I stumbled on the tributes to Lisa Yanick Litwiller, a former Center for Public Integrity director of audience who recently died of cancer surrounded by her family at home in Mt. Pleasant, Michigan in a Newsletter link by the Online News Association.
Reading through the article titled Former Public Integrity Newsroom Leader Lifted up Forgotten Voices’ by Kristian Hernández and Mc Nelly Torres
I was touched by comments by her former colleagues who remembered the deceased “as a supportive leader who led by example and cultivated a space for everyone to speak up, be heard and laugh.”
Below are quotes and statements from the article which make Lisa Yanick Litwiller a dream newsroom leader any journalist will desire.
“In an industry that is so often stressful, she spread joy. She helped people see what was possible and how to do better”
Yanick Litwiller’s superpower was to make people in the newsroom feel valued, respected and cared for as she pushed them to reach their full potential.
Litwiller never missed an opportunity to uplift and praise her team. “She could so easily spot people’s strengths and potential even before they could. Her favourite question to ask was, ‘What’s your superpower?’”
She was a leader who lifted people and made space for everyone’s ideas to be heard.
She believed that “every person in the room has unique skills, talent, perspective, knowledge or energy that can improve the work. She constantly advocated for expanding who was in the room. No idea was too big or ambitious enough if you embrace collaboration.”
Lisa understood the power of storytelling and of hearing directly from vulnerable people, even if it makes for difficult listening.
She had faith in us even when we didn’t have faith in ourselves. I am so grateful that I had the chance to work with Lisa — to know her. The world is a better place because she was here.
Newsrooms would be better with managers like Litwiller, who was not just a skilled professional, but an amiable manager who got the job done with a humane approach.
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