Episode 203: What I Would Tell My Younger Self About Professional Success - And How to Get There
Welcome to another edition of Around with Randall, your weekly podcast for making your nonprofit more effective for your community, and here is your host, the CEO and founder of Hallett Philanthropy, Randall Hallett. I can't be more appreciative for you taking a few minutes of your time to join me, Randall, on this edition of Around with Randall.
I've had a few very similar conversations with a number of younger nonprofit professionals who have asked me what I would recommend for their career. First off, I have to be honest; two things come to immediately to mind when that happens. Number one is I was always amongst the youngest people in every room in the nonprofit career I've had. Chief Philanthropy Officer, coming out of law school at 26, 27, you know, at an academic medical center as Chief Philanthropy Officer at, you know, I don't know, 34, 35, I was always so young. And why not? I'm closer to the end of my career than I am in the beginning of it by far. So I'm always marveling at I'm getting old. But number two, and maybe more importantly, I'm always surprised and humbled that people think I have something to offer. But it's come up a number of times here recently as people are looking at their career, what's possible, and what they want to do. Thus, I've given out some thoughts, and in doing so, both in writing and verbally, I thought maybe I'd capture some of that here.
So our 20 minutes or so today, my 21st-century classroom, teaching this week is what advice would I give as if any of it's any good? To younger people developing a career, what are the things, if I look back, were of value that might be helpful to someone as they go along? And there are 11 pieces of the puzzle, so to speak, that I'm going to highlight. I'm going to keep it fairly broad. I'm not going to sit here and say go to law school or, you know, go take your first job; whatever it is that I talk about, I said at high level, so it will apply to lots of different people. But I'm also going to draw some specific examples.
So the first piece of advice, particularly if you're a younger, up-and-coming nonprofit professional, is what my dad always taught me: Keep your head down and keep your ears open. There's a lot of moving pieces in nonprofits. Some of them are directly related to what we do; some are not related at all. But we don't have to be in the center of the action every moment that we are a professional. And that's really what dad was teaching me and my sisters, keeping your head down and keeping your ears open. It's surprising how much you can learn with the second piece, keeping your ears open.
So this is about understanding an office in politics and who's got a bigger voice versus who's got more power. Who's a good leader versus who's not a good leader? Much of the time, we learn those things not by doing or talking but by listening and watching. And to do that, sometimes we've got to keep our head down to our job. We'll talk about some of the elements of a job here in a moment. But by keeping your head down and your ears open, you learn a lot. It gives you a chance to assess what's going on without being in the middle of the activity. And even when there is a great deal of upheaval, we still have a responsibility to do our job, whatever that is. So during the pandemic, massive upheaval in our world, in particular in nonprofits, we had to pivot. Keep your head down, keep your ears open. What are we trying to accomplish? How do we do it?
So number one may seem maybe too grand in terms of high level, but I have found it to be incredibly powerful that it's not my nature. That when I've kept, particularly when I was young, kept my head down and kept my ears open, I was able to make better decisions because I knew more about what was going on. Number two is to be the first one in and the last one to leave. You may think, well, that's pretty simple. But unfortunately, I have too many conversations with too many leaders as we've moved to an environment where we have remote working. I'm not here to say we shouldn't have remote working. Frankly, I think there's a lot of advantages. Now I've talked about this many times in my own life. It doesn't work for me to have an office at home. I actually used yesterday as an example. I stayed at home because we were doing some things around the house, and my wife and I turned out it was an incredibly unproductive day because I found myself driven away from what I should be focused on because I just don't work while at home. That's a personal thing. I'm not advocating getting rid of remote working.
But what I am advocating is when you work, be the first one in or there, whatever "in" quotes that looks like, and the last one to leave. What I'm finding is that there is sometimes a challenge with getting everything done. I don't want to call it work ethic because I don't think that's fair. But there's a lot of assumptions that, well, you know, I work from nine to five, and I know we work as long as we have to to get our job done as long as it's reasonable. Sometimes that means getting there early. Sometimes that means staying late. And the people who elevate the quickest, the people that move into leadership, the ones that are followed in terms of being leaders are usually amongst the first there and the last to leave.
All of this is to say if we take remote environments, work that I was talking about and also work-life balance, I'm not interested in you sacrificing that. I coach my kids' teams because I love it. My wife and I have our shows we watch every night. We eat as a family whenever I'm in town, which is most of the time. We set priorities for our family because I, I know my wife does as well, want those things to be important. But I also work really hard and always have, and I get that directly from my mom and dad and my grandparents watching them. There's more value out of showing that work ethic, particularly younger in your career sooner than you realize as it elevates you when people start depending on you because they know you're going to be the first one in and the last leaving to get your stuff done.
Number three is strategically take chances, take on a challenge, take a chance. And strategically is the big word because sometimes it's worth it, and a lot of times it's not. And these challenges or taking chances are both big and small. That might mean going the extra mile. So what is it you're doing with a donor? What is it you're doing with a colleague? In my case, what am I doing with my clients? I open myself up to a lot of opportunities to utilize whatever skills or knowledge or activity that I might have in me.
On weekends, later at night, I have clients in Europe; I have clients in Australia. I don't sit there and say, "Hey, I only work from nine to five." I go that extra mile. So they're like, "Look, we're doing something, but it's an odd time. What do we got to do to get it done?" That extra mile you go also builds immense trust with people that later on in life or your career might come back where they remember you did something that circles back around to say, "I remember that 10 years later." You might be surprised because it happened. I'm willing to invest in you, or I want you as a part of what I'm trying to accomplish.
The other part of this is being flexible. So when you take chances, the more flexible you are, the more opportunities you have. You can be more flexible. So that means, hey, am I willing to assume some additional responsibility but may not quite get paid quite as much, particularly early on in my career? One of the things I'm willing to do to elevate my standing, my learning, my experience.
And I want to pivot for one moment into something that I have found to be incredibly valuable. Again, I got this from kind of the thought process of my parents, but really someone that I listen to almost daily has lived in this mantra publicly for decades. So the person is Clark Howard, who used to do a lot of radio television, now primarily a podcast on financial well-being, personal and professional—mostly personal—but he's always talked about living on less than you make. What I want to tell you if you're young is the more money you save for retirement or savings early on in your career, the more flexibility and options you'll have later on. Too many times, I've had conversations with people in their fifties who are trying to figure out what's next, and there's an option, and they're like, "I can't even, I would love to have that option, but I can't consider it because of the financial situation I'm in currently." Well, they made decisions years ago about overpaying for a too big of a house that put them in a bind or they buy new cars every year or two or they didn't save for retirement early on.
I could go into a long conversation around the time value of money. I'm not going to, but what I know is is that in some might say I'm cheap and probably some truth to it. However, I look back on what my wife and I made conscious decisions about when we married almost 25 years together in terms of dating and engagement plus marriage almost 28. We made conscious decisions in conversation about how do we save money on only living on two-thirds of what we were making, and what that's done is created immense flexibility for us now. We have options. I didn't understand that at the time; it was more just things that we had heard from our parents. Now I'm like, I talk to people about it like you need to get out ahead of this. So strategically take chances professionally, and inside that, create flexibility so you have the options to take those chances. Your personal finances do affect your personal or your professional decisions later on in life.
Number four, find the smartest people in any room and hang out with them and learn. What this is all about is two things: number one is mentors, and the second is bosses, supervisors. When it comes to mentoring, I've done other podcasts. If you go back and look at number 20 or number 50, you'll find specific things about mentoring. You should probably think about if you're looking for the right mentor, but overall what I know is that mentoring and learning from someone who maybe has the right work ethic, the right direction, has learned a lot, and is willing to share is incredibly powerful. When you're young in your career, you think you know what you know. Now that I'm 15 years from retirement, God willing, and with almost 30 years in the rearview mirror, I look back and I'm like, man, I didn't have any clue what I was talking about. I thought I did, but I had no idea. However, I had mentors that could help shape some of that.
Some of those mentors were professional, which we'll talk about in a moment of your bosses. A lot of them were informal. I never worked for these people. But I think about one in particular, and I don't think early on in at least my career, as we got to know each other, he knew how much he meant to me, how much I watched him, and how much the conversations that we had, I took in. Now retired, living with his wife and a couple of boys who are very successful in life, I still talk to him every six months, every five months, like, "Hey, what's going on?" So those informal mentors are important. But the ones that matter the most are your formal ones, which are more likely than not your boss or supervisor.
This is where we talk about managing up in part, so that's episode four in another in this series of podcasts about how to do that specifically. What I want to talk about here is maybe more generally that the people you choose to work for will make an enormous difference in your career. They will elevate you or they will stagnate you. So when you make decisions on where you go work, make them as much about the people you're going to work for and work with as about the organization you want to represent. I look back at Tom Pesci and Glenn Fosdick; I cannot express to you how much of a difference they made to me. At the time, I didn't understand it, but I knew I was looking for quality people.
By the way, I've only really worked for three or four people: two at Rockers, one at the Academy, and then my consulting I kind of look a little bit differently. But those four people, all of them were outstanding fine people, but two in particular stood out. Those decisions played great dividends later on in my life and in my career.
Number four: find the smartest people, hang out with them formally with the boss, and informally with maybe informal mentors or connections.
Number five: worry about skill development, not about career development. I've talked about this in two ways. If you go back into episode 84 and 144, you'll find very specific things. Episode 144 is about gift officers in particular, having resilience, communication skills, and representing the organization. They understand what the job is and what the skill is. Episode 84 is more general about what you want to do and how you decide what you want to do. All of this is to say that I think we're moving into more and more conversations in our profession where we're going to worry a little bit less about what your resume says over the next 20 years.
And you know, hey, that's a 20-year veteran and more about what you can prove you can do, which is all about skill development. So if you're a gift officer, we're talking about can you pick up the phone, take rejection, and make that next phone call? If you are in the database, you have a deep understanding of how databases work—not just what stuff is in it, but how they work and why data comes out and how it goes. If you're in marketing, what are the social media aspects that we should be concentrating on? Because that's the future of communication. If you're in kind of the thought process of research, where's AI, artificial intelligence? You have to figure out how you can build your skills and be honest enough with yourself that, well, I don't do that very well. I'm going to go learn what you're going to talk about next. In fact, we'll just go now.
So number five was about worrying about skill development. Number six is seeking growth, which is all about professional and personal development in some way, shape, or form. This comes in myriad ways. Formally, it could be as formal as going to get a degree, which I'm all for. I have enough of them and probably someday will go back and get another one just because I enjoy the process. But that's not for everybody. Sometimes our professional development is things like listening to this podcast, if you think it's helpful, or finding other things to read that challenge you in what you know and what you don't know, leaning into an area of knowledge that you don't necessarily like.
I love finances; I love money. It's more of a scorecard for me than an objective, but how you make money work to your advantage from a nonprofit or corporate perspective. There are a lot of people who, I'm married to one, who's the best person I've ever met, who has no interest in finance. One of the areas where you're the weakest that you can go figure it out for me is pop culture. Man, I struggle. Personally, I don't care. Do I know who to listen to? Sure. I probably heard a lot of the songs, but I just don't know it because I don't care. That's not a really good answer, to be honest with you. I sound stupid; I sound obtuse, unconnected. I'm probably some truth in that. That's not the look you want.
One of the areas where you have weakness, you can say, "I'm going to go learn a little bit." That doesn't have to be formal. In episode 153, I go through nine or ten of my favorite books and why I think they're so important, particularly as they pertain to the nonprofit world—from leadership, Team of Rivals by Doris Kearns Goodwin, to the amazing work that Nelson Mandela did, not only as a leader but as a human being in his autobiography. I cover a lot of different books that I have found to be helpful, and really, none of them are technically master's level. Hey, I got credit for this! They are all things that I found value in. So always be stretching yourself to be learning. Don't ever be satisfied. Find ways to always garner more of who you are and what's going on in the world.
Number seven is that no matter where you are in your career, no matter what you do, and I would advocate that this is also true in your personal life, integrity and honor matter. Most of you, if you've listened to me, know that I grew up in Omaha, Nebraska. I'm a fourth-generation Nebraskan, and my kids are fifth. We've been here for a while. I like to tell people when they say, "What do we need in Omaha?" I'm like, "Well, the number one thing is we have the number one zoo in the world," which people sometimes don't believe, but it's true. You can look it up. Yes, we've beaten this, and we are proud of that.
That we're really more of an agricultural state than we are an industrial state, although most of the people live in Omaha, Nebraska. The most important thing is that your handshake, when you say you're going to do something, is more important than writing it down on a piece of paper in a contract. I learned that in many ways and in minor ways, sometimes the hard way. Integrity and honor bring you credibility that you will do what's right, even if it's not in your own best interests, because you're doing it for somebody else's best interests or the best interests of a greater cause.
Because I coach my kids' teams, what I've learned is that when I am just honest and say, look, here's what we're going to try to do. I have a very, very strong belief system in that where my kids are at in their sports. We're not there to win gold medals, man. Frankly, no number going to win too. They have more important things to do in life. Their skill sets are in other places, but I'm also honest. I'm competitive. So when we get to the end of the game, I'm going to look at how do we put ourselves in the best position to win when we can, but also allow during the game or during practice for everyone to have fun and grow.
Well, that builds credibility in the professional world in your office. If someone's not doing very well, it's better to have that conversation than just sit there and say, well, you're doing all right, but yet it's not going well or lean into how do I help you get better or asking, what are my deficiencies? How do I improve? So you're seeking those that are honest, seeking those that have integrity and you're demonstrating it. If you say you're going to do something, do it. Do it as I like. I always like to say, I try to under promise and over deliver because honor and integrity matter.
Number eight, pick your battles. There are sometimes things that are really worthwhile to fight for. And there are other times they're really only important to you. The really wise people I've always looked up to know the difference between the two. That doesn't mean that you don't feel the frustration, the problems, whatever, with the things that maybe aren't the bigger picture that they just are important to you. One of the great things that I can't tell you how much I appreciate in my life, in love of my life is that I can elevate my blood pressure on a lot of different things. But she is so good at asking a really simple question in a lot of different ways. Is this really worth it? You're going to break the China and I can be intimidating and I can be, you know, I'm not a shrinking violet, but she has a way of asking, hey, is this the moment you want to rise up? Because what are the unintended consequences? That's the genius of knowing when to pick your battles.
And some things are worth fighting for, but there are other things that may be taking a step or two back, repositioning in a little bit, looking at a little bit differently. Maybe not coming as bold and as direct as you should be, not compromising your integrity or values, but maybe that's a better mechanism for this particular issue. It's critically important you realize what's important to fight for and what's not. And when you do, you'll pick the right battles that are worth fighting and that will elevate you, your organization, your cause, the things you believe in.
Number nine, always be networking. But for the right reasons, this is not about, I'm in it for me. Networking is a two-way street. I don't think we talk about this enough. Networking should always be about, I want to get myself better acquainted with others, but I want to listen. Remember, you have two ears and one mouth. Use them proportionally. I want to listen to what other people are doing. I have a genuine interest in what they're doing because that's how I'm going to build relationships.
And here's the tricky thing. You think, well, I don't know that person. I don't have to deal with that person now. Those people, we're not that big of an industry, circle back. People that I deal with today, I may have run into 15 or 20 years ago and I've had almost no communication with them since, but they're like, you helped me on that. You listened to me on that. You gave me some assistance. This goes back to what I talked about being strategically taking chances and going that extra mile. Sometimes something doesn't have value today, but it'll have value tomorrow. That's all about networking. What do you do to help others? Because eventually, they may come back and help you.
You don't know a lot of people. If you're not out talking with people, if you're not building relationships, then that may come back a little bit later in life to limit your options. Network not for your benefit, but mutual benefit that everyone can grow when you network in the right way.
Number 10 is incredibly tactical. Number 11 is pretty simple. The tactical number 10 is, please put your phone down. People that will be successful, certainly going to understand technology. I don't have any issue with that. People in the future who are going to be successful can communicate and build relationships, can build trust as we've talked about through integrity, are mentoring with other people. All of these things that I've been really talking about aren't found in a phone.
There's nothing more maddening to me than to be walking, it sounds trivial, to be walking down the hallway right outside my office towards the bathroom, which pretty much is in the place I go a couple of times a day. There's a lot of younger people in and out of this building. They all got their darn heads buried in a darn phone. I'm not. I'm looking, hey, how are you today? Good morning. Good afternoon. Adam, in about this with my kids, look up situational awareness. What's going on around you? If you want to develop a career, get your nose out of your phone. I'm not saying throw it away. I'm not saying don't get your email. I do that. But when you're walking down the street or having a conversation, there's a reason that we have dinner every night with our children without phones and iPads and televisions because we want to talk. What's going on? What did you do today? Number one, I'm generally interested. Number two, I want to tell how I learn things. Number three, that's how we're going to build a relationship.
If you can put your phone down when you walk and interact more personally, you will find skill sets that you develop that will pay off later in life from speaking in public to actually looking people in the eye and having active listening skills. You can't do that if your head and your face and your nose is always in that darn phone. Put it down.
The last one, and I'm going a little long today and I apologize, but just be yourself. The people that I respect the most, Maslow's hierarchy of needs. There's a podcast on that too. They know who they are. It doesn't mean they can't prove. In fact, that's what Maslow's idea of self-actualization really is. They can look in the mirror and say, "Okay, but I know how to grow. Be yourself." Whatever that is, embrace it. Have one life we live here. The more you embrace who you are, the faster you elevate what you are.
Eleven things for you to think about in your career development that are maybe more philosophical, but there's also a lot of tactical. And I'm hoping that maybe one person might say, "Hey, I picked this up and I can do that to make my life better professionally and personally." And there's just one person if I really want to be a teacher. So I think I am. Try to be. If one person has that, then this was worth it. I hope it was worth a few minutes of your time today too.
Don't forget to check out the blogs at Hallettphilanthropy.com Two per week. Come out Tuesday, Thursday, just things I see. Read, give you something to think about. 90 seconds at Halifelianthropy.com to give you something about twice a week. And if you're interested, you can reach out to me at podcast@halifelianthropy.com. Our nonprofit world is built on great people who are doing incredible things. And we have these crazy individuals that we work with most of the time who we call donors. We're trying to do the same. And we all are operating under the same galactic phrase I use every time I do this podcast or I speak publicly. Some people make things happen. Some people watch things happen, then there are those who wonder what happened. Nonprofit work is all about. And your career development is all about being someone who makes something happen, partnering with our donors and our community to all who are also trying to make things happen for the people and the things in our community that are wondering what happened.
I really would struggle to think about what else I would do in my career because I believe in this so much that we fall into these categories and it's our job to ensure that we are growing, that we are pushing, that we are making a bigger difference with the gifts that we are so blessed to have. And I hope you feel that way every day that you do something great. We are a nonprofit for your community and for someone else being someone who makes things happen. I'll look forward to seeing you the next time right back here on the next edition of Around with Random. And don't forget, make your great day.