This might be a controversial article, but let’s get into it. Let’s talk about what working looks like, and more specifically, who gets to decide what it looks like. Because oh boy, there are some upheavals going on about what counts as productivity, and how that productivity should be performed.
Campaigns are the great unstoppable force of nonprofits, a freight train that, as a researcher, you can either ignore to your peril or cling to for dear life. But what if there’s something better than avoidance or scrambling? While I’m not going to promise you peace of mind the next time you hear “campaign” bandied about in your presence, I will be walking you through some lessons learned that, with any luck, smooth out the journey.
Elevator pitch. It’s one of the first things that gets recommended to job seekers, one of the first questions asked by career coaches, something that we’re told to have ready at all times, like a first aid kit or chocolate stash. The premise: you’re in an elevator with a high-powered leader, and they ask what you do. You have thirty seconds or less to summarize everything that you do in such a way that the executive is wowed, resulting in you being noticed/promoted/hired. Amazing! Who wouldn’t want to hone this skill? It sounds magical! And it is indeed magical, because like many magical things, it’s too good to be true
