COMMENTARY: Are we Elevating our Profession? Or Just Ourselves?
The nonprofit profession is supposed to have a higher calling. It’s why many of us chose this profession for our career, and why others move into this profession later in life when they realize they want to do something good for society and the world.
Yet, I find a growing sense of unease within myself as I see what some individuals in our profession are focused on as the definition of success: the only way I can summarize it is self-aggrandizement.
What is self-aggrandizement? I describe it as the placing of oneself before all else in pursuit of perceived power, influence, material rewards, status, and position. I’m not far off the Merriam-Webster Dictionary definition: acting or intend[ing] to enhance one's power, wealth, position, or reputation.
While this never surprises me in big business (think corporations) or in Hollywood (the egos have a staff), I am increasingly worried about this attitude in the nonprofit world. I must admit I was caught up in this way of thinking for far too long and it was to my detriment. I fell into this wrong thinking of elevating myself through promotions, high-level jobs, peer recognition, and money.
I very nearly lost myself when this definition of success didn’t work for me, because I thought I was a failure. But I wasn’t a failure, because in the end, what I learned is that I must be who I am and not worry about what others are deciding is important. My definition of success is the only one I should worry about or try to fulfill.
Those chasing the recognition and material rewards could and likely will make the same argument about the definition of success.
But in my opinion, the definition of success in our profession has taken a wrong turn and created too much focus on individual position and glory -- the elements of self-promotion – rather than the higher calling and what I like to think of as the true spirit of the nonprofit profession.
Through my work helping nonprofit professionals prepare for and maintain the CAE designation, I have come to realize that we are unique and important because we do not exist for the same reasons that big business and Hollywood exist. I am a CAE Evangelist spreading the word about our responsibility to each other in our profession and to the world by setting an example for each other. But I am just one voice.
We must all ask ourselves: Are we here to serve? Or are we self-serving?
