On Wednesday, Rosetta Thurman and I hosted our first #ynpchat of the year on creating a 2012 nonprofit career plan.  The questions, adapted from Rosetta’s powerful piece on the 15 questions you should ask about your nonprofit career, strengthened our sense of pride in our work and allowed us to walk away with a better vision and strategy on how to rock our careers in 2012.

1.  What do you most want to get out of your involvement with the nonprofit sector?  In other words, why are you here? What are you hoping to learn and do that will help you grow professionally and personally?

2.  What accomplishments in your nonprofit career were you most proud of in 2011?  I must say that the responses to this questions blew me away.  From raising money, to implementing new programs, to finding our voice in the sector,  we clearly have done a lot of good for ourselves and others.  Yet so often, we are quiet about the work we do, thinking that to focus on accomplishments is taking attention away from the problems we may be addressing.  Yet the reality is, if we dont celebrate what we do, nobody else will and our accomplishments often lead to more interest in our work.   So let your light shine, people!  My challenge to participants: do you have a portfolio of your accomplishments?

3.  What opportunities do you want to take advantage of in 2012 to grow your leadership and further your nonprofit career? This question essentially has two parts 1. Understanding how you would like to grow and 2. identifying those opportunities that would aid in your growth. In reflecting on your accomplishments and your reasons for choosing your work, it’s easier to think about how you’d like to grow and seek programs, events, or other opportunities that would help you.

4.  What’s ONE step you can take in the next 30 days to make progress on your 2012 career goals?  I don’t know about you, but it’s so easy for me to make a list of my goals then walk away hoping they get done.  30 days to take one step makes progress actionable and manageable.

5.  Given your 2012 career goals, what’s your ONE-WORD theme to guide your work for the year?  VISION.   FOCUS. CREATIVITY.  DISCIPLINE.  My personal favorite: STRENGTHEN.  Thinking of the previous questions, what  word embodies your success, your ambitions, and your plans?

This was one of the most exciting chats we’ve hosted and proved to be a great way to kick of the new year.  Didn’t participate in the chat?  Check out the responses on twitter.  You can also share your thoughts below, on facebook, or tweet your responses using the#ynpchat hashtag so we can keep the conversation going.  And be sure to join us Wednesday, February 1, 12PM-1PM EST for the next chat!

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This is my favorite time of year. People are reflecting and sharing excitement about possibilities and growth. There is simply a lot of positivity and promise in the air.

2011 seemed to be a year of transitions and lessons for me and those I love: my five year college reunion is coming up (five years? already?); my mailbox was full of wedding invitations; my calendar was overflowing with good bye parties as friends went off to grad school; I celebrated big professional wins and took the plunge into GRE prep; and I have a neat stack of failed projects and squandered opportunities that I look at occasionally as a reminder that while mistakes are inevitable, the world wont come crashing down. I’m also celebrating my fourth year of blogging and my birthday–milestones that make it easy for me to track my growth and encourage me to plan for my future.

While the changes seemed to come fast and suddenly, they also signal a general movement towards a better understanding of who I am and what I value. I realize that I have everything I need to create the professional and personal experiences I desire. My focus now is on  nurturing and leveraging–people, ideas, skills, work–instead of just adding, in order to move forward.

Here’s to being more deliberate and more focused; to saying no in order to get to yes; to prioritizing; to being grateful; and to making mistakes.

What did 2011 teach you?

I’ve become increasingly focused on having the right mindset when working.  I worry that sometimes we work without focus and deliberation.  Aside from leading us to feel unfulfilled, we also lose confidence in our skills.   We can’t pinpoint our strengths and weaknesses, as our work just seems to be a series of endless tasks.  We don’t reflect on our accomplishments and where/how we thrive and instead focus on just getting things done.  In doing so, we don’t sharpen our skills and instead allow them to become dull.

Fortunately, there are some simple ways to work more deliberately:

Solve a problem outside of work:  Seek opportunities to leverage your skills in new contexts that present new challenges.  This can be as simple as helping a friend or colleague solve a problem that is related to your work, volunteering at an organization, or starting a blog where you provide advice regularly on your area of expertise.  In each situation, the focus is on solving problems which requires you to think beyond your day to day while harnessing your talents and experiences.

Reflect regularly:  Whether it’s daily, weekly, or monthly, in a journal or online, asking yourself meaningful questions about your work can go a long way in helping you become better at what you do.  The right questions can help you zero in on what you’re good at, what challenges you face while helping you develop strategies for building up your expertise.  Michelle Martin over at Bamboo Project Blog often asks great questions and shares tips for reflection.

Join an association:  Associations provide a variety of opportunities to their members including workshops, jobs, social events, and chances to get involved in the planning and leading of the organization.  All of these activities allow you to meet people, learn, and work.  A great place to start is the local Young Nonprofit Professionals Network chapter near you.  You can also seek associations related to your field.

In and out of the office we can adopt strategies that allow us to put our professional growth at the center of our work. What other strategies would you add?

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The more I blog, the less I am able to turn off my blogger mind.  (And yes, there is such a thing as a blogger’s mind.  Read for sheer  hilarity.)  Rather than limiting my focus, it’s helping me be more productive in other areas of my professional life.  Here’s how:

• I think in terms of lessons learned:  When I attend an event or read an interesting article I’d like to discuss, I think in terms of takeaways.  I ask:  what would my readers find most useful?  By thinking this way, you are able to drill down on what matters most to the people you are working with.

• I look for links:  I like to link to a variety of sources to back up what I say, provide resources, or simply to connect with a new community/blogger.   I do so while keeping in mind the purpose of my work and my audience.  Thinking about how to build relationships—for your organization or to strengthen your own network—is key for professional growth.

• I stay on top of what works:  I’ve been blogging for almost four years about how millennials can land public service careers.  In that time, the blogosphere and the discussion on nonprofit work have changed.  There are better metrics, strategies and opportunities to build brand recognition, greater participation from a variety of people in the conversation, and more.  Being part of this community, I am often exposed to and engage in these changes to help me be a better writer.  Staying on top of what works allows for thoughtful engagement and strategizing.

• I know when to say no:  When you get even just a hint of success as a blogger, folks will come to you with all kinds of offers and requests.  They’ll ask you to write about something, to speak at events, to mentor or advise them on how to blog.  At first it is flattering, but then you realize that sometimes they don’t have you or your audience in mind and that your participation may not move you forward or be helpful.  Keeping in mind what your focus is and how you and the people you serve will benefit is crucial when navigating potential partnerships.

• I value the process of writing: Brainstorming ideas, choosing the right words, editing, sharing, and of course, reading, are practices that help me write better offline.  Being able to write well (and write well regularly) is useful skill across professions, especially in an increasingly digital world where we are all sharing our voices and stories.

While the conversation around blogging has focused on traffic and branding, the benefits of blogging are much more diverse and the skills we develop easily translate to other aspects of our work.

What do you think?  Have you been blogging?  What skills have you developed as a blogger that have helped you in your offline work?

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I spend a great deal of time trying to master the skills I need to have the career I want. Becoming a better writer? I push myself to read and write daily and seek feedback. Connecting people to the resources they need to be the change they wish they see? I pay attention to trends in social change careers while working with those ready to put their passion into practice.

Stuck in the Daily Grind

I love what I do. Yet doing what you love can be hard. As a result, it is still easy to get caught up in the daily grind of working and lose sight of your purpose. So while writing and connecting excite me, lately I have been forced to think more about how I can refocus on my work to ensure I am learning and savoring every minute of it.

For example, ever have a day (or week…or month) where you just can’t remember what you did? Or when someone asks you what you do, you can’t explain it? Do have trouble pinpointing exciting moments that have moved you forward this year? Do you have a sense of what moving forward means? This isn’t just a matter of finding the right work. It’s also about keeping the right mindset as you work.

Get Inspired

How can we stay focused on our purpose and truly live and learn in the moment? What’s been helpful for me is setting aside time to be inspired.

Define Inspiration: I like reading. I like being able to take my time and talk to the text. What moves me most are materials that focus on addressing and overcoming doubt, embracing failure, profiting from passion, and showing gratitude.

Seek Inspiration: I want my soul to be rocked regularly.  In order for this to happen, I make it a priority. I’m not just open to it in terms of keeping an open mind and heart when things come my way (although it certainly helps); I set aside time to read and reflect while making plans to act. I ask people what inspires them and how. I subscribe to blogs that consistently ask hard questions while encouraging me to reframe my thinking.

Share Inspiration: I do it here and other places online. I hop on the phone with loved ones and share my joy and ask them to do the same.  I also share my inspiration by acting on what I’ve learned.  The best way to share a message is to embody it.

Inspiration doesn’t look the same for everyone. One of my closest girlfriends finds her inspiration during Bible Study where she is encouraged to think critically and share with others her understanding of the Bible. The stories of compassion, the ambiguity of certain text, and the community of learners all help her keep sight of her purpose.

So what inspires you? How do you act on that inspiration to help you stay focused on what matters?

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The mantra of my peers is that we want to do what we love, or pursue our passions.  Unfortunately I think the way we talk about pursuing passion may actually make it more difficult to live the lives we want.

Two Problems with Passion

Passion is Seen as Sufficient

There are countless stories of people who break free from their cubicles to pursue a lifelong dream whether it is writing a novel, starting a bakery, or just freelancing.  What’s missing, though, from these stories are the risks, investments, and skills required to make these kinds of transitions.  Interested in photography?  Are you ready to make a financial investment in equipment?  Want to start a restaurant?  How will you land customers and refine your menu?  In other words, the jump from hobby to skilled professional is a big one and often, passion alone isn’t enough.

Passion is Presented as Static

One of my favorite social change awards is the Purpose Prize, which supports people over the age of 60 who are interested in launching socially minded ventures.  What I love about it are the journeys many of the awardees have taken up to the moment they land an award.  Some have been involved in social change work all of their lives or have done work that has an explicit connection to their project.  Others have had work in different industries and professions that planted a seed or sparked interest in pursuing social change work more directly.   They all share a desire to make a difference through their work yet how they arrived there varies.  When we talk about passion, unfortunately, we talk about it as if it is static—just one idea/feeling/action that will carry you throughout life as opposed to a mindset that allows you to seize meaningful opportunities as they come.

Changing the Conversation about Passion

I point out these problems not because I don’t think doing what you love is unrealistic; instead I think our portrayal of what it takes to do what you love ignores the reflection and persistence that is required.

We speak of passion the way we speak of true love: something worth pursuing, something quite lovely, but something that can’t be defined.   However, the opposite is often true; when we do what we love, we become even more focused and deliberate to ensure we are doing it well and are truly fulfilled.

So let’s change the conversation about pursuing passion.

Passion as a Mindset

What if instead of looking at passion as an end goal or something that needs to be pursued, we looked at it as a way of thinking and reflecting that allows us to enjoy various opportunities.  What if we asked:

1. Do I feel as if I am contributing to something larger than myself?
2. Do I feel I am leveraging my talents and time in a way that makes me feel most useful?
3. Do I feel connected to others around me and to my work?

Passion as a Launching Pad

Additionally, knowing what we love to do is just the beginning.  When it comes time to put passion into practice we need to ask three large questions:

1. What do I enjoy doing often?
2. What am I willing to put the time and resources into becoming excellent at?
3. What social need can I meet by doing what I love well?

By beginning to answer these questions we can really dig into what it means to do what we love.

What do you think?  Do we need to shift our understanding of passion and its role in our careers?

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I am happy to welcome this guest post from Elizabeth Campbell, an aspiring nonprofiteer in Chicago. While my last post discussed the importance of  managing your professional development, what does this mean when you’re looking for work or are new to working?  What actions can you take or resources can you leverage to grow and stay competitve?  Elizabeth shares her thoughts below.  Be sure to add yours in the comments!

As someone who has recently graduated and joined the real world, I can tell you that staying competitive in the job market takes dedication and lots of patience.

But I will say I’m lucky. I already know for certain that I want to work in the nonprofit sector. I’m devoted to social change and building communities. I might be unemployed in a large city, but I know exactly where to look for work. I’m also keeping busy in many ways as I send out résumés and cover letters with fingers crossed.

• Reading the local paper. In just a few weeks of reading the Chicago Tribune every day, I’ve learned so much about this town. Not only do I feel more prepared for job interviews, I also care much more deeply about this community, which helps me stay motivated.
• Researching local organizations. In addition to applying to jobs via website such as Idealist, Opportunity Knocks, or Chicago’s NPO.net, I spend lots of time going to the websites of individual organizations I find interesting. Even if they aren’t hiring, I add them to my list of organizations to keep an eye on. I read up on their history, mission, programs and staff.
• Reading articles, social media posts, blogs and books about nonprofits. You might have noticed by now that a lot of my time is spent reading. Online and offline, I’ve been catching up on nonprofit sector news. News sites such as Chronicle of Philanthropy, Nonprofit Quarterly, Nonprofit Times and Philanthropy Journal offer a lot of information without having to subscribe. Spending time on social networking sites like Twitter and LinkedIn lets me see not only what’s going on with other nonprofit professionals, but also what they think. It encourages conversations and connections. And, of course, catching up on sector-related books and blogs helps me feel like I know what I’m talking about to prospective employers.
• Joining a member organization. I’ve joined YNPN-Chicago. It was free and a close friend is on the board, so I had no excuse. And so far I’ve met many other nonprofit professionals. Not only have a made some friends, I’ve gotten the opportunity to volunteer with their Programming Committee. I’m learning some new skills and having a voice in this association. 
• Maintaining down time: crossword puzzles, reading, writing letters to friends. This is very important. Every day I make sure I do certain activities just for the enjoyment I get out of them. Especially as I wind down for the night, I love to work on the paper’s crossword puzzle, read a book just for fun (currently, it’s F. Scott Fitzgerald’s “Tender is the Night”), and writing letters to my friends scattered all over the country. It relaxes me and keeps me sane!

Staying competitive in the workforce means staying knowledgeable. But just because I can’t afford all the wonderful workshops and conferences that Chicago has to offer, doesn’t mean I can’t keep learning. Taking advantage of Web-based media and professional networking keeps me dedicated and enthusiastic. That way, when I do finally get an amazing job, I’ll hit the ground running.

In the meantime, I’ve got another cover letter to write.

Elizabeth recently earned her B.F.A. in Writing from the Savannah College of Art and Design. She now lives in Chicago where she’s looking for work in nonprofit administration. You may reach her online through her website, blog, Twitter and LinkedIn.

I came across this article in the Wall Street Journal about the sorry state of professional development support at organizations.  While some argue that the employment gap is due to lack of skilled workers, there is also the reality that employers are no longer offering training for these positions as was once the case:

And make no mistake: There are plenty of people out there who could step into jobs with just a bit of training—even recent graduates who don’t have much job experience. Despite employers’ complaints about the education system, college students are pursuing more vocationally oriented course work than ever before, with degrees in highly specialized fields like pharmaceutical marketing and retail logistics.

Unfortunately, American companies don’t seem to do training anymore…

With an abundance of workers to choose from, employers are demanding more of job candidates than ever before. They want prospective workers to be able to fill a role right away, without any training or ramp-up time.

In other words, to get a job, you have to have that job already.

 

Michelle Martin over at the Bamboo Project Blog summarizes perfectly what this mean for employees:

We can’t just pay attention to what is needed for us to be marketable within our own organizations. We must also pay attention to what the larger market is looking for. And we need to look at how our strengths intersect with that market.

In other words with employers no longer training employees and with competition for positions rising, you must take greater ownership of your development.  This goes beyond focusing on professional development to make you a better employee at your current job.  Instead, you are obligated to focus on your field, changes in the market, and where you fit in (and where you want to fit in).

This is a radical shift from how many of us are taught to look at work.   While we’ve accepted the fact that there is no such thing is job security, with that is the reality that a job can no longer be at the center of your professional growth.  This is not to say that you cannot learn a great deal at your job or that employers are all in cahoots to drain their employees.  Indeed, there is a push to get employers to see the value of professional development.  But this does mean that ultimately the only person responsible for your growth is YOU.

Given this new reality how can we make professional development a personal priority?

Subscribe to professional development blogs:  Often times the biggest barrier to our own development is our lack of understanding how we want to develop.  What questions should you ask?  What do you value that affects the choices you make?  What resources should you pursue for professional growth?  There are several blogs that get to the heart of these questions (and also help us realize that personal and professional growth often go hand-in-hand).

Some of my favorites are: Bamboo Project Blog, White Hot Truth, and Dumb Little Man-Tips for Life  Set aside time to read them, reflect, and take action.

Build your network outside of work:  Focus not just on your field, or even your profession.  Look at your values, your interests, and your affinities as new territories for connecting with people who can expose you to new ideas, resources, and opportunities.  Again, this is where blogs come in handy as niche bloggers often have their fingers on the pulse of their subjects, so you can start by browsing alltop.com to see the top blogs in the areas you are interested in.  You can also try meetup.com, local chapters of national organizations related to your interest, alumni groups, and volunteering.

Seek inexpensive professional development resources: Of course, nothing beats refining your hard skills.  From watching webinars, to joining committees, to starting a blog, or participating in fellowships, there are many low-cost ways to strengthen your skill set.  To start, check out this list I made of professional development opportunities that you may not be aware of.

How are you making professional development a priority?

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Last night I attended a presentation by idealist.org about a new program they are piloting in NYC that will allow people to act as Connectors in their communities. These people will help others find the resources and networks they need to take action on an issue they are passionate about, online and offline.

I walked away from the presentation with a renewed appreciation for the daily actions people take to try to make a difference and how the barriers to engagement can easily be surmounted with the right support.  During the Q&A someone in the audience asked how idealist.org would measure progress to see if the project is successful.  One measurement would be how many people are willing to talk to others about the program and invite them to join.  While the answer is related to the project, it made me wonder:  Is telling others in our lives about our activism the hardest part of taking action?

Why is this so hard?

My first year of college I took a course on black women and religion.  I was learning about various religions black women practiced and how those religions helped them navigate sexism and racism.  After the first few classes, I was eager to share my experiences with my mother.  My enthusiasm was met with concern and suspicion.  Indeed, her first reaction was:  “Don’t come back an atheist.”

That comment led to a discussion of beliefs my mom held about education, religion, and social change, a conversation my mom and I hadn’t had before yet shed light on our differing views on touchy issues.

I share this story because it reflects a challenge that many of us encounter in social change work: sometimes the most difficult conversations around social change, passion, and progress happen with the people in our lives.  Our family members, friends, and loved ones.  Maybe it’s because their potential disagreement with our views hits hardest.  Maybe it’s because we’re afraid it may cause a rift in our relationships.  Maybe it’s because you know that these kinds of conversations won’t end well.   In any case, I think this is often why it is easier to engage in conversation with strangers around some of these touchy issues.  It gives us a sense of security: they don’t know me, so no worries.

Where can you begin?

Yet I find that having these kinds of conversations with the people in my life and connecting them to the resources they need are signs that I am making a difference.  I know I am making a difference when:

• My mother reads an article about a social justice issue in New York City and asks me to discuss it with her,
• My best friend wants to explore her passion and comes to me for advice,
• My sister wants to volunteer and asks me where she should begin,
• My boyfriend wants to learn more about the social change work of business people he admires and looks to me for information

By taking action, no matter how small, we send a message to people in our lives that taking action is possible.  You, in this way, become a connector as others see you as a living example of how they can get involved and ask you for advice.

Yet sometimes we all need a little push to get involved and to invite others to join us.  Idealist.org had some great questions to get the conversation started:

• What do want to do (to make your community, or the world, a better place)?
• Why haven’t you done it?
• What would help you to do it?

Easy enough, right?  My plan is to ask more people in my life these questions and reflect on them myself.  Are you willing to do the same?

What do you think?  How can you engage people in your life about making a difference?

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