We come to lead

A piece crossed my desk recently. Twenty-one practical tips for new artistic directors, written by a long-tenured white man at a major regional theater. I read it twice. The second time, I felt tired.Not because the advice was bad. Most of it was technically correct in the way general advice tends to be technically correct. The tips are not the problem. The tips are the symptom. The choice to write tips, in this moment, is the data.So this episode is not a critique of the piece. The piece is evidence. This episode is a transmission, from one generation of leaders to the next, naming what is happening across higher education, federal government, the nonprofit sector, and the arts, and naming what those of us who came through the last shift owe the leaders coming up now.What is inside the episodeWe are not in a new generational moment. We are in the wreckage of the last one. More than half of the cohort the New York Times called a sea change in 2019 are no longer in their positions, and the bulk of the leaders who left did not move up. They left the field. The field that called them historic could not hold them for five years.And I name what I am doing now, and what some of us are doing now, building infrastructure outside the institutions that could not hold us, clearing path, keeping the lights on, for the leaders coming up behind us.Who this episode is forThe leader reading the job description and wondering whether to apply.The leader already in the chair, trying to lead in conditions the practical wisdom of the field cannot account for.The leader who has read the tips and the articles and the LinkedIn posts and felt the gap between the advice and the actual conditions of her life, and who has been wondering, in the private place where leaders do that wondering, whether anyone in the generation ahead of her actually understands what she is walking into.I do. Some of us do.And what I want you to take from this episode is not despair. It is information. You are not crazy for noticing what you are noticing. You are not alone in seeing what you are seeing. The path is being cleared. The lights are on. Keep going.References cited in the episodeThe donor rescission at Oregon Shakespeare Festival was first reported by Drew Lindsay in the Chronicle of Philanthropy. The most recent naming of the pattern across cultural institutions, including my own departure from OSF, is Emil J Kang ’s essay “Men Retire. Women Get Fired.” in The Reprise, published May 24, 2026. Anne Pasternak, director of the Brooklyn Museum, is quoted in that piece.Higher education data on the Ivy League women presidents draws from the Chronicle of Higher Education’s August 2024 reporting and the American Council on Education’s most recent presidential survey. Dr. Antoinette Candia-Bailey’s death is documented in coverage by 19th News and Office Hours with Dr. DeVeau, January 2024.Nonprofit demographic data comes from Candid’s 2024 State of Diversity in the U.S. Nonprofit Sector report and the Race to Lead surveys from the Building Movement Project.Federal workforce data is documented by ProPublica’s June 2025 investigation and the Feminist Majority Foundation’s July 2025 report on DEI rollbacks. The 69,000 federal positions eliminated by mid-2025, and the disparate impact by agency, is from those sources.Theater data on artistic director departures comes from HowlRound’s Regenerative Artistic Leadership Change report and American Theatre magazine’s reporting on theater closures since 2020.The Ohio political context, Senate Bill 1 and related legislation, is public record across Higher Ed Dive, Ohio Capital Journal, Signal Cleveland, and the Statehouse News Bureau.A note to subscribersIf you have read this far and you are one of the leaders this episode is for, I want you to know that the coaching practice I run exists for exactly this reason. The Pay It Forward Initiative, supported by the Mellon Foundation, makes that work financially accessible for leaders in the arts and nonprofit sector who would not otherwise have access to it. If that is you, the application materials are on my site.And if you are not in that situation but you know a leader who is, send them this. The path gets clearer for the next person when the leaders who came before stop pretending the conditions are normal.We are writing the ending of this story ourselves. With you in view.Thanks for reading Be a Ladder Leader! This post is public so feel free to share it.DATA SOURCES (FOR REFERENCE)Higher Ed — Ivy League women presidents resignations: Chronicle of Higher Education, August 2024.Higher Ed — Claudine Gay tenure: NBC News, 19th News, January 2024.Higher Ed — Dr. Antoinette Candia-Bailey: Lincoln University, January 8, 2024; coverage via 19th News and Office Hours with Dr. DeVeau.Higher Ed — HBCU presidents departures: Washington Post / TheGrio, September 2023.Higher Ed — College presidency demographics: American Council on Education Presidential Survey, 2023; Eos Foundation Women’s Power Gap Initiative.Nonprofit — CEO and staff demographics: Candid, State of Diversity in the U.S. Nonprofit Sector, 2024.Nonprofit — BIPOC leadership underrepresentation across budget tiers: Candid, 2024; Race to Lead surveys (Building Movement Project) 2017–2024.Nonprofit — Voluntary turnover and workforce trends: Johnson Center Nonprofit Workforce Report, January 2025.Federal — 69,000 federal positions eliminated by mid-2025: Feminist Majority Foundation, July 2025.Federal — Disparate impact by agency: ProPublica, June 2025.Federal — Black women in federal workforce: U.S. Office of Personnel Management data, cited in Feminist Majority Foundation, July 2025.Federal — Black women’s unemployment increases: Feminist Majority Foundation, July 2025.Theater — 121 artistic director departures, theater closures: HowlRound, Regenerative Artistic Leadership Change, April 2025; American Theatre, Theatre in Crisis, July 2023.Theater — 2019 New York Times sea change article: Michael Paulson, New York Times, 2019.Arts and culture — Donor rescission and subsequent restoration of gifts at Oregon Shakespeare Festival: Drew Lindsay, Chronicle of Philanthropy.Arts and culture — Pattern of women and leaders of color being fired while men retire, including OSF reference: Emil Kang, ‘Men Retire. Women Get Fired.’, The Reprise (Substack), May 24, 2026. https://emilkang.substack.com/p/men-retire-women-get-firedOhio — DEI legislation overview (Senate Bill 1, March 2025; House Bill 698, February 2026; K-12 expansion bills): Higher Ed Dive, Ohio Capital Journal, Signal Cleveland, WVXU, WOSU Public Media, Statehouse News Bureau, Prism Reports.Thanks for reading Be a Ladder Leader! This post is public so feel free to share it. This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit bealadderleader.substack.com/subscribe

This week on We Come to Lead, I take on celebrity scandal — not as gossip, but as a leadership case study.After watching the America’s Next Top Model docuseries, I found myself revisiting a familiar tension: why does our culture immediately narrow harm to a single person? Why do we focus on character and intention while leaving the system untouched?From ANTM to Ray Rice, from Puffy to the BAFTAs, from elite training pipelines to the Epstein files, this episode examines how white supremacy and rugged individualism train us to isolate blame — and how that reflex protects power.Oppressed people do not have the luxury of interpreting injustice as a series of bad actors. We experience repetition. Repetition reveals pattern. Pattern reveals structure.As an intersectional leader, I center systems change — not reform. Reform tweaks behavior. Systems change redesigns architecture.In this episode, I explore:* Why individualization is a function of white supremacy* How rugged individualism undermines thrivable leadership* What elite pipelines reveal about vulnerability and ambition* Why intuition and empathy are essential diagnostic tools* The Ladder Leadership lesson that moves us from reaction to redesignIf we only remove the offender, we preserve the system.Intersectional leadership demands something more.Listen now.Thanks for reading Be a Ladder Leader! This post is public so feel free to share it. This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit bealadderleader.substack.com/subscribe

In the face of so much pain and state-sponsored terror, Nataki Garrett pauses to share a story about Black love.Recorded after an evening out to dinner with two other Black couples, this episode reflects on the quiet power of listening to Black people tell the stories of how they found each other. Nataki explores how Black love is so often framed as service, sacrifice, or survival—and what it means to speak instead about love as joy, risk, choice, and being seen.Through personal reflection on meeting her husband, the role of community in love, and the experience of waking up knowing she is loved without condition, Nataki offers a reminder as we move into Black History Month:We are love.And that is our birthright. This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit bealadderleader.substack.com/subscribe

Check out my latest Podcast. Heres a video teaser. Listen to Ep. 14 of We Come to Lead: Evolution REVOLUTION” on Substack, Spotify, Apple, or wherever you’re listening. This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit bealadderleader.substack.com/subscribe

For 2026, I did promise myself I was going to drink my water and mind my business.But this morning, a Artistic Leader friend (it’s late and I didn’t ask permission to reveal their name) and someone I deeply admire and respect sent me a text—with a post attached—and every once in a while, you just have to respond.Im taking a quick moment to return to the folks who actually lived and understood revolution—who knew it was about love and discipline and risk and responsibility, not safety and comfort and fear.Also, duende. Because when leadership language gets too tidy, it’s usually protecting safety.Subscribe to Be a Ladder Leader — all proceeds go directly to supporting my Pay It Forward coaching program, which provides up to 85% off coaching for nonprofit arts leaders and organizations doing vital, underrecognized workYou can also learn more about my coaching and download your free guide, Called to Lead: A Re-Visioning Blueprint, at https://coaching.natakigarrett.com/lls.If this podcast resonates with you, help us spread the word by taking a moment to subscribe, rate, and review We Come to Lead on Substack, Spotify, Apple, or wherever you’re listening.Show Notes:* Che Guevara on love as the heartbeat of revolution — Che Guevara, as quoted on Lib Quotes: “At the risk of seeming ridiculous…” (link)* bell hooks on choosing love against domination — bell hooks, Outlaw Culture: Resisting Representations (quote on Lib Quotes) (link)* Martin Luther King Jr. on power and love — Where Do We Go From Here (primary text PDF) (link)* Assata Shakur’s “Affirmation” — from Assata: An Autobiography via LoveandRageMedia (link)* Federico García Lorca on duende — Theory and Play of the Duende (translated text) (link)* This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit bealadderleader.substack.com/subscribe

Voices from the Top Rung: A Conversation with Lynette A. TurnerIn this episode of We Come to Lead series Voices from the Top Rung, host Nataki Garrett sits down with trailblazing arts leader, consultant, healer, and author Lynette A. Turner.For more than three decades, Lynette has shaped American theatre and the national arts landscape—as one of the first Black women Producing Directors at a major PWI regional theatre, a senior associate at AMS Planning & Research, and now as founder of Positive Bliss, where she supports leaders through mindfulness, healing, and intentional living.Topics We Cover:• Lynette’s journey from actor and choreographer to Producing Director in the 1980s• Being one of the first Black women in executive theatre leadership• Her 26-year consulting career at AMS and the impact of lived expertise• Coaching Nataki during her OSF tenure and navigating unprecedented scrutiny and resistance• Rest, breathwork, and mindfulness as essential leadership tools• The spiritual, emotional, and political realities of leading inside systems not built for you• How Lynette reclaimed her voice and calling through healing work• Her vision of legacy, joy, and meaningful dialogueFeatured Resources:• Lynette’s website (Positive Bliss): https://www.positivebliss.com• Lynette on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/lynette-turner-904a5b6/• AMS Planning & Research tribute:https://www.ams-planning.com/ams-celebrates-35-years-and-honors-sr-associate-lynette-a-turner/• Book by Lynette Turner: The Ten Be’s of Positivity: 10 Steps to a More Positive Way of Living• Referenced book: Rest Is Resistance by Tricia HerseyThis is a powerful, honest, and deeply grounding conversation about leadership, rest, resilience, and the courage to stay whole while leading through change.Subscribe to Nataki’s newsletter:Be a Ladder Leader on Substack — join a growing community committed to liberatory leadership and systems that help people thrive. This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit bealadderleader.substack.com/subscribe

Just a little thank you for your support. Thanks for reading, listening, watching as I grow into this new calling. I am grateful to share in and with you. Happy to be in community. Feel free to upgrade to a paid subscription on Substack — all proceeds go directly to supporting my Pay It Forward coaching program, which provides up to 85% off coaching for nonprofit arts leaders and organizations doing vital, underrecognized work.You can also learn more about my coaching and download your free guide, Called to Lead: A Re-Visioning Blueprint, at https://coaching.natakigarrett.com/lls. This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit bealadderleader.substack.com/subscribe

In this episode, I share a story from my early days applying to grad school for theater directing — a story about gatekeeping, truth-telling, and the illusion of belonging.If you’ve ever had to shrink your brilliance to fit a space that wasn’t built for you — this one’s for you.You can share your reflections on my Substack, Be a Ladder Leader → upgrade to a paid subscription on Substack — all proceeds go directly to supporting my Pay It Forward coaching program, which provides up to 85% off coaching for nonprofit arts leaders and organizations doing vital, underrecognized workYou can also learn more about my coaching and download your free guide, Called to Lead: A Re-Visioning Blueprint, at https://coaching.natakigarrett.com/lls.If this podcast resonates with you, help us spread the word by taking a moment to subscribe, rate, and review We Come to Lead on Substack, Spotify, Apple, or wherever you’re listening. This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit bealadderleader.substack.com/subscribe

Over the next few months, we’ll be focusing on a new series here on We Come to Lead called Voices from the Top Rung—featuring industry leaders and changemakers whose work lives at the intersection of transformation, systems change, and collective solidarity.So join us on the next episode where we hear from Pati Navalta, founder of Navalta Media.Pati is a two-time Pulitzer Prize-nominated journalist, a nationally respected communications strategist, and someone who’s spent her career helping leaders and organizations navigate the public square with clarity, integrity, and power. She’s also the strategist I turned to when I needed to reframe the attacks being leveled against my leadership—and reclaim the truth of my story.In this episode, we talk about:* Why personal PR isn’t vanity—it’s survival* How race and identity shape public narratives* What leaders need to understand about silence, credibility, and media framing* And how to proactively shape your leadership story before someone else writes it for youThis conversation is rich with truth, strategy, and practical wisdom for anyone trying to lead boldly and be seen clearly.Listen in. Subscribe. Share.Voices from the Top Rung begins with someone who knows exactly how to help leaders rise. This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit bealadderleader.substack.com/subscribe

Welcome our latest series: Voices from the Top RungI sit down with the fierce and formidable Pati Navalta of Navalta Media. She breaks down why owning your story — and knowing exactly who you are — isn’t optional, it’s essential.This fierce, full, and F🔥 episode drops Monday.Stay tuned. This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit bealadderleader.substack.com/subscribe

What happens when your leadership is questioned—not because of what you did, but because of who you are?In this solo episode, I’m naming the quiet, exhausting truth: that for many of us, leading means carrying more than just responsibility. It means navigating systems that were never designed for us, confronting bias disguised as feedback, and sometimes being betrayed by the very people who should have our back.This one’s about the cost of being visible, the harm that happens inside our communities, and why I built the Ladder Leadership Approach to support leaders like us—for real.But I don’t stop there.I share how we push back. How we build support. How we lead anyway.This one is real. And it’s for anyone ready to lead with more clarity, care, and power. for more information about my services visit www.natakigarrett.com/theladder This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit bealadderleader.substack.com/subscribe

Leading Through Fire (Part Two)What do you do when the emails stop, but your body is still bracing for impact?In this episode, I talk about the quiet, often invisible work of healing after professional violence. I share what I lost—my ability to listen to music, to write poetry, to feel like myself—and how I slowly gave myself permission to rest, retreat, and return.I speak honestly about what it means when your artistry is used against you, when your vision is framed as a liability, and when the systems you trusted to hold you instead tear you apart.But this episode is also about what begins again.The music that comes back.The poem that finds you.The moment you realize you don’t have to prove your resilience to anyone—not anymore.This is for the leaders who feel broken open.For the artists who can’t access their art.For anyone who needs to hear: you are still whole. You are still here. Ready to begin your healing?I offer tools, support, and community to help leaders reclaim their clarity, artistry, and joy.🌱 Explore offerings or join the Jumpstart MembershipYou deserve more than survival.You deserve your full self. This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit bealadderleader.substack.com/subscribe

We’ve spent years believing that DEI could make leadership safer. That if we walked in with vision and care, our institutions would meet us there.But what happens when they don’t?What happens when the very systems you were hired to transform turn on you?In this episode, I speak directly to the leader who’s been targeted, silenced, undermined—or simply worn down by the quiet violence of institutional resistance. I share what I’ve lived: navigating backlash from donors, retaliation from boards, and the betrayal of legacy institutions that claimed to value equity.I talk about how we survive in public while grieving in private.This episode is not a blueprint—it’s a lifeline.We begin with grace, not a checklist.We slow down.We name the harm.And we reclaim our agency.I share what I’ve come to call the three elements every leader in crisis must reclaim:Safety. Story. Strategy.Not as a framework—but as survival.If you’re navigating sabotage, crisis, or quiet collapse, this episode is for you.You are not the crisis.You are navigating one.And you do not have to do it alone.If this episode spoke to something you’ve lived through—or are living through now—share it.Forward it to a colleague, a friend, or a fellow leader who needs to know: they are not alone. Also you can Join the Jumpstart - a monthly membership community with access to:* Visioning tools, strategy map, and leadership self-assessment* Monthly inspiration drops and private podcast access* Discounts on select tools in the Rise & Thrive Bookstore This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit bealadderleader.substack.com/subscribe

Too often, visionary leaders — especially women of color — are told to “let the work speak.” But your vision can’t move forward unless you do. In this episode of We Come to Lead, Nataki Garrett unpacks the power of self-advocacy as a leadership practice, not a personal defense strategy. You’ll learn why clarity is not just internal, but vocal — and how advocating for your needs is what protects your calling, not distracts from it.This episode is a reminder:You don’t need to wait for permission to lead differently.You are the permission.Join the Jumpstart Member Community : HERELearn more about my Premiere Coaching: ELEVATE This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit bealadderleader.substack.com/subscribe

In this powerful episode, Nataki Garrett unpacks the urgent need for leadership development coaching in the performing arts—especially for women and leaders of color. Drawing from her own lived experience at the helm of major institutions, Nataki explores why coaching is too often withheld until a leader is in crisis, and how systems designed to protect traditional power structures actively resist supporting visionary leadership.She shares the personal and professional catalysts that led her to create Ladder Leadership—a coaching platform built for those navigating toxic systems, carrying transformational visions, and leading at the edge. With honesty and clarity, Nataki breaks down how systemic bias, professional violence, and silence clauses isolate ousted leaders, and why access to coaching before the breakdown is a radical act of care, strategy, and survival.This episode is a must-listen for anyone questioning why leadership feels so lonely—and what we can do to change that. For more information about Ladder Leadership visit www.natakigarrett.com/theladder This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit bealadderleader.substack.com/subscribe

What if the only way we believe in danger is by living through it?In this episode of We Come to Lead, I ask the hard question:Are we a country, a culture, a people who need collapse to finally believe the warnings?I’ve been in rooms where qualified leadership was met with skepticism. Where vision was treated as fiction. Where the fire alarms I sounded were dismissed—until the building started to burn.This episode is about that pattern.It’s about the way belief gets delayed.And the cost of that delay—on people, organizations, and entire systems.I share my own experiences of being underestimated while trying to lead us away from crisis, and I bring in the voices of people I trust—leaders, artists, organizers—who have witnessed the same pattern play out again and again.We talk about:• The cultural fear of proactive leadership• How unconscious bias disguises itself as “due process”• What it means to be visionary and still be dismissed• And how much further along we’d be if we trusted wisdom from anywhere, not just the top of the hierarchyIf you’ve ever led with clarity and been met with disbelief, this episode is for you.And if you’ve ever ignored the warning signs because the truth felt too early, too uncomfortable, or too unfamiliar—this is your invitation to listen differently. This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit bealadderleader.substack.com/subscribe

This Week on We Come to LeadDon’t let the latest news about what’s happening fool you—real leadership isn’t about power hoarding or standing alone at the top. It’s built by and for the collective. This week, we’re talking about what it means to Ascend the Ladder with intention and Be a Ladder for those coming after us. Because leadership isn’t just about rising—it’s about making sure no one climbs alone. This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit bealadderleader.substack.com/subscribe

In this episode of We Come to Lead, Nataki Garrett reflects on the power of art, leadership, and resistance in the face of our current politic. From Sandra Bland’s birthday to the urgency of systemic change, she explores how artists serve as conduits between humanity and the heavens. This episode is a call to action: We build, we act, we keep going. This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit bealadderleader.substack.com/subscribe

In this episode of We Come to Lead, titled Mercy Asks Us Not to Separate Our Whites, Nataki Garrett dives into the complexities of allyship, whiteness, and accountability. Inspired by the courage of Rev. Mariann Edgar Budde, Nataki reframes the idea of mercy—not as passive pity but as bold action requiring truth, accountability, and justice. This episode calls on listeners to embrace mercy as a radical, transformative force for dismantling oppression and building a more just future. This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit bealadderleader.substack.com/subscribe

In this episode of We Come to Lead, titled Mercy Asks Us Not to Separate Our Whites, Nataki Garrett dives into the complexities of allyship, whiteness, and accountability. Inspired by the courage of Rev. Mariann Edgar Budde, Nataki reframes the idea of mercy—not as passive pity but as bold action requiring truth, accountability, and justice. Through sharp critique and candid storytelling, she examines the roles of supremacy whites, rugged individual whites, allied whites, whites of the Global Majority, and artistic whites, challenging all to confront the systems that uphold privilege. This episode calls on listeners to embrace MERCY as a radical, transformative force for dismantling oppression and building a more just future. This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit bealadderleader.substack.com/subscribe

When I proposed the idea that consensus is not a universally applicable tool, I was met with a dismissive response: “Well, you can’t change everything.” That sentiment struck me, not because it was surprising, but because it underscored a broader issue. The prevailing systems of DEI work are designed with a one-size-fits-all mentality, assuming that the same tools can be applied equally across all contexts and identities. But that assumption is fundamentally flawed, especially for leaders like myself, who navigate the complexities of identity, race, and gender in leadership roles. This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit bealadderleader.substack.com/subscribe