Volume 38 Number 5 | October 2024
Kyle B. Riding, PhD, MLS(ASCP)CM, ASCLS President-Elect
This year, the ASCLS Nominations Committee asked the president-elect candidates the following question, “During the Ask Me Anything, you shared your vision for our Society. In addition, a communication barrier exists between new members and leaders with experience that is impacting our members’ sense of belonging. Propose a plan that will address the communication barrier and support your vision.” It was an honor to have the opportunity to answer and provide my perspective on this issue.
In examining this question, I think it is important to first revisit what my vision is for our Association. As Past President Rick Panning once said, ASCLS has a track record of “doing the heavy lifting.” I wholeheartedly agree. I look around at our community, and I am inspired by each of your efforts and your collective excellence. The achievements of ASCLS exist because of your passion for its mission.
With that in mind, we have heavy lifting to do once again. Burnout within our ranks; assuring diversity, equity, and inclusion; and working to continually be at the tables where decisions are made are just a few of the issues we must find solutions for. But ultimately, they all share a singular theme: they demand ASCLS be at the forefront of building a healthy profession for this century.
And that is my vision. It is assuring that ASCLS takes the center stage to mobilize and coordinate a profession-wide journey where we seek to set aspirational goals that elevate medical laboratory professionals. We already have a track record of bringing the profession together—Past President Dr Jim Griffith did this in 2000 when he had ASCLS convene the Coordinating Council of the Clinical Laboratory Workforce. We can do it again. But this time, instead of a goal of building sustainable workforce numbers, we focus on goals related to the quality of the lived experience in our profession.
“… if we all believe in the mission, continually build up this community, and assure everyone feels as though they belong, we are assuring a healthy ASCLS and thus are one step closer to a healthy profession.”
But back to the question from the Nominations Committee. I was struck by one singular phrase in their ask—and that was “sense of belonging.” Dr Brene Brown1 offers one of my favorite perspectives on belonging. She has said, “Belonging is being part of something bigger than yourself. But it’s also the courage to stand alone, and to belong to yourself above all else.” She goes on to say it is the opposite of “fitting in.” She says that fitting in is assessing a group of people and changing who you are. Fitting in is a betrayal of self, while belonging demands we are true to ourselves.
So ultimately, achieving a sense of belonging involves simply being ourselves. Sounds easy in practice, doesn’t it? Well not really. Even in the safest of environments, being ourselves and belonging can be difficult, because it takes courage. But I believe we can do it—and we must. Because there is no feeling more powerful in this world than when you are living your authentic life in a space where that courage is celebrated and welcomed.
That power is something every ASCLS member—new and seasoned—deserves. Furthermore, a sense of belonging, in my estimation, would presume all members find ways to connect with their colleagues in a way that feels authentic and without rank.
These sentiments are critical because they serve as a foundation for any communication plan that aims to enhance belonging in ASCLS. But I must say that while ASCLS has opportunities to improve in this space, it is doing a fabulous job of telling all individuals they belong here.
When you look at our major social media sites, you can see we are in a position of strength. When we have nearly 10,000 followers on Twitter/X; 26,000 on Facebook; and 47,000 on LinkedIn. To engage these audiences, our volunteers and staff produce countless communications that signal “we see you and we value you.” Members have many new touch points for connecting with the organization and each other. And overall, these communications build a brand that is dedicated to the laboratory professional and a healthy profession where all belong.
This is supported by national benchmarking data from our email distribution vendor Higher Logic. It shows that ASCLS exceeds the benchmarks on our communications. This means people are connecting and finding touchpoints that can build belonging better than the average association because our ability to connect with everyone is stronger than it ever has been. Additionally, the rates of participation in ASCLS Connect also meet or exceed national benchmarks.
But there is always room for growth and improvement. I believe we got a taste of where we can enhance our efforts this past spring. I was flooded with joy every time I opened social media and saw ASCLS constituent societies posting uplifting content that showcased our grassroots—people working together with a shared belief in the mission, to build a community, to assure that ASCLS is a place where everyone belongs. But how do we make this type of communication sustainable outside of the spring or Medical Laboratory Professionals Week season and make it a year-long activity? Especially when hard-working volunteers are the ones planning these activities and making these posts? Well, let’s start by acknowledging that hard work.
Enter the Believe-Build-Belong designation. It celebrates that your constituent society communicates that it believes in the power of community, builds the community up, and belonging is at the heart of it all. This is a digital badge of pride that can be shared on all communications. I believe this simple designation will accelerate our pace of identifying best practices in communication and sharing those will help elevate each constituent society. And it ties into my vision for the future of ASCLS, because if we all believe in the mission, continually build up this community, and assure everyone feels as though they belong, we are assuring a healthy ASCLS and thus are one step closer to a healthy profession.
Reference
- Hacking HR. (June 14, 2023). Brene Brown About Fitting in and True Belonging #shorts [Video File]. YouTube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2ClCPF9w7yc
Kyle B Riding is Clinical Associate Professor and Program Director at the University of New Hampshire in Durham, New Hampshire.