If you work in a nonprofit and are under 30, chances are you’re not in a particularly influential leadership position. Chances are, you’re either in a heavily administrative position, like an ‘assistant’ or an ‘associate’, or if you’ve done well to promote yourself, you’re somewhere in middle management as a ‘program manager’. Either way, you’re likely not a rainmaker and your ideas aren’t necessarily heard and acted upon. This is probably the case despite your idealism coming out of college or a Peace Corps program. This is probably the case despite the fact that young nonprofit professionals are the leaders the nonprofit sector has been waiting for.
But just because that’s how it is, doesn’t mean that’s how it has to be. In a recent online discussion NYU Professor Paul Light and his brother Mark Light talk about the nonprofit leadership deficit, destroying some myths that cripple young workers’ sense of leadership potential. The Light brothers assert that nearly three out of ten small organizations’ executive directors are younger than 40. This is the case despite this crazy notion that the “prime leadership age is 34 to 54″. In fact, Mark Light thinks that nonprofits need to be prepared to embrace young leaders out of necessity:
The coming leadership deficit will force us to hire more and more young people at a time when we need more experience dealing with greater competition and uncertainty. Although every generation fears for the future and thinks that younger leaders won’t be able to take the stress or understand the complexity, somehow they always do.
What does this mean for young nonprofit professionals? No matter what your role happens to be now, we need to be preparing ourselves for leadership positions opening up to us in the coming years. The reality is that the executive director vacancies are here now, and young leaders need to be throwing their hats in the ring. Aspire to go from administrative assistant to executive director. Why not? You work hard and have good ideas that can change your community. All you need to do now is make yourself heard and prepare yourself to go beyond your current nonprofit role. Here are some ways to do that.
First and Foremost, Do Your Job and Do it Well
Leaders have to have the skills to get the job done, so the first thing you need to do is hone your strengths. If you’re good at organizing others around an agenda or issue, get even better at it. Great at research and writing? Make sure you keep those talents up to date. Equally important in this vein is to also address significant weaknesses. If you have issues with showing up late to work or speaking up for yourself, now is the time to give those flaws the boot.
Work for a Small Organization
Small nonprofits usually require all employees to work outside of their job descriptions. Office managers may get opportunities to write grant proposals and learn all about fundraising. Receptionists could be called upon to organize a group of volunteers for a rally on Capitol Hill. Joining the staff of a small organization can be hard work doing several jobs in addition to the one you were hired for, but you quickly become a generalist in many different areas of skill and knowledge. I didn’t know anything about nonprofit insurance for boards of directors until someone handed me the task of setting it up for a small nonprofit I worked for. Paul Light also points out that younger leaders get a priceless opportunity to learn in smaller settings, and often obtain the skills to move up to larger organizations, where the vacancies are growing and the salaries are higher. But don’t work yourself to death too long; this should be your training ground, not a career in grunt work.
Find Your Own Mentors
Look, don’t ask your boss to find you a mentor. This is one thing you need to do by yourself. I’m sure you already have a role model in mind that you look up to in the nonprofit sector. Maybe you even think that if you just knew how so-and-so did it, then maybe you could do it, too. And you can. Make a list of all the folks you admire and contact them. Nonprofit folks can be helpful, but so damn busy, you will not likely get the one-on-one consistent relationship you want. So find 3-5 mentors you can touch base with periodically to pick their brain about their career journeys or to get advice about your own climb up the ladder. I’d suggest you not restrict yourself to mentors within your own organization, and in fact encourage you to actively look outside of your organization and even outside of your field to get exposed to diverse experiences and perspectives. You can also be sure that mentors outside your boss’ network will keep your concerns in confidence.
Decide Where You Want to Be and Tell Everyone You Meet
If you want to be an executive director, but no one knows about it, no one can help you. Your dream job may not even be related to the leadership position you want in the future. Maybe you’re a program manager for an environmental nonprofit right now, but at night you dream about leading a scholarship program for kids in India. When you meet folks in your desired field, tell them about your aspirations. My grandmother says you never know who you’re going to meet, and I would take that a step further to tell you that you never know who can help you. Once you decide on your career goal, get vocal about it.
Get a Master’s Degree
An advanced degree can often give you more credibility and validity than years of experience. I remember a 52 year old woman who was in a fundraising class with me in my Master’s program. She had been successfully fundraising for private schools for 30 years, and yet was taking a course with many beginners in the field. When I asked her why she was wasting her time and money, she said she wanted the degree to be able to move up as a Head of School. Get your validation early on, and it will be that much easier to move up when you get the chance.
So how about it? Are you ready to take back your 9-5? What are some ways you have prepared yourself for leadership while in your current role?
