Leadership Passport
Open Community Leadership (OCL) · POPCOM
This passport is yours.
Not a test. Not a credential. Nobody collects it.
It's a place to be honest about where you are as a leader, and to watch that change.
How it works
- Reflect. Six sections, one per POPCOM dimension, ten statements each. Mark how true each one is for you, not your community.
- Pick a starting point. The section with the most "not true" marks is where you start. Those statements show you what to work on.
- Check in again. Every 6 to 9 months, print a fresh set of the six sections and mark them again. Log your counts and compare.
Badges are issued through Badgecraft. This passport doesn't issue anything. It's the paper side, and it stays with you.
Holder
| Name | |
| Community | |
| Role | |
| First check-in | |
| Signature | |
| Why I'm here |
OCL<LEADER<IN<PROGRESS<<<<<<<<<<
Where you are now
Mark one box per statement. Leave it blank if it doesn't apply yet.
P · Participation
How people join.
| # | Statement | Not true | Partly true | True |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | If someone asked me "how do I get involved?", I could tell them the first step straight away. | ☐ | ☐ | ☐ |
| 2 | New people's questions get an answer within a few days, even if it's "let me find out." | ☐ | ☐ | ☐ |
| 3 | When a newcomer asks a basic question, they get a real answer or a link to the exact place, not just "read the docs." | ☐ | ☐ | ☐ |
| 4 | When we answer newcomers, we skip the jargon, or check if they know it and explain it if they don't. | ☐ | ☐ | ☐ |
| 5 | New people can find the basics in one place, like a welcome page or a pinned post: where we talk, what's coming up and who to ask. | ☐ | ☐ | ☐ |
| 6 | Newcomers can find first tasks they could finish in a few hours, like a tagged "good first issue" or a small job at an event. | ☐ | ☐ | ☐ |
| 7 | Someone is clearly in charge of welcoming new people, even if it's not me. | ☐ | ☐ | ☐ |
| 8 | I can say roughly how many first-timers come back a second time. | ☐ | ☐ | ☐ |
| 9 | When a newcomer contributes or offers to help for the first time, a real person responds, even if we can't use it right now. | ☐ | ☐ | ☐ |
| 10 | People who aren't fluent in English, or can't make our usual times, can still take part. | ☐ | ☐ | ☐ |
Count your marks: Not true ___ · Partly true ___ · True ___ · Check-in date ________
O · Ownership
How people gain responsibility.
| # | Statement | Not true | Partly true | True |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | For every regular task in our team, I can say who's responsible for it. | ☐ | ☐ | ☐ |
| 2 | Each person on my team knows what's expected of them, and what isn't. | ☐ | ☐ | ☐ |
| 3 | If I disappeared tomorrow, someone else could keep things running. | ☐ | ☐ | ☐ |
| 4 | The things only I know how to do are written down where others can find them. | ☐ | ☐ | ☐ |
| 5 | When someone takes on a role, we agree how long it's for, like one event or six months, and after that they choose whether to keep going. | ☐ | ☐ | ☐ |
| 6 | People can step down from a role without it feeling awkward. | ☐ | ☐ | ☐ |
| 7 | I've handed over something I used to do in the last six months. | ☐ | ☐ | ☐ |
| 8 | When I hand something over, I let them do it their way, and they know they can come back to me with questions. | ☐ | ☐ | ☐ |
| 9 | Decisions get made even when I'm not in the room. | ☐ | ☐ | ☐ |
| 10 | Volunteers can tell me their role isn't working for them without waiting for me to ask. | ☐ | ☐ | ☐ |
Count your marks: Not true ___ · Partly true ___ · True ___ · Check-in date ________
P · Purpose
Why people stay.
| # | Statement | Not true | Partly true | True |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | I can explain why our community exists in one sentence. | ☐ | ☐ | ☐ |
| 2 | I know why the people on my team are here, because I've asked them. | ☐ | ☐ | ☐ |
| 3 | We don't keep running events or projects just because we always have to. | ☐ | ☐ | ☐ |
| 4 | People on my team can see the difference their work makes. | ☐ | ☐ | ☐ |
| 5 | I tell people what their work made possible, not just "thanks." | ☐ | ☐ | ☐ |
| 6 | I know what newer members want out of this, like learning or career growth. | ☐ | ☐ | ☐ |
| 7 | We say no to things that pull us away from what we're here for. | ☐ | ☐ | ☐ |
| 8 | When an event or task starts to feel like a chore, I change it or drop it. | ☐ | ☐ | ☐ |
| 9 | I still want to be doing this a year from now. | ☐ | ☐ | ☐ |
| 10 | I feel hopeful about where this community is going. | ☐ | ☐ | ☐ |
Count your marks: Not true ___ · Partly true ___ · True ___ · Check-in date ________
C · Connection
How relationships form.
| # | Statement | Not true | Partly true | True |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | I introduce people to each other, not just to me. | ☐ | ☐ | ☐ |
| 2 | People on my team talk to each other directly, not only through me. | ☐ | ☐ | ☐ |
| 3 | On my team, people can bring up problems and tough issues. | ☐ | ☐ | ☐ |
| 4 | Mistakes on my team aren't held against people. | ☐ | ☐ | ☐ |
| 5 | People on my team find it easy to ask each other for help. | ☐ | ☐ | ☐ |
| 6 | Nobody on my team gets left out for being different. | ☐ | ☐ | ☐ |
| 7 | I know something about each person on my team beyond their role. | ☐ | ☐ | ☐ |
| 8 | We spend time together that isn't about the work. | ☐ | ☐ | ☐ |
| 9 | When I notice tension in the team, I check in privately with the people involved to see if they're ok. | ☐ | ☐ | ☐ |
| 10 | I check in on people who've gone quiet. | ☐ | ☐ | ☐ |
Count your marks: Not true ___ · Partly true ___ · True ___ · Check-in date ________
O · Opportunity
How contributors grow.
| # | Statement | Not true | Partly true | True |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | People can see what roles exist and how to move into them. | ☐ | ☐ | ☐ |
| 2 | I ask people to take on something new instead of waiting for them to offer. | ☐ | ☐ | ☐ |
| 3 | The visible jobs, like speaking, leading or releasing, don't keep going to me. | ☐ | ☐ | ☐ |
| 4 | It's safe to try something new on my team, even if it might fail. | ☐ | ☐ | ☐ |
| 5 | I know what each person on my team is good at, not just what they do for us now. | ☐ | ☐ | ☐ |
| 6 | I've asked the people on my team what they'd like to try next, if anything. | ☐ | ☐ | ☐ |
| 7 | I pass on opportunities from outside our community: talks, grants, jobs. | ☐ | ☐ | ☐ |
| 8 | Work that isn't code, like organising or reviewing, counts as much as code. | ☐ | ☐ | ☐ |
| 9 | I give honest feedback that helps people grow, not just praise. | ☐ | ☐ | ☐ |
| 10 | When someone wants a bigger challenge than our community can offer, I help them find it, like a talk at a bigger event, a role in another project or a job, and I keep the door open for them to come back. | ☐ | ☐ | ☐ |
Count your marks: Not true ___ · Partly true ___ · True ___ · Check-in date ________
M · Mentorship
How communities reproduce themselves.
| # | Statement | Not true | Partly true | True |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | I'm actively helping someone learn how to do what I do. | ☐ | ☐ | ☐ |
| 2 | I work on real tasks together with the people I'm teaching. | ☐ | ☐ | ☐ |
| 3 | I give the people I'm teaching tasks small enough to finish before we next talk. | ☐ | ☐ | ☐ |
| 4 | People I mentor choose how they get feedback from me: written or in a call, straight to the point or with more context. | ☐ | ☐ | ☐ |
| 5 | New people know who they can ask for help, and it's not only me. | ☐ | ☐ | ☐ |
| 6 | I only take on as many mentees as I can actually make time for. | ☐ | ☐ | ☐ |
| 7 | I check in on newer organisers instead of leaving them to figure it out. | ☐ | ☐ | ☐ |
| 8 | Someone taught me, and I'm doing the same for someone else. | ☐ | ☐ | ☐ |
| 9 | I have a mentor or peer I'm learning from right now. | ☐ | ☐ | ☐ |
| 10 | People I've mentored now help others. | ☐ | ☐ | ☐ |
Count your marks: Not true ___ · Partly true ___ · True ___ · Check-in date ________
Where to start
Copy your "not true" count from each section. The highest count is where you start. A tie? Pick the one with more "partly true."
| Section | Not true |
|---|---|
| Participation | |
| Ownership | |
| Purpose | |
| Connection | |
| Opportunity | |
| Mentorship |
The statements I want to change
Modules I'll try
Find the ones for your section at opencommunityleadership.dev/modules.
By my next check-in, I want to
Check-in log
Every 6 to 9 months, mark the six sections again. Don't read your old answers first. Then copy each section's "not true" count here. Fewer means you've moved.
A higher count can also mean you've got better at seeing.
| Check-in 1 | Check-in 2 | Check-in 3 | Check-in 4 | Check-in 5 | Check-in 6 | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Date | ||||||
| Participation | ||||||
| Ownership | ||||||
| Purpose | ||||||
| Connection | ||||||
| Opportunity | ||||||
| Mentorship |
Since my last check-in, what changed?
What didn't, and why?
Sources
The statements in this passport were written with reference to the following research and frameworks.
- Steinmacher et al., Social barriers faced by newcomers to OSS
- CHAOSS, Newcomer Experience metric
- Balali et al., Newcomers' Barriers… Is That All?
- Gerosa et al., The Shifting Sands of Motivation
- Calefato et al., Will You Come Back to Contribute? Investigating the Inactivity of OSS Core Developers in GitHub
- Edmondson team, Psychological Safety Reflection and Action Framework
- Sense of Community Index II
- OHTN, Review of volunteer retention and burnout (Rapid Review Response)
- OpenFeature, Contributor ladder
CC BY 4.0 · Open Community Leadership (OCL)