The nonprofit employment landscape is wild right now. I have a few very qualified friends who have been looking for a job for more than a year, who get multiple interviews with many organizations and never make it to the offer stage. In a couple of cases, they were beaten out by people with a decade more experience, something that they couldn’t possibly “catch up” on. At the same time, I experienced a vacancy on my team and when applications opened, I was disappointed in the responses (until I wasn’t).
An application was submitted (Spoiler: I hired her!) by someone with a decade more experience than me. While I was overjoyed to see that level of qualification in my inbox, it hit me that this wasn’t a one off—it’s a trend.
The nonprofit sector is in transition as Boomers begin to look toward retirement and Gen X feels the squeeze of both their kids and parents needing support. Some are coping by taking a step back, filling more tactical roles so they can continue to “do it all” or maybe even do a little less.
I celebrate this move for those who have the privilege to make that choice. At the same time, I feel entirely unprepared. I’m a Millennial and have attended many sessions on how to manage people in my generation. While occasionally overbroad, these sessions did give helpful tips and tricks, but were focused on “managing up” not managing someone who is in the autumn of their career.
I now have an autumnal human on my team and have learned a great deal from her and from being her manager. In case you are facing this same generational shift, I thought I would share some observations.
Sit in and then speak the discomfort
I have an ego and can generally keep it in check, but—as it turns out—it comes up when managing someone who has more logged experience. After hiring my new team member, I felt imposter syndrome, jealousy, inadequacy and then layers of guilt for feeling the way I did.
As it built inside me, I kept sweeping the thoughts aside. Then, after a meeting with our mission team, it peaked. I could no longer sweep it away, so I did the uncomfortable thing—I named it. I said to my team member: “I felt threatened by how many good ideas and suggestions you had in that meeting, I know you know more than me on this topic and I trust your judgment, but I want to name what I am feeling to disarm it.”
The silence felt like it went on eternally. Then, came the response quashing all those feelings, “thanks for naming that.”
Naming the tension and creating space for conversation opened the relationship in a new way. Anything she was picking up from my body language or expressive face she could now contextualize and help resolve. It was a good reminder to me that sometimes leadership means humility, trust and taking opportunities to learn.
Professional development can look like a lot of things
Each month, I dedicate an hour of time to each of my team members to talk about professional development. This was something I learned and massively benefited from when I was at Blakely (thanks Kesheyl!) and carried it forward since.
When my Major Gifts officer joined the team I thought, what could I possibly help her with? Is this a good use of our time? The solution? A book club. We read a book a month that related (tangentially in some cases) to fundraising and then talk it through. This might be my favorite iteration of these meetings, two humans coming together to uplift one another with shared understanding.
Let it go
Working with someone who has seen more philanthropy than me, specializing in an area where I was not focused for a good chunk of my career, has also taught me to be more fluid in my leadership. I don’t need to look at emails going to donors like I would with a new junior employee, or check in to see if a call report is done. It’s given me the opportunity to see where I am micromanaging and where I am too hands off—ultimately making me better at my job while finding ways to enhance her work.
Are you leading a multigenerational team as a Millennial? I would love to hear from you! It’s a complicated, fun and humbling experience.
Laura Champion is the Senior Director, Fund Development at Lumenus Foundation. She is the Founder of the AFP Speaker Discovery Series, was Chair of AFP GTA Congress in 2020, and has spoken all over the globe. She has a deep love for fundraising, learning and her one-eyed wiener dog, Mortadella.
