How to Create Your 2012 Nonprofit Career Plan

January 10, 2012 by · 2 Comments

Last week, Allison Jones and I hosted our first #ynpchat of the year on creating a 2012 nonprofit career plan. (For those who don’t know, #ynpchat is our monthly Twitter chat for young nonprofit professionals. It happens every first Wednesday of the month from 12:00pm-1:00pm Eastern time.) The questions we used to guide the discussion were adapted from my previous post: 15 Powerful Questions to Ask Yourself About Your Nonprofit Career. It was a great way to ring in the new year and a fabulous reminder that 2012 can be as amazing as we want it to be. I shared a few of my 2011 accomplishments and 2012 goals here and I wanted to be sure to offer the opportunity to those of you who are in planning mode for your own career right now. Here are a few guidelines for creating your 2012 nonprofit career plan.

Ask Good Questions

These are the exact questions we asked during the chat: 5 Questions to Help You Create Your 2012 Nonprofit Career Plan. Feel free to use them to guide your thinking about what you want your nonprofit career to look like this year (or come up with your own questions!). Where do you want to go? What do you want to do? Most importantly, who do you want to be?

Create a Portfolio of Accomplishments

One of the questions we asked was about looking back on what you did in 2011. This exercise is always helpful because most nonprofit professionals are not sitting at their desks patting themselves on the back most of the time. They are out in the community doing the work! Unfortunately, by the end of the year, it can be tough to articulate exactly what you were able to accomplish with your hard work. This is where creating a portfolio can come in handy, as Allison suggested. How? You can do this in a simple Word or Google document with bullet points by month or quarter. Or, if you start a nonprofit blog, you can create a page to post links to all the projects, reports and programs you’ve worked on or contributed to throughout the year.

Identify Opportunities for Growth

Now that you know what you want to see for yourself in the coming year, it’s time to seek out ways you can make those things happen. If you want to build your nonprofit network, for instance, are there specific conferences or events you want attend during the year? Certain people you want to meet for lunch? If you want to find a mentor this year, who can you ask to support you in your leadership journey? If you want to learn how to become a better manager, what are some stretch assignments you can take on in the next 12 months? 2012 is not the time to wait for opportunities to come to you. Make your own.

Commit to Taking Action

Give yourself a deadline for when you want to achieve certain milestones throughout the year. What do you want to make progress on first? Where do you want to be in the next 30 days? The next three months? Write all your goals down and set dates on your calendar now for tasks, meetings and events you don’t want to forget about later. If you’re looking for a new nonprofit job, set a measurable goal for how many applications you want to submit or informational interviews you want to conduct by the end of the month.

Honor Your Values

Whatever you do, don’t set ANY goals for your nonprofit career in 2012 if they don’t fit with who you really are or who you want to be. Sometimes what your boss wants from you is not in alignment with the path you truly want to follow for your life and work. Also remember that taking on more commitments at work can mean less time or energy to focus on your commitments at home. Be honest with yourself and honor your values. It’s better for everyone that way.

Stay tuned over the coming weeks as I explore other ideas for taking action on your 2012 nonprofit career plan!

If you would like to talk through these questions and strategies with a coach, I am now offering 30-minute introductory career coaching sessions that you can book here.

Filed Under: Career Advice · Tagged With:

A Review of 2011 and Three Themes for Meaningful Work in 2012

January 3, 2012 by · 4 Comments

Happy new year! I’m still getting settled back in the DC area after a month away in Hawaii and Florida. My body is NOT happy about the change in weather, let me tell you! Part of me refuses to believe that it’s 2012 already. I feel like 2011 was a fast-moving year. Some parts of it felt rushed, which I didn’t like. I was on the road a lot, so it was nice to take a month off (mostly) to relax, spend time with family and get some reading and writing done.

What My Work Looked Like in 2011

I wanted to take a moment to reflect and summarize my public work over the past year. With 25 speaking engagements last year, I’ve been able to meet and learn from hundreds of nonprofit leaders around the country. For that, I am so grateful. If we met last year – anytime, anywhere - let’s reconnect on LinkedIn so we can stay in touch! I’d love to know what you’re working on for 2012 and if I can help.

Here’s a listing of my speaking and training work in 2011:

My consulting work in 2011:

Part of my work during most of 2011 involved facilitating and helping to manage the Nonprofit Roundtable of Greater Washington’s (my former employer) Future Executive Directors Fellowship program. We were able to support 25 emerging leaders as fellows in a yearlong leadership development program to help prepare them for nonprofit executive positions. Of our 2010-2011 class, several of them have already become EDs!

I was also interviewed in a few press outlets in 2011:

New products and services in 2011:

I took on a number of career coaching clients in 2011, most of whom either wanted to figure out how to improve in their nonprofit job or transition to a new nonprofit career. I also branched out a bit (this was very fun!) to coach other consultants and entrepreneurs on how to use social media to build their presence and platform online.

How to Become a Nonprofit Rockstar, the book I co-wrote with Trista Harris continued to sell copies in ebook and paperback versions. We’ve added a special reader-only section with additional resources and it’s also on Amazon!

I also finally recorded a complete version of my popular 90-minute training on personal branding to advance your career, which you can purchase below.

Personal Branding 101: How to Use Social Media to Accelerate Your Career 


Having trouble getting your name out there for juicy jobs, consulting gigs or leadership opportunities? If so, your personal brand may need some work! This 90-minute video training will explain the origins of personal branding, explore ways to “audit” your current personal brand and inspire you to leverage social media for your career. You will also find out how you can grow your professional network and become known as the “go-to” person in your field using four of the most effective online tools available today: blogging, Twitter, Facebook and LinkedIn. By the end of this workshop, participants will have several strategies to add to their personal branding plan. This session will show you how to enhance your online presence if you already have one and how to get one if you don’t!  As soon as you purchase, you will get immediate access to the 90-minute, pure content webinar recording as well as the PDF handout with all the training slides.

Three Themes for My Work in 2012

After reflecting on what my work looked like last year, I came up with a few intentions for what I want my work to look like this year. Perhaps my list gets you thinking about what your themes would be for the next 12 months. What words or concepts would help you stay mindful of doing your best, most meaningful work in 2012?

Alignment

Through my blog, as well as my speaking and training work, I’ve been able to connect with thousands of professionals all over the country. I surpassed the cognitive limit of 150 “friends” mark a looong time ago. Over the past year, I realized I was adding way more people to my network than I could realistically keep up with (or wanted to try to keep up with). It started to feel frustrating to not be able to answer all my emails, but I wanted to find a way to maintain connections with specific people in my life and work. This post helped out a lot. I also did a mass unfollowing on Twitter a few months ago. Now, I have a smaller number of people I follow on Twitter, plus a special, private list called “friends.” I’ve also culled my Facebook down further to about 100 people that I truly wish to keep tabs on. (I use LinkedIn solely to maintain my professional connections, so that rarely gets overwhelming.)

In 2012, I want to stay aligned with the people who matter to me and only partner with individuals and organizations that fit with the work I want to do in the world. This means saying ‘no’ even more than I do now, or, when I need to, saying nothing to the deluge of emails that hit my inbox every day (there is really no way to “keep up,” no matter what I keep telling myself). Because what I’ve noticed is that when I can focus 100% on doing the work that’s most important to me, I am able to meet the needs of my clients and colleagues in a more meaningful way.

Contribution

Over the past month, I’ve been thinking constantly about which aspects of my work make the most impact for the people I want to serve – nonprofit leaders, young professionals and now, entrepreneurs (especially women and people of color). My most popular speech in 2011 was New Leadership for a New Nonprofit Sector and I’m hoping to go deeper with that thread of writing and teaching this year. I also continue to see steady interest in my sessions on working across generations and building a strong nonprofit career. My goal in this speaking and training work is not to just illuminate the nonprofit sector’s challenges but to also surface the opportunities for change through authenticity, diversity, innovation and advocacy.

This year, as I strive to live in greater alignment with my strengths and values, I hope to have more organizations book me for leadership development workshops, especially the one that’s been the most immediately powerful for the personal growth of staff: development of a personal mission statement. I will also be asking myself with every opportunity: is this how I want to contribute? What unique gifts can I bring to the table?

Community

One of the biggest lessons that I learned about my work this year is how lonely it can be as an independent consultant/speaker/coach/trainer/whatever. (By the way, this month marks TWO whole years that I’ve been working for myself. Yay!) I’m an introvert and I work well alone. I’m comfortable with that, but I’ve also started to miss the feeling of community that comes with being on the staff of an organization and working on a team with colleagues I can learn from and grow with. I was struck by this in November, right before all the holiday parties began, when I realized that I didn’t have one to go to.

I’m not sure if my need for community extends to seeking a full-time position just yet. My plan right now, though, is to be on the lookout for opportunities to contribute to a great organization in a long-term capacity by January 2013, maybe sooner. In the meantime, I will be making it a bigger priority to connect with like-minded colleagues in person at least once every week, not just online.

So, those are my themes. I learned a lot last year and I look forward to learning even more this year! Here’s to an amazing 2012 filled with meaningful, purpose-driven work.

What did you learn about yourself or your work in 2011? What themes will you be taking into the new year?

Filed Under: Career Advice, Leadership ·

Who Do You Really Work for?

December 15, 2011 by · 1 Comment

Edie Rasell - UCC Justice and Witness Ministries

Most nonprofit professionals (even nonprofit consultants) have someone to answer to when it comes time to get paid. Technically, you work for whomever signs your checks.

On paper, you work for an organization. The board. A supervisor or department head.

But when you think about it . . . that’s not who you really work for, is it?

If you went to work just to please The Big Cheese, your nonprofit job wouldn’t have much meaning, would it?

Of course, it’s easy to be able to say, “that’s not my job” or “I just do what they tell me” or “I’m just the intern” if you view yourself as working simply to fulfill a job description or organizational position.

But I’m willing to bet there’s a 99.9% chance you didn’t take the nonprofit gig you have now just so you could work for your supervisor (as awesome as she may be).

You took it because you thought it would be a good place filled with good people that would allow you to do good work.

But good work for who?

Who does your work impact on a daily basis?

Who will it impact 20 years from now?

That’s who you really work for.

Filed Under: Leadership, Nonprofit Management ·

There is No Such Thing as a Diverse Candidate

December 12, 2011 by · 3 Comments


A new article from the Nonprofit Professionals Advisory Group reminds us to be careful how we use language in the business of nonprofit management. Words matter. And if you participate in hiring or recruiting staff, volunteers or board members for your organization, you NEED to read this.

From Rhetoric to Practice: Recruiting Strategies to Make Diversity More Meaningful in your Organization

One thing that stuck out for me in the article is that, as search consultants themselves, the authors take a practical view of diversity (not just a moral one). A big takeaway comes when they point out the all-important point that nonprofit hiring managers (and even search committees) often miss.

Ready?

There is no such thing as a diverse candidate. 

As the article clarifies:

It is common to hear non-profit executives and human resources personnel refer to “diverse hires,” candidates with “diverse backgrounds,” and the like. The implication is that the person in question – because of his or her gender, race, ethnicity, age, experience, or some other factor – embodies diversity; she or he is diverse. However, individuals are not diverse; groups are diverse. To use an analogy, we can assemble apples, oranges, pears and plums to compose a diverse bowl of fruit, but no single piece of fruit is “diverse” in itself. Diversity is possible, and possibly meaningful, only in the context of the group. Using this framework, it becomes clear that there is no such thing as a “diverse candidate.”

Again, there is no such thing as a diverse candidate. 

You might wanna put this on a t-shirt. Or just chant it over and over at the beginning of your hiring team meetings with a stick of incense burning in the middle of the table. Whatever works.

So, if nonprofits aren’t supposed to be looking for “diverse candidates” or “diverse hires,” what should they be seeking instead?

. . . in the hiring context, the intent must be to identify candidates whose attributes, experiences and perspectives complement and enhance the strengths, needs, values and composition of the work group in ways that will advance the organization’s mission and objectives. It is also important to be honest and explicit about what would NOT be a good fit for a team. Some backgrounds and, especially, belief systems, can challenge the organizational culture in counter-productive ways at certain stages of an organization?s evolution.

Read the rest here.

The authors also outline some key action steps to take if you’re in the midst of hiring or recruiting for a new position right now. It’s good stuff. Print it out and give it to your HR director.

Further reading:

Filed Under: Diversity, Nonprofit Management · Tagged With: , ,

Will Going Back to School Help You Get Your Dream Nonprofit Job? It Depends.

December 6, 2011 by · 4 Comments

I was speaking to an undergraduate nonprofit management class at George Mason University recently (thanks again for the invite, Amanda!) and someone asked the inevitable question that young nonprofit professionals inevitably ask.

Will a Master’s degree help me get a good job in the nonprofit field?

The short, frustrating answer: IT DEPENDS.

Sorry! There is no magic bullet for anything career-related these days, especially when it comes to getting your dream nonprofit job. In fact, if you go back to school in the hopes that it will magically make you leadership material, you will probably be sorely disappointed and end up drowning your sorrows in bourbon and coke every time you have to write that monthly check to pay back your student loans. Now I love bourbon, but those sorrows? Those you can do without.

Stop Asking the Wrong Questions

Anyways, “should I go back to school?” is the wrong question to ask in the first place. A better question to ask yourself is what do you really want to do in the nonprofit sector? What job would you be good at? What difference do you want to make? (Here are 15 more really good questions along those lines.)

If you wanna talk numbers, ask yourself whether the investment in paying for grad school will be recouped over the lifetime of your nonprofit career. Is it worth the $500/month price tag (or whatever you will owe) compared to the salary you will end up making for the next few years? In some places, $500 a month is rent. Just sayin.’ Of course, if you can swing grad school for free because you’re a genius or just savvy enough to find a few awesome grants or fellowships, more power to you. Free grad school is the best grad school. (Actually, I wouldn’t know that for sure. I paid for my own grad school. But I’m pretty sure I would be happier about the whole thing had it been free.)

Nonprofits Value Education, But Experience is Worth More

If you ask the average nonprofit hiring manager if, all other things being equal, they would hire the candidate with five years experience in the field or the one with a Master’s degree in sociology, who do you think they would choose? Most organizations are seeking someone who can hit the ground running in their job and it’s typically a no-brainer to choose someone who’s done it before in another organization.

The biggest mistake that a lot of young professionals make is going to grad school for three years and not working during that time. It’s a loss of three years of potential work experience to back up their fancy education when they’re ready to land that dream job. So if you’ve really got your heart set on more schoolin,’ at least keep working while you study. (I have yet to hear a good reason why people shouldn’t work while they’re in school. It’s a great experience in leadership and time management, especially if you have a family. Me? I worked a full-time nonprofit job as well as part-time as a hostess at a chain restaurant while I completed my Master’s degree. Do what you gotta do.)

Find the Loopholes

Okay, so now you know that grad school is not a sexy magic bullet that will automatically get you that dream nonprofit job that pays well and gives you unlimited career advancement. But you still hear those career “experts” saying that going back to school is a good thing to do in a recession. Presumably, it makes you competitive for the jobs that will open up when the downturn is over . . . which may be two thousand and NEVER at this point. The good news for you is that nonprofits are always in need of talented people who can get things done for their organizations, Master’s or not. (Wanna know someone who leads major social change without a fancy degree? Robert Egger. President of DC Central Kitchen and CForward. Check him out. He’s a doer. He DOES.)

So, loopholes. How can you pursue your dream nonprofit job without spending three years and $50,000 to go back to school? There are a lot of ways. In fact, last year I co-wrote a book that outlines 50 ways to accelerate your nonprofit career and only ONE of them is to get a Master’s degree. That leaves 49 loopholes for you to choose from.

Here are a few to get you started:

Now, back to my original question. Will going back to school help you get your dream nonprofit job? Maybe. But it’s better to try alternate strategies before dropping tens of thousands of dollars on a degree that might bring you big debt and little results.

Further Reading: Four Reasons Why You Don’t Need to Go to Grad School

Filed Under: Career Advice, Higher Education ·
« Previous Page
Next Page »
Loading...
Sign up for blog updates and get a FREE chapter of my book, How to Become a Nonprofit Rockstar!