On Becoming a Leader is a biweekly advice column in which Allison Fine, an author, consultant, and expert on nonprofit leadership and strategy, answers your questions about nonprofit careers and leadership. Have a question? Ask Ms. Fine using this form.
Q: “How do I know when it’s time to look for a new job that may have more leadership opportunities? And what’s more important, opportunities for personal and professional development or management opportunities and helping develop other young leaders?” – Elizabeth
A: So, Elizabeth, the essence of your question is, “ Is the grass greener somewhere else?” And the answer is, “Maybe, perhaps, possibly, I don’t know.” But here are a few things I do know.
Whatever job you have now, there are opportunities to learn and grow personally. My friend, Ellie, had a horrible entry-level job. She was in a large, bureaucratic nonprofit with a culture that was very closed and secretive. Finger-pointing and distrust were the cultural norms. In other words, it was a yucky place to work, and her tasks were uninteresting. There was no question that she needed to start to look for another position. However, while she was there, I told her she should learn what she could about dysfunction. Write down what is going wrong, I told her. Look at the myriad ways that senior leadership is fostering the internal negativity. And ask yourself how you, Ellie, would change the culture if you were in charge.
Observing the organization through this lens would make it easier for Ellie to go to work everyday, more dispassionate as an observer and learner than a frustrated cog. I also suggested that she use her time there, within her limited role, to improve her skills and knowledge. What could she do without asking for permission that would help her grow professionally? We decided she could practice giving more credit than she took (something the organization didn’t emphasize) and offer to manage the organization’s floundering Twitter channel.
My advice helped Ellie step back from her daily frustrations of working at this organization. She could separate herself from the organization and look at the problems more objectively. If nothing else, this gave her a respite from her daily anger. But it was the skills and knowledge development that Ellie found most valuable in retrospect. She began to develop good habits within a bad environment that will serve her very well in the future.
As for your second question, I love the fact that you are interested in helping to develop other young leaders, and I wouldn’t make this an either/or proposition. In fact, I advise you to avoid crafting career questions as zero-sum games in general. Almost every opportunity for leadership includes personal growth and the opportunity to help other young leaders. You can make it a part of your own personal work ethic to always mentor other young leaders. Reach out to them online through, say, an alumni group, or invite a younger colleague to lunch every few weeks to talk about his or her interests and struggles and growth opportunities.
I love the way you are thinking about your future, Elizabeth, and I hope you can continue to look for interesting opportunities while also capitalizing on, or creating, opportunities that are available to you in your current position.
