EA - Two Years Community Building, Ten Lessons (Re)Learned by Rockwell

Welcome to The Nonlinear Library, where we use Text-to-Speech software to convert the best writing from the Rationalist and EA communities into audio. This is: Two Years Community Building, Ten Lessons (Re)Learned, published by Rockwell on August 10, 2023 on The Effective Altruism Forum.Today is my two-year anniversary with EA NYC, where I serve as director. To say I've learned a lot would be a tremendous understatement. The more visible parts of that learning are often technical: who's doing what in which organization, why [niche thing I'd never heard of] is actually really important, what mentorship opportunities exist for people with [these very specific qualities], how to wrangle 100+ people into a group photo and still have everyone visible. (I've gotten super good at that last part!) But I've also learned - or relearned - some much larger life lessons.None of the below lessons are wholly novel, but I think they're worth stating for the broader community. Regardless of where I personally am in five or ten years, I think this is a list I'll return to. The contents are simple but so, so easy to forget. Without further ado, here are ten major lessons I've from my tenure thus far:1. Many people who want to do good in the world feel alone as a resultThrough my role with EA NYC, I'm often among people's first touchpoints with the EA community. I constantly have conversations with people who feel deeply unfulfilled in their life and their life's work, with an underlying knowledge they're not currently doing much of meaning. Often, they are in their 30s or 40s. Often, they are - or think they are - the only one in their circles who wants to do something that matters. To them, even just learning the EA community exists feels like a door into a new world, one where they no longer need to feel deeply alone in their desire to do good. There are many people who want to do good and are willing to devote their lives to it, it's just a matter of finding them and helping them believe it's possible. Which leads me to:2. Extremely impressive people have imposter syndromeI routinely speak with extremely accomplished individuals who I'm so excited to have join the community and have multiple promising routes to impact lying before them. Yet, they profoundly question their abilities. More than once, I've felt quietly intimidated while speaking to someone, only to have them then ask me, "Is there a place for me in EA? Do you think someone like me has anything to bring to the table?" People you would least expect are plagued by self-doubt. People with a range of backgrounds and skill sets are nearly universally poorly calibrated when it comes to their own potential. As a result:3. People often want "permission" to do goodMany people are waiting for an external green light to signal "you can do something that matters." Others, like the SuccessIf advising team, have explained this concept more in-depth than I will here. In a word, people often want an external party to say, "Yes, this is okay to do," before they do it. That external validation or assurance can be a deciding factor in whether or not they take an action. And as community builders and community members, it's our job to provide that permission slip, reassuring others that their contributions matter, their thinking is rational, and they're not alone in this journey.Tangentially, I worry that EA's focus on professionalized channels toward improving the world further fosters "permission culture" in comparison to, for example, grassroots social movements.A job offer should not be a prerequisite to making an impact, and a rejection letter certainly shouldn't stop you from picking up your phone and calling your elected official or volunteering for a human challenge trial. Being able to keep going and keep believing in your ability to have an impact can mean recognizing that:4. Tempering rejection is a learned skillA lot of my observations above come back to a fear of rejection....