Читать книгу Managing and Leading Nonprofit Organizations - Paul L. Dann - Страница 11

When I first began working as a case manager for a small nonprofit organization, I developed a close friendship with another case manager on the team. We would often attend meetings together and ultimately began socializing after work. During those times we would spend time talking about our work and our plans for the future. I remember being struck by the fact that he felt the agency was a dead‐end place to work. He said, “There's not much going on here, with only four programs and just a few opportunities for promotion and professional development. I'm not sure how long I'm going to stick around.” I recall being dumbfounded by his comments. “Really?” I replied, “I don't see it that way—in fact, I think there's a lot of potential here.” He looked at me in the skeptical way people do when they feel they are a bit more in the know.

It was not long before he moved onto another case manager position with another nonprofit service organization, and just about the time he moved on, I was offered the opportunity to run my first program. I thought long and hard about the fact that we worked in the same place and shared similar skills and education, but I was the one who ended up with the opportunity to advance within the organization. Just dumb luck, right? Well, no, I don't think so. I think I was lucky but unlike my colleague I was also ready for the opportunity. The posture I took, that possibilities were quite present within the organization, laid the groundwork for me to jump on the chance to advance. I suspect that others too experienced my demeanor as one that would be receptive to the possibility of taking on a leadership role.

In 1854 Louis Pasteur was credited with saying that chance visits only the prepared mind. This astute comment, which was directed at the process of making observations within the realm of the natural sciences, aligns beautifully with an important perspective to hold within your leadership practice. By working to prepare yourself for possibilities you are ready to see the potential that exists and as a result seize a serendipitous moment. Good things happen when you prepare yourself for the possibilities. When we limit our view of the opportunity, we in turn shut ourselves off from the opportunity that appears.

Be sure to work at having a prepared mind!