Your Questions Answered: How many roles should I be playing?

In this series, I’m sharing another episode about the most frequently asked questions I get about the Social Change Ecosystem framework. Please check out my website (socialchangemap.com) for books, free worksheets and conversation starters, and more information about how to apply the framework individually and organizationally. Feel free to reach out if I can support your engagement with this framework.

Today’s question is: How many roles should I be playing?

There is no one magic number. Instead, the question we could ask is:

What patterns emerge when you look at the roles you are playing across various ecosystems?

In this series, we have already talked about different ecosystems that we are all part of: from family systems and friend groups and workplaces to mutual aid associations, nonprofits, student clubs and national coalitions.

Rather than counting our roles in each ecosystem, let’s take time to notice which roles keep showing up again and again.

Is there a pattern? For example, perhaps you’re being called to play the same role in every ecosystem. Or you naturally veer towards one because you know you can follow through.

Here are three patterns I notice when people map themselves across multiple ecosystems.

· The Caregiver: This is a role that can be played in many ecosystems all at once for many of us. I see this especially with people who assumed a lot of responsibility in their childhoods to care for their family ecosystem. It’s especially pronounced with people who are eldest daughters, who moved to this country as an immigrant, who come from marginalized backgrounds, or who needed to take on a parenting role with siblings.

When the role of the caregiver becomes multiplied in other ecosystems – the workplace, volunteer efforts, community campaigns – and when it becomes the default role, it can become an exhausting one to shoulder over time.

Mapping patterns helps us ask different questions: Where could I contribute in another way? And also, who are my caregivers?

· The Visionary: We often confuse the visionary with the leader. This can happen as we get older, as we become more of an expert in the fields that we are in, and as people lean on us. But being a visionary isn’t about being in charge or managing people and programs. It’s about helping people imagine possibilities they hadn’t considered before and inspiring them to move in those directions.

If you find yourself playing the role of a visionary across multiple ecosystems, notice what that means for both you and the people around you. Visionaries are really good idea generators and brainstormers. But it’s important to remember that bringing these ideas to life often requires other roles, especially builders, experimenters and weavers. Being mindful of the capacity within an ecosystem - whether you have the relationships and complementary roles needed to move your ideas forward - is an important question to keep in mind.

And, if you’re playing the role of the visionary in multiple ecosystems, notice whether you’re also making room for others to imagine, contribute, and shape the future.

· The Frontline Responder and the Disrupter: These roles can be especially taxing when we play them simultaneously. Why? Because they take quite a cognitive and emotional load. They often require quick thinking, crisis response, challenging existing systems, speaking truth to power, and acting under pressure. They also mean that we have to bear risks (emotional, physical, reputational) because the frontline responder and disrupter roles push back at systems and power - which don’t often want to budge.

Finally, it’s perfectly okay to play different roles across ecosystems. Sometimes people discover that they might be a caregiver at home, a builder at work, and a storyteller in their community. This doesn’t mean that you’re being chaotic or inconsistent – it could be a sign that you’re noticing patterns and being responsive to the needs of different ecosystems while balancing your own capacity.

Here’s a practice that you might want to try out this week:

Choose three ecosystems that you’re part of. Map the one or two roles you most often play in each.

Then ask yourself:

• What patterns are coming up?

• Are there roles that I’m playing simultaneously – and what’s the impact?

• How could I experiment with showing up differently?

The goal isn’t to play more roles but to become more intentional about the choices we make as we contribute to the world around us.

For more information about the social change roles, please check out my book, Social Change Now: A Guide for Reflection and Connection, in print and audio formats.