October is the first ever Nonprofit Career Month.
Nonprofits make up roughly 11% of the US workforce. The sector accounts for billions of dollars each year. It also is responsible for innovation, breakthroughs, and change related to health care, human services, and the very future of our existence.
So maybe it's time we focused on it a bit.
Only now are nonprofits really being studied academically. Very soon, I think more schools will offer certificates, minors, and majors in this field. And rightfully so - we're going to need more and more qualified people leading us onward.
To raise awareness of nonprofits and their young leaders, I'm teaming up with Tera Wozniak Qualls to write about our leadership experiences in the sector. Each Monday and Wednesday in October, she and I will alternate our takes on what Seth Godin says are the four factors leadership is scarce:
- It's uncomfortable to stand up in front of strangers.
- It's uncomfortable to propose an idea that might fail.
- It's uncomfortable to challenge the status quo.
- It's uncomfortable to resist the urge to settle.
Tera and I will each talk about when we've been uncomfortable in these ways, as well as offer recommendations for future nonprofit leaders on how they, too, can become uncomfortable and then work through that experience to lead others within the nonprofit world.
This will be exciting for me - Tera and I first started discussing this via Twitter back in March. Now, six months later, we're ready to roll. Creativity and leadership both take time to develop.