Career Building Tips for Emerging Leaders

January 24, 2010 careers, international development, non-profits No comments

The Young Professionals Forum I run at my organization (InsideNGO) hosted a great workshop on Friday about Career Building for Young Professionals.
The trainer, Maureen MacCarthy, Principal Consultant at MGS Consulting, led us through the high-energy, participatory event with tons of networking opportunities.  It reminded me that while the advances in technologies that bring us webinars and other virtual events save travel time and costs, in-person events are critical for building your network and connecting with people.
Our YP Forum is different from other similar groups because everyone at our events works in the international NGO sector and shares similar experiences, challenges, and your organizations have probably partnered on projects together.
But the majority of the tips Maureen gave us apply to everyone.  I want to share 4 of the most useful ones.
The first is Be What You Want to Become.  Let’s say you’re a Program Assistant and want to become a Program Manager.  Start acting like a Program Manager.  Tell trusted colleagues/mentors that you want to be a Program Manager and to coach you on what that looks like at your organization.  Practice with a friend introducing yourself as a Program Manager.  Be who you want to become.
The second:  Get to know your organization’s culture and what people talk about when they’re not talking about work, especially the leaders.  Understand others on a more personal level so you can more easily be understood when you may present a new idea or try to get buy-in for your project.  Maybe people like to chat about movies, what’s in the news, or their children.  Get to know others to understand them better and use that knowledge to become fluent in your organization’s culture so you can know how to talk about your idea in a language they can understand.
Third, get to know your field.  For example, organizations in the international NGO sector are funded by similar donors and government agencies.  We as young professionals know we must remain adaptable and build transferrable skills because the donors might decide to fund reproductive health projects instead of HIV/AIDS projects.  PEPFAR is changing phases and you have to know how to do the work.  In general, the world is moving faster, there’s the economic downturn, and pressures and changes in budgets.  Be aware of the trends in your field because the complexity of what your organization’s leaders are dealing with is something you should be aware of so you can adapt.
And fourth, one of the best tactics for growing your career is networking:  meeting new people and passing out your business card.  You might be on Facebook but be sure to also create a profile for yourself on LinkedIn because businesses and recruiters do use LinkedIn to find outstanding employees that fit their culture, know their industry, and can do the work.

The Surprising Science of Motivation

January 22, 2010 Uncategorized No comments

Check out Dan Pink’s (speech writer for Al Gore and author of A Whole New Mind and The Adventures of Johnny Bunko) TED Talk:  The Surprising Science of Motivation. 

He makes the case for management to incorporate intrinsic rewards for work:  autonomy, mastery, and purpose, to achieve results from workers.  More money doesn’t work anymore.

Early Review of Linchpin: A Gen Y Must-Read

January 16, 2010 leadership, success No comments

I am a nerd and read just about every leadership, self help, and professional development book out there.
I had to put down Drive and The Happiness Project to read Seth Godin’s pre-release copy of Linchpin:  Are You Indispensable?
Seth’s writing changes a lot of people from all generations but Linchpin should be on all college graduate and young professional reading lists.
I feel scared to write this post and review, quite frankly, because his book gives away secrets and keys to the kingdom that will shake and shatter organizations and industries if you put his advice into practice.
I did not feel this scared with Tribes nor Purple Cow or any of his other books.
This is a human book, not a business book.
Your Sunday School class could read it.
We Gen Y people are at the beginning of our careers and lives as adults.  Now is the time to experiment, try new things, and determine what we want to commit our energy and passion to.  We are artists, not just workers.
On Friday I went to his talk in NYC about Linchpin.  The opening music was live bluegrass by the band the Ebony Hillbillies.  Then he talked.  There were an intimate but respectful 500 people in the auditorium.  It felt like the 1920s when people attended subversive truth-telling talks.
I was a history major and again I’m a nerd and during his talk I felt like I was living in the early 1900s when there were speakeasies and jazz and people doing what they want despite systems and factories.  People weren’t completely indoctrinated in consumer culture yet.  It was the time when American art – jazz – was established.
Seth writes a lot about being an artist in this book.  Not a painter but an artist.  Not a cook but a chef.  Not an assistant but a linchpin.
Here are some of my favorite lines from the book:

Art, at least as I define it, is the intentional act of using your humanity to create a change in another person.
It’s easy to buy a cookbook but really hard to find a chef book.
History is now being written by the artists…the future belongs to chefs, not cooks.
The future of your organization depends on motivated human beings selflessly contributing unasked-for gifts of emotional labor.
The linchpin is able to invent a future, fall in love with it, live in it, and then abandon it on a moment’s notice.

I hope you will invest the $17 in yourself by buying this book to be inspired to create art.  We really need you.

I Heart Nancy Lublin

December 4, 2009 Uncategorized No comments

Hi, I’d like to introduce you to Nancy Lublin.
She founded Dress for Success
She founded Do Something
She writes for Fast Company
Just start reading her Fast Company articles. 
If you don’t have an in-person mentor, her mentorship through her column will help you out until you can get one.

Ask the Expert: Yourself

November 13, 2009 non-profits, personal branding, social media No comments

bird-on-no-bird-sign

Great discussion yesterday with Seth Godin, Holly Ross, and Beth Kanter about nonprofits, social media, and innovation.
Beth and Holly have great posts – read them before you read this because their sums were so good I’m going to write about something else.
I want to talk to the young professionals of our community.
I thought yesterday’s discussion would revolve around tactics to get other people to change – like how to prove a new technology to others in your org.
Really it was about how you can change – into a person who proves new technologies to others in your org.
I know of a technique that can help you do this.  You will think it is weird and unnecessary but you have to do it.  
It’s called personal branding.  It’s what we do now.
Personal branding forces you to figure out what you’re about and define that for others.
Some tools for this are starting a blog about your industry, commenting on other blogs about your industry, and learning as much as you possibly can about the problems in your industry.  For nonprofits it might be fund raising in an economic downturn, delivering food to Somalia, or getting people to come to your event.
Blog writing will force you to come up with what you really think about an issue.  It will help you gain your own clarity and insight, which can be empowering.   Keep it about business and ideas and not about your cat or work place annoyances.
On the right of this page you area reading are most of my favorite blogs.  Get yourself set up with Google Reader to have their updates come to you instead of wasting time going to them.  You can even read them on your iPhone.
After a few months you will have enough knowledge to start solving real problems in your industry and connections with other people who can make things happen.
Then it’s just up to you to get things done.
If you already have a blog and are out there making things happen, please post your link below so I and others can connect with you.
Update:  Great post on personal branding predictions for 2010 to check out.

How Top Chef Teaches Leadership

November 6, 2009 Uncategorized No comments

I was inspired by Rick Bayless winning Top Chef Masters because, if you watched the show, you saw how he coached his the previous Top Chef contestants on his team to instill ownership over the meal they made under his direction.  Bayless was also passionate about Mexican food and had his own definition of success – it didn’t matter that he won the title, he was just pleased that he elevated Mexican food to the level of French and Italian cuisine and ended his exit interview with, “Viva El Mexico!”
Highly competitive reality shows like Top Chef and Project Runway teach you that leaders are able to persuade others to go along with their vision, no matter the obstacles and personality conflicts.  You have to have the skills to work with all kinds of people, especially other strong leaders, to make something great.  You get respect by showing respect to others.  Give first then get.

Better Network Building and Discussion with Chris Guillebeau

November 1, 2009 blogging, interview, marketing, social media, twitter No comments

Chris Guillebeau brought together around 30 members of his small army of remarkable people in DC at Busboys & Poets last week for a meetup.
Chris has the rare ability to make meaning for us world-changers while evading the guru trap by weaving strong ties among his readership.
Speaking of a small army, Seth Godin often talks about his new rule of 10 in new marketing – nowadays, all you need is 10 people to get something good going around your cause or project.
Chris built this in DC and introduced us to each other.  I met several remarkable people, like Jeff, Thursday,Vik,  Sheila, and Chase- only to name a few.
What’s cool is that they are all in the DC area and we actually got to know each other in person over quesadillas and beers at my favorite restaurant in DC.
Most of the people I met work in the nonprofit sector, which is not surprising given our city.  They work on various causes from the environment to equal access that are important and they are passionate about.
What I learned about Meetups  and the New Network Building in DC
  1. Blogger community area meetups are a great way to meet remarkable people outside your normal circle. Start reading a blog that interests you and attend a speaking event where the blogger will be speaking to meet not just the blogger but others in their community.
  2. Meetups and events are not always about the blogger or organizers. Chris graciously gave me a 10 minute interview but he mostly talked to everyone at his meetup in groups for only a few minutes and didn’t even get to speak with some people, although he tried.  Most of the time I talked to other people who wanted to meet Chris, building not just his network but also our own.  There were some amazing people there I was lucky to get to know.
  3. Connect on Twitter after the event. It’s a great way to keep in touch with the new people you meet.
I do learning & networking events for a living, so the above 3 items are quite new and worth mentioning.
Discussion with Chris
Below is my just under 9-minute discussion with Chris at the restaurant where he entertains my questions about how his work started in international development in Western Africa and spread from there.
Chris volunteered with Mercy Ships on the coast of West Africa for 4 years, went to grad school in international studies, and started The Art of Non-Conformity during grad school, which has now grown into a meaningful writing career with his upcoming book of the same title, due out next year.
If you work in international development or nonprofits, he is a good person to know.
Stuff we talk about:
  • What he did leading up to The Art of Non-Conformity
  • Convergence – how his writing brings together the various experiences he’s had in his life so far
  • He also discusses with me a need for nonprofits to work more closely together and how we could join Dan Pallotta in his call for a Change the World Conference

Meatball Countdown: What if Seth wrote Trust Agents?

October 25, 2009 marketing, social media No comments

Two of my favorite teachers are Seth Godin and Chris Brogan. Seth is an expert in marketing and Chris is an expert in Communications – two of my favorite business functions that at a nonprofit we all get to do in some form or another.
I have their books stacked up with Uncharitable by Dan Pallotta that I am reading now and fantasize like a nerd about how a conversation with those three would go.
I think it would help win an important battle in nonprofit operations PR.  We need nonprofit trust agents to educate themselves in new media and technology to spread the story that a nonprofit’s overhead is not a measure of its effectiveness or credibility.  Nancy Lublin has already gotten us started.  We need to talk about how innovations in mobile and internet technology create opportunities to transform nonprofit operations.  Operations needs more seats at program planning tables.
Trust Agents are people who humanize the web, understand the systems, and how to make their own game, connect, and build fluid relationships.  Does this sound like your CFO?
New Marketing allows us to know our audience, make things that they want, and tell them about it in places and ways they anticipate and want and to get out of their way.  Online marketing is about messages that spread between people, not one-way announcements or ads directed at people to interrupt them and gain their attention to hear a message they weren’t interested in hearing anyway.  New marketing does not ask, “How can we use this new marketing stuff?” but “How can we be an organization that people want to connect with in this new, transparent way?”  Does your HR director know about new marketing?
Maybe we can address this during the upcoming interview with Seth and NTEN.

Meatball Countdown: Getting Your Marketing in Sync with Your Organization

October 11, 2009 management, non-profits, social media No comments

epic fail pictures
see more epicfails

This is the first blog post I am writing as I anticipate my upcoming interview with Seth Godin and the Nonprofit Technology Network (NTEN).
Many of you might not know what a Meatball Sundae is.  A Meatball Sundae is an organization that tries to add all of this new media fun stuff like Facebook and Myspace and Twitter and Google (the sundae part) on top of the same, tried and true, products they’ve been making for years (the meatball part).
The key is to not become a Meatball Sundae.
It’s not that the meatballs are bad and the sundae part is good.  It’s that they do not naturally work together.  One part or the whole thing must change in order for your organization to be successful now.
Did you know that?
Here’s a tip:  to move your organization online do so strategically – beyond interns on Twitter.
This is a senior management decision, although others in the organization can build the case.
As the picture above suggests, organizations fail when their marketing is not in sync with their organization.

5 Easy Ways to Teach Social Media to Your Boss

October 1, 2009 Uncategorized No comments
Well, first you need to know it thoroughly yourself, so this assumes you are active on Facebook, LinkedIn, Twitter, and blogs.
  1. Show her people who are using these tools successfully.  I showed my boss Beth’s Blog,Beth’s Blog’s Facebook Fan Page, and Chris Brogan’s Trust Agents Fan Page.
  2. Show her how to grab RSS feeds and add them to Google Reader.
  3. Show her how to search for topics of her interest that blogs write about to get her used to blogs.  Do this by showing her how to use Technorati and Google Blog Search.
  4. Teach her how RTs, @ replies, shortened URLs, and advanced search work on Twitter.
  5. Give her Chris and Julien’s new book Trust Agents after you’ve finished it.

I’ve done all of these things with my boss, and it was a great success.  Now that he understands what social media can do, we can start brainstorming how to use it to meet our organization’s goals.  That’s going to be the hard part.

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