Speaker 1: Aba, fam, It's time for the ba qa a, the
Speaker 1: ba qa What to say the ba qa with Manda,
Speaker 1: the ba qa a. That's right, No Tiffany today, no
Speaker 1: right in solo. But I am here to answer one
Speaker 1: of our beautiful ba listeners career questions. I can't believe
Speaker 1: you guys trust us like you do, and we love that.
Speaker 1: But I will just go ahead into the mandatory obligatory
Speaker 1: disclaimer so that you can listen, but you can't sue
Speaker 1: us because we are your financial besties. I am a
Speaker 1: career coach, but I'm not your career coach, which is
Speaker 1: really important and ultimately, you gotta do what you gotta
Speaker 1: do with the information that you have. We're not your lawyer,
Speaker 1: we're not your financial planner, all of that good stuff.
Speaker 1: So this is just for funzies, just what basically your
Speaker 1: financial bestie slash big sister, big sist would say to you.
Speaker 1: And today we are jumping in with a really juicy
Speaker 1: career question from listener Bri. Thank you, Bri. If y'all
Speaker 1: have forgotten, you can submit your question and have it
Speaker 1: be read on the show potentially if you dm us
Speaker 1: at Brand Ambition Podcast on Instagram and if you are
Speaker 1: off of the gram. You can always email us Brand
Speaker 1: Ambition Podcast at gmail dot com and let's dive on
Speaker 1: in because this question is really really good, all right,
Speaker 1: Brie says, Hey, Mandy and Tiffany, I'm looking for some
Speaker 1: career advice. I am a program manager at a mid
Speaker 1: size nonprofit and I've been with this organization for almost
Speaker 1: four years. In the last year, I've seen a lot
Speaker 1: of staffing changes happen at the organization. Various people have
Speaker 1: been let go, while others have chosen to leave on
Speaker 1: their own. I've been trying to keep my head down
Speaker 1: and not get too shaken up by this, because the
Speaker 1: job itself has pretty good benefits. However, two weeks ago,
Speaker 1: I was informed that my supervisor was let go for
Speaker 1: legal reasons. I'm trying to figure out what this means,
Speaker 1: what this means for me. There has been no decision
Speaker 1: yet about whether they will fill my old manager's position. Currently,
Speaker 1: I'm reporting to his old supervisor and managing some of
Speaker 1: his responsibilities. My question is how patient should I be
Speaker 1: with waiting to hear the direction of our department and
Speaker 1: my decision. Should I suggest a promotion for myself or
Speaker 1: wait to see what they decide if I should assert myself,
Speaker 1: how should I go about it, and if I should
Speaker 1: wait for how long? Thank you both. Oh, I really
Speaker 1: love this question, and it's multifaceted, multi layered. And the
Speaker 1: first thing I'm going to say is, you may think
Speaker 1: that the word nonprofit is not you personally breathe, but
Speaker 1: just the listeners like y'all may think that nonprofit world
Speaker 1: and the nonprofit space in general is I don't know,
Speaker 1: some sort like on a different level than the for
Speaker 1: profit corporate space. But I have said it once, and
Speaker 1: I'll say it, and I've probably said it more than once.
Speaker 1: I say it all the time. Nonprofits can be just
Speaker 1: as janky, just as dysfunctional, just as greedy and toxic
Speaker 1: as name the most toxic company you can think of,
Speaker 1: Like why is Tesla coming to mind? I don't know,
Speaker 1: maybe because I read things. So think about a nonprofit
Speaker 1: like you would any other job. I don't care what,
Speaker 1: I don't care how sanctimonious your causes or what your
Speaker 1: mission statement is, and all the incredible work you do
Speaker 1: for the world. Some of the best businesses do incredible
Speaker 1: things for their customers, for the people who purchase their products.
Speaker 1: That's the same thing as customers, you know what I mean,
Speaker 1: but for the world. But they can still be really
Speaker 1: effing toxic inside. Who doesn't love Amazon, But y'all have
Speaker 1: heard the worst things about working there. Okay, the same
Speaker 1: things can be true for nonprofits. And I just want
Speaker 1: to like preface my answer by saying that don't let
Speaker 1: them get away with tox shit, and don't fool yourself
Speaker 1: into thinking that you will be treated anymore you know,
Speaker 1: I don't know, generously or uh yeah, just treated any
Speaker 1: differently than you might in the corporate world, because at
Speaker 1: the end of the day, they also have money to make,
Speaker 1: funds to raise, and the level of toxicity really is
Speaker 1: like a people thing, right, So if they hire the
Speaker 1: person who is more toxic, or a leader who is
Speaker 1: more toxic, then it can be quite toxic. They could
Speaker 1: also have reorganizations. They can also have cuts to budgets,
Speaker 1: like the same stuff that happens in the for profit world.
Speaker 1: So first, Brie, I want to commend you because you
Speaker 1: are not keeping your head down, You are keeping in
Speaker 1: the loop about what You're not trying to ignore what's
Speaker 1: going on, like you are seeing the signs of dysfunction
Speaker 1: and seeing the signs of the boat is rocking, and
Speaker 1: then where do I fit. The first thing I'll say
Speaker 1: is this doesn't necessarily have to mean that your job
Speaker 1: is on the line, although you that ultimately could be
Speaker 1: the case. But in this case, you might find an
Speaker 1: opportunity for yourself, like you say, to move into a
Speaker 1: different role, or at least present yourself or position yourself
Speaker 1: as someone who can be relied upon, can be counted
Speaker 1: on during these times of a little bit of chaos,
Speaker 1: all these different fluctuations when companies nonprofit or for profit,
Speaker 1: when they are going through reorganizations, there is that level
Speaker 1: of what on earth is going on, and it seems
Speaker 1: like the leaders kind of sometimes know what's going on,
Speaker 1: but it doesn't really trickle down, and that causes a
Speaker 1: lot of misinformation. It can cause a lot of stress
Speaker 1: and anxiety just from the lack of understanding. And I
Speaker 1: will tell you, as a former corporate leader myself, what
Speaker 1: can be really frustrating is when you have direct reports
Speaker 1: or team members who are very, very antsy and don't
Speaker 1: really do well in times of uncertainty, and they start
Speaker 1: like losing their shit and they start getting really stressed,
Speaker 1: and their work products starts to get affected if you
Speaker 1: can prove and show by your actions that you are
Speaker 1: someone who is steadfast, who can get the shit done
Speaker 1: and still show up and be reliable the holes and
Speaker 1: the gaps that are being created as they shift things
Speaker 1: around and as people leave for whatever reason, whether it's
Speaker 1: like just personnel cuts or like in the situation with
Speaker 1: your manager, sounds like they were fired for cause when
Speaker 1: that happens, if they can turn to you and they
Speaker 1: can say, Okay, Brie, we don't know what's going on
Speaker 1: with this particular project, but we know that you're a
Speaker 1: really good program manager, so we're going to put you
Speaker 1: on it, and then you just take the ball and
Speaker 1: you run with it. Like that can actually open you
Speaker 1: up to additional opportunities for promotion raises down the line
Speaker 1: because they rely on you all of a sudden, someone
Speaker 1: who like, maybe you were a really important team member,
Speaker 1: but you become even more important during times of uncertainty
Speaker 1: like this because they start to rely on you for
Speaker 1: the knowledge that you have from working there for as
Speaker 1: long as you have. Maybe you were the only person
Speaker 1: who knew what the f your supervisor meant by the
Speaker 1: emails they were sending in the plans that they had
Speaker 1: and you know basically where all the bodies are buried.
Speaker 1: Like that, institutional knowledge makes you important, makes you special. Okay,
Speaker 1: so as far as your decision and as far as
Speaker 1: their decision or whether or not they will fill your
Speaker 1: old manager's position. I myself was in this exact same
Speaker 1: situation about a decade ago, when I was a writer
Speaker 1: for a big publication and my editor was fired and
Speaker 1: I was maybe there for a little over a year,
Speaker 1: and I didn't waste any time. And I don't think
Speaker 1: you should either going up to leadership whoever's there and
Speaker 1: telling them, Hey, you know, I'm really sorry about what's
Speaker 1: happened with so and so. I just want to let
Speaker 1: you know that I feel more than capable of taking
Speaker 1: on additional responsibilities, taking on this position. So please consider
Speaker 1: me if you were looking to feel that manager's position.
Speaker 1: I believe the word that one would use to describe
Speaker 1: this kind of tactic is opportunistic. But like so what
Speaker 1: I don't know. I feel like opportunistic is the same
Speaker 1: as ambitious, where when you put it in the same
Speaker 1: sentence as a woman at work, it has this like
Speaker 1: connotation of negativity. But girl, be opportunistic. That's what a
Speaker 1: career is you got to take your chances. And you
Speaker 1: know you don't have to feel or I hope you
Speaker 1: don't feel, you know, some type of way about Oh,
Speaker 1: this is my old manager's job. Am I being disloyal? Like?
Speaker 1: It is what it is. You're still there, you have
Speaker 1: a long career ahead of you, So I think it
Speaker 1: makes perfect sense for you to just go and tell them, like, hey,
Speaker 1: i'm here. You know, feel free to ask me questions,
Speaker 1: feel free to rely on me, like, let them know
Speaker 1: they can count on you in there. Yeah, and your
Speaker 1: manager's absence. Okay, Your next question is should I suggest
Speaker 1: a promotion for myself or wait to see what they decide?
Speaker 1: Like I just said you should go in there. You
Speaker 1: don't have to suggest a promotion, but you should just say, hey,
Speaker 1: I'm here, here's what I understand, here's what I can do.
Speaker 1: I know that this person is left. I want to
Speaker 1: throw my hat in the ring if you're looking for
Speaker 1: someone to take that place, and let them decide. Now,
Speaker 1: if you're they may have certain levels, even at a nonprofit,
Speaker 1: there's like levels, you know, and job levels and job
Speaker 1: titles and like if it's too far of a jump
Speaker 1: for them for you, to go from program manager to like,
Speaker 1: I don't know, director of programs or whatever your manager's
Speaker 1: title was. Maybe there's another title they can give you
Speaker 1: and give you a bump up and give you more responsibility.
Speaker 1: So I think you should even if they even if
Speaker 1: they say, hey, we're working on a plan, we'll get
Speaker 1: back to you, you should schedule some time chat to
Speaker 1: them candidly and say, hey, I'm ready for more responsibilities.
Speaker 1: I don't know what it's going to look like in
Speaker 1: the future here, but hey, I'm not going anywhere. I'm down. Okay,
Speaker 1: maybe don't say you're not going anywhere, because you know
Speaker 1: you might, but at least let them know that you're around,
Speaker 1: you're available, like reach out. All right. Now, you also
Speaker 1: ask if I should wait for how long? I don't
Speaker 1: think you should wait, So that's an easy answer, don't wait.
Speaker 1: All right. I'm going to take a quick break and
Speaker 1: be right back and we're going to talk about, Brie,
Speaker 1: what else you can do to become professionally resilient in
Speaker 1: how to not let this situation hinder the rest of
Speaker 1: your career. All right, be right back, and I am
Speaker 1: back to answer Bree's question. Brie has a very juicy
Speaker 1: question about what's going on at her nonprofit right now.
Speaker 1: Manager has been quit, there's been staffing changes. Things are
Speaker 1: in flux. It's all Shenanigan's all right, Brice. So we
Speaker 1: already said that you should assert yourself. You should go
Speaker 1: for the open opportunities if you want them and if
Speaker 1: you feel like you're a good fit for that. However,
Speaker 1: I think you would be wise to make sure that
Speaker 1: your LinkedIn is updated, that you are contacting your network
Speaker 1: and staying in touch with your network so that they
Speaker 1: know what's going on and you can kind of keep
Speaker 1: them on watch, like, hey, guys, it's a little funk
Speaker 1: you over here. I might be reaching out in the future,
Speaker 1: but if you know of anything that's open, here's the
Speaker 1: kind of role I'm looking for. Feel free to, you know,
Speaker 1: reach out to me, make connections with your network, just
Speaker 1: to start warming them up on the off chance that
Speaker 1: you also are affected by the staffing changes, because you know,
Speaker 1: we all know shit can happen on top of that.
Speaker 1: I would say, while you're making those connections, what I
Speaker 1: want to caution you against is talking being like overly
Speaker 1: candid about what's going on at at your nonprofit. This
Speaker 1: kind of goes in the same category as like what
Speaker 1: to do when you're interviewing for a job and you're
Speaker 1: leaving a really shitty experience where you're currently at. You
Speaker 1: don't want to spend a lot of time in an
Speaker 1: interview or in a conversation with someone from your network
Speaker 1: who can potentially lead you to another opportunity, like bashing
Speaker 1: your ex. Okay, it may feel good, but save that
Speaker 1: conversation for happy hour with your BFFs. Don't take it
Speaker 1: to a professional conversation. Why because maybe they'll understand where
Speaker 1: you're coming from, but it's going to leave them with
Speaker 1: like an impression of you of being someone who's negative,
Speaker 1: being someone who's going to gossip and talk smack behind
Speaker 1: their backs if you decide that they are toxic and
Speaker 1: that you want to share what's been going on. So
Speaker 1: I would just keep a professional You can say, Hey,
Speaker 1: you know, I've been at this nonprofit for a few
Speaker 1: years now as a program manager. There's just a lot
Speaker 1: going on right now. There's staffing changes, my supervisor has
Speaker 1: been let go, and it's just made me sort of
Speaker 1: reevaluate where I'm going in my career, and so I'm
Speaker 1: you know, reaching out to you to have a discussion
Speaker 1: about potential opportunities at your firm, and you can like
Speaker 1: insert the name of the firm there and just leave
Speaker 1: it at that. And if they want you to like
Speaker 1: spill the tea, then you got to make a call,
Speaker 1: like is it worth sort of like loosening your professionalism
Speaker 1: just to kind of give someone else a little kiky
Speaker 1: and give some Everyone loves a little gossip, right, but
Speaker 1: it could actually do more harm than good if you
Speaker 1: kind of take that path and follow the like, oh,
Speaker 1: let me tell you every little detail of what's happening here,
Speaker 1: Like keep it professional and just keep focused on the
Speaker 1: value that you can bring and the work that you
Speaker 1: have done. Yeah, so that's what I'll say, Brie. Thank
Speaker 1: you so much for your question. Good luck. We love updates, y'all.
Speaker 1: So if you have a if we answer a question
Speaker 1: and you have an update, feel free to hit us
Speaker 1: up again. We are broad Ambition Podcast on ig or
Speaker 1: you can email us broad Ambition Podcast at gmail dot com.
Speaker 1: All right, until next time, Byeba fam