when I have created a vision and plan with input from team members and others affected, there can still be pushback and concern that can lead to doubt and faltering,” she said. “And sometimes all I really have is the conviction that the actions we are taking are helping us head in the right direction. I work to remember that when I make values-aligned decisions, I will stay on the right course.”
Ryan is CEO of Women’s Bean Project, a nonprofit social enterprise employing women who are experiencing chronic unemployment in the food manufacturing business. The nonprofit produces a line of dry food mixes, ranging from bean soup and baking mixes to snacks and ready to-eat items. “Our mission is to change women’s lives by providing steppingstones to self-sufficiency through social enterprise,” the organization said.
Under Ryan’s leadership, Women’s Bean Project recently moved to a new facility twice the size of its former location, a project Ryan described as “10 years in the making.”
“As the CEO, it involved creating and selling the dream of what could be possible in a larger space, finding the new location that was accessible to the women we serve, doing two creative real estate deals, raising the money and completing construction and a move,” Ryan said. “It was a huge endeavor and with the sale of our old building, plus capital campaign funds raised, we were able to pay off our bridge loan within a month of moving into the new space.”
Ryan has prioritized a succession plan for Women’s Bean Project by studying succession planning and working with some of the organization’s team members on development, “with an eye toward their careers holistically, not merely their current role at Women’s Bean Project,” Ryan said.
Ryan has also worked to build meaning in the roles of her team, helping cultivate a culture in which people feel part of something larger than themselves.
“I believe this fosters a feeling that work has meaning and also is consistent with the way I observe people want to work today,” Ryan said. “When we are more experienced, I think we too often have a tendency to get jaded, to believe there is nothing new. I worry that comes across to the next generation as being unwelcoming. It feels as though it does not allow space for others’ feelings to be valid and true. I believe there is a way to both bring one’s experience to the table and also allow the next generation to have their own experiences and form their own opinions. As leaders, when we give space for this, we are being our best leader selves.”
