In life, there are no Do-Overs. However, in an early-June 2015 meeting which the Your Outcomes Well team had, Sofia Crisp was asked if there was anything she wishes she had known when she first launched the housing, non-profit organization (Housing Consultant Group) she has successfully led since 2004. She paused, reflected on the question asked, and offered an insightful list of ‘I Wish I Knew’ things. These streams of thought were the seed and inspiration for a blog series, which begins today with this post.
In this Series, My Non-profit Journey: What I Wish I Knew When I Started, each of the eight leadership wishes shared by Crisp will be explored. Her first wish, featured in this post: Working ‘in your Gift’.
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Your Outcomes Well: Explain what you mean by working ‘in your Gift’
Crisp: “I’m at my best when I’m out of the office, networking, and making a connection – which speaks to partnering. Because you can’t do that sitting behind a desk.”
While working in one’s Gift involves those who lead non-profits tapping into their own gifts, it does not stop there. Oh, No. Leaders like her, she expressed, should seek to get those they lead, manage, and motivate to work in their distinct gifts too. In fact, to be a vibrant organization, the working of the collective gifts of her staff is a Must Do! Crisp noted, in speaking on this leadership truth:
“Everybody working in their Gift means that when you look good, I give you credit for it. But I also know that, when you look good, the organization looks good. So, it’s not tooting my own horn. It’s not Sofia’s organization, it’s Housing Consultants Group.”
On the issue of staffing a growing, Non-profit, Crisp acknowledged actions she’s had to take. The housing organization leader stated she had “to let go of people that were there when we started, but weren’t growing at the same level as the business was growing.”
Your Outcomes Well: So, in terms of working your Gift, you’re talking about yourself. But, also, you’re talking about people working for your organization who have gifts that you acknowledge and use for a certain purpose?
Crisp: “Exactly! I don’t have them do certain things, because that’s not their gift. I’m not saying they can’t do it, but I like to have people do what comes naturally. It makes for a much better workplace, and a much better organization.”
When asked to share some of the Housing Consultants Group outcomes that working in their gifts fueled, Crisp pointed to two which stand out in her mind:
- 2013 Counselor Production Award
- 2013 Highest Agency Approval Rate (96%) for the NC Foreclosure Prevention Fund
The NC Housing Finance Agency recognized the organization with both of these awards.
Learn
What did Sofia learn along the way? She openly expressed that Housing Consultants Group (HCG) could only ‘look it’s best’ when she was aware of what all those who worked for her did ‘naturally’. This also applies to her, in her role as Executive Director of HCG. Working outside one’s natural gifts was rarely a winning proposition! Speaking candidly about herself, any extra time she spent stuck behind an office desk wasn’t time well spent.
As well, as her Greensboro NC organization has grown recently, Crisp clearly learned that some people’s gifts were no longer as well suited for the evolving job they held. To put it simply, the team member had simply outgrown their position.
Grow
How can a Non-profit leader learn and grow from Sofia’s stories? The stories shared above, by an Executive Director/Visionary, offer insightful food for thought I feel.
- Develop a keen awareness of the gifts, all the natural gifts, which You and your entire Team truly possess. When people are working ‘in their Gift’, as Sofia stated, it’s clearly better for the entire organization – and those it serves.
- Understand that, if your Non-profit organization grows a lot, a person who can’t grown too may no longer be a Gifted Champion. If they can’t (with training) Grow, you may need to make a decision, as the leader, to let them go.
- Leveraging of acknowledged strengths and natural gifts. To have observed gifts within your Non-profit, but to then neglect to leverage them wisely, isn’t a strategy for success. Strive not to observe gifts which reside within your organization, waiting to be tapped, and then ‘drop the ball’!
Working ‘in your gift’
- Do you allow your staff to work in their gift regularly? (Feel free to leave a comment)
At times a Non-profit Organization’s grandest victories involve simply ‘turning on the faucet’ to address a need. At times, when untapped gifts exist within their organization, leaders make success harder than it needs to be. Time spent working OUTSIDE one’s gift, for you or anyone you manage, isn’t the path to better outcomes.
The words of Sofia S Crisp shared above are based on an informal, face-to-face conversation which I, Greg Silverthorne, had with her on July 4, 2015 – at a Starbucks in a quiet neighborhood in Greensboro NC. She is the Executive Director of Housing Consultants Group.
- In that same coffee shop patio meeting, Crisp shared some of the Challenges she has faced. Even if you always have your Non-profit Team working in their Gifts, you will still encounter challenges, right?
Those challenges will be the topic of the next post in this Series, My Non-profit Journey: What I Wish I Knew When I Started. The journey of one Non-profit Leader, Sofia Crisp, continues!
Photo credit: iStock
(to be continued)
Your Outcomes Well
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