Leading from Below

This was an op-ed piece I put together in 2008 with advice for young professionals seeking to move into leadership positions.

Leading From Below

How can you lead before you become “The Leader”? I encourage young professionals to look for opportunities to “lead from below” while they prepare to take large leaps in their official titles and scope of responsibilities. Developing core leadership skills such as vision, influence, effectiveness, and accountability require you to take on challenges and produce results.

In today’s workforce culture, we are rapidly moving beyond the top-down “chairman” model as managers seek opportunities to create an empowered team. The value of raw talent is rapidly increasing in the entrepreneurial business culture. This is a great time to lead from below – while the weight of experience does not trump good ideas.

Young nonprofit leaders especially need to look for opportunities to lead before they become “The Leader.” Due to relatively flat management structures, young people need to seek and create their own leadership ladder.

Pick Your Victories
People on their way up are often told to “pick their battles”. However, a person seeking to establish a leadership role should spend more time carefully picking their victories. Seek out leadership opportunities on problems that are more than one-time fixes. Consider if taking a role in a project will lead to you being included in future discussions related to your organization’s core business.

Stop Critiquing, Start Contributing
Before you point out inadequacies in your organization’s operations, consider your supervisors are likely aware of this weakness. If something is not going right, it is often because the organization does not have the capacity to improve it – financial capacity, human resource capacity, or leadership capacity. The first few times you point out a weakness, it will be a positive because it shows you understand the issue. If you continue to point out weaknesses without providing solutions it actually can expose you as someone who cannot lead change or consider the big picture ramifications of operational changes.

Focus on offering solutions within reach of your organization’s capacity. (Don’t forget to do the research needed to make your case and know the costs and benefits.) This may be the most important opportunity to demonstrate your potential as a leader. Providing solutions demonstrates the difference between an employee who can critique and an employee who is willing to contribute and be accountable.

Multiple Mentors
It is invaluable to have someone you can call who has the experience you are still developing as a young professional. Rather than having a single go-to person, seek out people with specific talents and experience you admire. Instead of asking someone to be your 360° mentor, consider contacting several people with specific requests. e.g., “I am impressed with how you launched your new program. Can we meet so I can learn more about how you started your planning process?”

Not only will this expand your support circle, you will be able to identify the best examples of what you value as a leader as you build your unique vision. Also, those leaders who represent the “complete package” are likely asked by many people to serve as a mentor. They might not have time to sign on for broad support and ongoing meetings but they will likely agree to be a sounding board for specific questions.

Read Other People’s Résumés
It is likely you are underestimating your leadership responsibilities and successes. Many people send out their résumés and ask others to give feedback. When I am preparing to update my résumé, I send out a call for people I respect to send me their résumé so I can learn how they present their skills and experience. Instead of doing a cursory update utilizing the always-helpful thesaurus to find another word for “achieved”, I want to learn how other people effectively make their case for consideration.

At the same time, when you have others review your résumé be sure to seek out people who have a strong knowledge your achievements to date and those with insight into the prospective industry. If you are switching careers or into a new field, seek someone within the new field to read your résumé. If you are in marketing and seeking a job in development, it will be more effective to have someone who evaluates fundraising résumés give you feedback than a friend who knows your existing skill set. Seek out someone who has hired a similar position and ask what they look for and what jumps out as a key skill or experience. This is not an uncommon practice – I am sent a few resume each month to scan and offer feedback.

What does résumé review have to do with leading from below? You will learn what skill areas you need to fill in on your résumé to get the job you want.

Complete a Leadership Course or Volunteer in a Leadership Position
There are many leadership courses in Denver and many nonprofit organizations could benefit from your contributions. You can complete fellowships with CILT (Colorado Institute for Leadership Training) or the Center for Progressive Leadership. Leadership programs are available through the Denver Young Nonprofit Professionals Network, Community Resource Center, The Denver Foundation, the Denver Metro Leadership Foundation, Downtown Denver Partnership, and the Colorado Black Chamber of Commerce. If you are on a board of directors or planning committee, step up and offer to lead. While some opportunities may be more relevant to your career path than others, the very action of seeking leadership development indicates you take your professional success seriously.

When I see a résumé that includes actively seeking leadership experience, it indicates drive and I flag the candidate. When I see the words, “Chaired Fundraising Committee and increased income by 47%,” I pick up the phone and schedule an interview.

Closing Thoughts
The private, public, and independent sectors are all abuzz with the “war for talent”. As an independent sector executive and a board member of the Denver Young Nonprofit Professionals Network, I am keenly interested in advocating for nonprofit organizations to increase their human resource capacity to keep talent in our industry.

Independent sector leaders must read, “Ready to Lead: Next Generation Leaders Speak Out”, a national study produced in partnership by CompassPoint Nonprofit Services, The Annie E. Casey Foundation, the Meyer Foundation and Idealist.org. In the study, young nonprofit professionals identified three key negatives when considering taking an executive director or CEO position in the independent sector: frustration with pay and benefits packages, dissatisfaction with the current job description and responsibilities of a nonprofit leader, and lack of a career path to move into a leadership position.

When I started this article the mindset was focused on peer-to-peer mentoring between young professionals. Since that time, I have moved into the CEO position at Community Shares of Colorado. I would like to think being selected for a leadership role bolsters my insight into the steps young professionals can take to learn as they build their skills. Also, I will listen to what my younger colleagues voiced in “Ready to Lead” and build career path goals into my organization’s performance review process. I can’t say I was ready to lead the day I moved into the corner office, but I did have the advantage of my experience leading from below.


Alyssa Kopf, CEO
Community Shares of Colorado
alyssa@cshares.org
www.cshares.org