Are you an accomplished young professional already serving as a nonprofit leader?

Are you ready to magnify your impact through dynamic collaboration with your peers?

Independent Sector is pleased to announce the second year of the American Express NGen Fellows Program, which builds the capacity of 12 under-40 professionals from IS member organizations to shape the future of the nonprofit community.  Visit the IS website to learn more about the benefits of participation in the fellows program, the selection process, and how to apply.  Applications are due March 29, 2010.

NGen fellows will enjoy a series of exceptional opportunities over the course of nine months, including collaborating with other under-40 leaders, interacting with established mentors, and contributing to IS’s work on nonprofit impact and leadership. Independent Sector will host the 12 fellows at our D.C. offices for a kick-off event in late August, and they will receive complementary registration and lodging to take part in the IS Annual Conference in Atlanta, October 20-22.  These experiences will culminate in a six-month group project that advances their leadership skills and contributes to the ability of emerging leaders to collaborate on sector-wide issues.

The American Express NGen Fellows Program is just one part of IS’s NGen initiative, which is designed to deepen the nonprofit talent pool by developing the leadership opportunities and professional networks of emerging leaders.  Mark your calendars now for targeted NGen events open to all under-40 leaders in Atlanta October 19-20, and watch for more information on the IS website soon.

These are interesting articles and posts from around the web and blogosphere for January 29th through February 21st:

• Does culture of giving result in high well-being ranking for Michigan town? | The Daily Tell –
• New Voices of Philanthropy » Blog Archive » Know What You Want (and then ask for it) –
• New Voices of Philanthropy » Blog Archive » I’m done being busy –
• Good-bye Philanthrocapitalism, Hello Citizen Philanthropy? | Philanthropy Central –
• Get More Results With Social Media By Doing Less (Day 25) – Social media and inbound marketing for non-profits – This article has some great tips.

Women are like teabags.

We don’t know our true strength until we are in hot water!

I love this quote from Eleanor Roosevelt. Albeit simply said, it says a lot. We don’t really know our true strengths until we have met a crisis.  Although there are ways to get to know ourselves and our strengths before a crisis hits.

One of my favorite ways is personality and strengths tests.  I am an avid learner and take as many strengths, work styles, and “What dog am I?” tests as possible.  The more I learn about myself, the easier I am able to adapt to knew situations and grow professionally.  Just this weekend I pulled out my “StrengthsFinder 2.0” book again. I took the profile test last summer and haven’t looked at my results in a while.  My results are really a surprise, but put my strengths into perspective. My four greatest strengths are:

Activator - The book describes an activator as someone who “may concede that analysis has its uses or that debate and discussion can occasionally yield some valuable insights, but deep down [they] know that only action is real.”  In other words, I feel action is necessary to move and get uneasy in situations where the group is “over thinking” the situation.  StrengthsFinder suggests I ask my manager to judge me on outcomes rather then my process and “end stalemates by creating a plan”.

Discipline – My life needs to be predictable, ordered and planned.  I l have a routine or system for everything.   This doesn’t mean I can’t deal with change, it just means I institute a plan as soon as I hear a change is coming or if it has.  The book suggests to discover places in my work where time or money are being wasted and increase efficiency, and check things as often as I need too.  They say co-workers and family will get used to my need to recheck. I hope so.

Futuristic – My husband doesn’t like this one.  I am fascinated by the future  and love to peer over the horizon.  I think a lot about how something I do or the community is doing will affect the future.  What outcomes will there be and how can we improve what we are doing now to improve the results.  Suggestions for a futurist include partnering with a strong activator (ironic), and choosing roles in which I can contribute ideas for the future.

Strategic- This trait, as the book says, “enables [me] to sort through the clutter and find the best routine”.  I am always playing out different situations in which programs or projects can occur and how those situations might sway results.  The book suggests being thoughtful about goals I want to achieve until I find patterns and issues, and find a group I think needs strategic thinking and join them.

It explains a lot right? All four characteristics are quite dominate in my life.

Lately, I have been thinking specifically about how my strengths are being used in my current job position.  Well, really they aren’t being used much.  I am able to find solace in my own routine and planning for my specific projects, but I miss out on a lot of strategic conversations and am not fueled often with a chance to get a new project going.

Over the past couple of years I have sensed an underlying frustration I could just not pinpoint.  Why I didn’t notice this last summer when I took the profile I don’t know, but it is obvious I am not able to use my greatest strengths.  To be honest I think I could work any where (well maybe that’s not 100% true) as long as I could get involved with strategic planning, leadership development, and activation of new programs in the organization.

I am seeking out opportunities outside of my work to fulfill my need for all things mentioned above and taking control of how I do my own work.  Stretch assignments and board positions are holding me steady for now.

During the Encore: Coming of Age Learning Lab we discuss the importance of marketing to the audience you want for the position.  The audience we discuss specifically in the training is adults aged 50+.  While searching for examples of commercials targetting this group, we came across the video below.  Not sure if we’re going to show it the training, but its a great video.  With a prethera of advertising these days, it is hard to pick out the good ones, so I’d thought I’d share.

Plus, its a good laugh.

This semester I am taking a course on human resource management in the nonprofit sector.  For my final paper I would like to focus on the effects leadership in organizations have on the morale of staff.

My focus has come from observations of some unhappy employees in my area.  Many do not feel they are valued, while others receive no support from leadership.  Much of the time this leads to burnout and a desperate plea for a new job.

Over time I have come to be convinced that strong leadership that values employees is crucial to keeping staff motivated and community benefit organizations successful… but for some reason I continuously see leadership not paying attention to staff morale.

Not to be a complete downer.  I have met leaders that do provide great staff motivation, which leads to better productivity, long-term staff, and better programs.  It can happen.

So… I am looking for your opinions.  How much do you see the effects of leadership on your own happiness and motivation at work?  Are you seeing leadership having effects on other employees in your organization?

Please share your stories.  Maybe together we can get to the bottom of this.

Over the past two and half years I have written about a lot of different things.  I wrote about my career, emerging leadership, generational dynamics, organization and productivity, governance, and career development among many other things.   Mostly, I have used this space to express my career interests and areas in which I wanted to build my expertise.  As you probably notice I tend to write blogs about how I am going to start writing more about something and then never do, or declare my blog has a new focus, and promise other crazy mountains I never seem to build.  Although all of it was all genuine, I somehow never found an exact niche that made me excited about writing about one or two topics that would sustain my blog over many years.  I like too many things and have spent a lot of time since 2007 figuring out who I am and where I want to go with my career.

So…. For now I am not promising anything, my blog isn’t going to be about anything but my life, career, and interests, or whatever I am feeling about writing about that day.  If it takes on some seemingly good theme I will be surprised as much as you, although I hope I do fall into a comfortable consistency.  It may be nebulous, but this really feels like it’s going to work.

No restrictions …

No promises …

My life …

My career …

My Great Dane …

If you want to guest blog about anything you can …

Share your stories and I’ll share mine.

I hope you all take this journey with me, but if you want to read something more consistent and noteworthy I do understand.

Thank you for being a loyal reader!

Tera

Newlywed, Social Citizen, Community Member

Today the Nonprofit Millennial Bloggers Alliance is collectively posting about the nonprofit sector’s response to Haiti’s disaster.  Check out the list of bloggers for their posts.

from United Nations Development Programme's photostream

Three months from now most loved ones will be found and celebrated, families will find temporary housing, infectious disease will have spread due to close living quarters, rescue crews from around the world will have flown home, and the international media will have vacated the premises.  Haiti will not look much different and their need will still be great. As a reporter on NPR this morning put it, “most Haitians will have gone from living under the poverty level to living in poverty.”  There will still be desperate need for clean water, food, housing, clothing, rebuilding, and health care.

Nonprofit/Nongovernmental organizations will take the reigns in the long-term recovery of Haiti.  As we have seen in other natural disasters, nonprofit organizations have a strong ability to work on the ground with the people of the devastated area to help improve their situation.  However, nonprofit organizations can not continue to support Haiti without your support.  Below is a list of organizations that are currently providing aid to Haiti.

My challenge to you is to continue to support them well beyond the next couple of weeks.  Haiti is on the cusp of rejuvenation, and although this earthquake is deterring their recovery, with the eyes on the world watching they now have an opportunity to leverage the support they have needed.

• American Red Cross
• Samaritan’s Purse International
• List from the Chronicle of Philanthropy
• United Way of Miami-Dade

As a donor you also have the responsibility for informing yourself on the work these organizations are doing in Haiti.  Find out in-depth what work the organizations are doing on the ground, where they need the most funds, and how you can provide them support in the long term.  With increased knowledge of their work you can provide these organizations unrestricted funds with trust they are using these donations in the best interest of the Haitian people.

With your funds and commitment to the work each organization is doing they will be able to do much more to support the citizens of Haiti for years to come.

photo from Richard0's photostream

In 2009 I got married, bought a house, sat on three boards, volunteered on multiple committees, continued my master’s degree and got a puppy.  To sum it up, it was hectic.  At the beginning of the year I sensed my year was going to be a bit crazy, so I set some personal and professional strategies for myself.  Those strategies were:

Personal Strategies

• Find personal balance.
• Get married.
• Set time aside for personal creativity.
• Focus my civic engagement.
• Make my blog worth writing for.
• Complete my masters without going crazy.

Professional Strategies

• Find balance at work.
• Integrate what I am learning in my masters program.
• Don’t be so hard on myself and don’t take it personally.
• Stay connected with my growing network.
• Learn something from each of my coworkers.
• Put my thoughts about nonprofit systems on paper.

Over the course of the year, many strategies got left behind and others became habit.  I knew when I developed these strategies; it might not be realistic for me to follow through on all of them.  I set too many strategies and set my self up to fail.  This year I am combining my strategies into three “life strategies”, one’s I am confident I can accomplish.  These strategies are meant to be a sort of New Year’s resolution I am hoping to follow through for a long time.

My Life Strategies for 2010 are:

Wake up one hour earlier. I have to finally admit, my typical wake up time is not until after 7 am.  Sleep has been my sanctuary, because of my over worked days.  My hope is that changing my wake up time to an hour earlier will give me more time to get things done around the house in the morning, go to the gym, blog, or what ever else I would like to do in the morning.  I also believe my oversleeping is leading to my drowsiness in the mornings, and if I narrow my sleep time to 7 hours a night I am hoping to have more energy.  My sleeping sanctuary will be replaced with exercise, a calm morning breakfast before work, or time to write before handing my brain over to my workplace. All these options sound much better then one more hour of unproductive sleep each morning.

Keep a positive attitude. This strategy may seem a little “pie in the sky”, but it definitely feels worth it.  With my busy schedule and hectic workplace, it is very easy to become negative and stressed about everything.  This commitment to staying positive will give me a reason to stop myself from becoming negative and give me a chance to be positive in each situation.  I am also using this strategy to learn from each of my experiences.  I don’t seem to learn anything when I am only looking at the bad side of things.

Before taking on anything new, ensure it is good for me and my family. My new marriage, along with my string of baggage commitments, has made balance hard over the past year.  I have only been married eight months, so there is a lot of learning to do, but one immediate lesson has been comparing my volunteer commitments with how much quality time I spend at home.  Before I got married I was on three boards, in leadership positions on two of them, along with three more volunteer committees.  This is too much, even for a single person, especially while working on my master’s degree.  Since April, I have narrowed my commitments down to the three boards, one of which will be ending soon.  Going forward I am only sticking to the commitments I currently have and will only be adding to them if the outcome will be positive for both my career, self interests, and my family.  This is going to be especially hard for me.  I am very easily distracted by the idea of working with amazing people on great projects.  No more, I have a life time to try everything I want to do.

What strategies are you implementing in 2010?  Have you set some career resolutions for yourself?

• Pondering this morning… Is it important to focus in GR to build my career or continue to gain experience nationally? Can I do both? #
• Office is closed this morning, someone ran into our network tower. No internet, no phones, no shared files. How did we ever do work before? #
• Excited for the @ynpnggr Holiday Mixer at McFadden's tonight! Will you be there after work? #fb #
• I'm changing my official email from terawozniak to teraqualls. It's amazing how much is connected to my email. Feels like a fresh start. #
• RT @ManVsDebt Excess is a Liability http://bit.ly/5Vpcr3 #
• Still excited for the @ynpnggr Holiday Mixer at McFadden's tonight! Will you be there after… http://schmap.it/rx891x #
• Great List! RT @listorious Philanthropy Twitter List by Terry Slobodian on Listorious http://bit.ly/4LCIce #
• Having trouble channeling my inner summarizer… Especially when I think every point is important. #
• Congrats! RT @myfgray: Upcoming BL²END event in Rapid Growth Media! http://bit.ly/8TtBsb #
• Why does the small coffee pot in our office have the warning "Do not hold over people". I'm just imagining the reasons it got added now. #
• Excited for @YNPNGGR 2010 had some great convos today w other YNPNs & @EPIPMichigan & great brainstorming session with @amandastpierre. #

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• Rocking out to some Christmas music classical style! This time of year even sounds wonderful :) #
• RT @rosettathurman Interesting read – Shine While Your Light’s On: Twitter 101 for Young Nonprofit Professionals http://bit.ly/4O5OK6 #
• RT @jennschaub There are two great YNPN Events coming up in the next two weeks… check them out! http://bit.ly/639DaP #
• Just shoveled our driveway for the first time. It's fun this time, but I'm sure it won't be again. #fb #
• Thursday evenings production of Frozen has been canceled. Thank you scrolling closings bar. #fb #
• RT @suckahpunch: Yay on the smoking ban! Thank you Lansing!!!!! http://bit.ly/8eZx5w #
• RT @amandastpierre: Interesting graphic on charitable giving from The Huffington Post http://bit.ly/7isIpP. Via @visualhero . #
• Debating on officially switching over to my new email address in January. Managing 4 is getting cumbersome…. Anyone else go through this? #

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