This week on Field Notes, we're talking about career paths. We've broken this conversation down into four questions. We'll dive into a different question each day this week. Today, it is all about where you want to be. What is the next thing for you and your career? What do you need in order to get there? How do you know this is right? We've gone into the archives for this one. In this Field Notes post, originally shared in November 2013, NAS Director, Sunny Widmann, shares the importance of considering your goals and where you want to be. … [Read more...]
Making the Argument for Leadership Development
Linda Wood, Senior Director of the Haas Leadership Initiative at the Evelyn and Walter Haas, Jr. Fund, recently wrote an interesting post on The CEP Blog of the Center for Effective Philanthropy, "The Leadership Development Disconnect." Working both in the field of leadership development and on program evaluation, I was encouraged to see these important issues highlighted. Much of my experience is consistent with the author’s. In the post, Wood states: "…not enough funders are investing in strengthening the leadership of their grantees. And … [Read more...]
Getting Unstuck: Developing Skills to Climb the Leadership Ladder
Many great thinkers in our field have discussed the complexity of talent development and succession planning in the cultural sector. Marc Vogl, who works with arts and culture organizations in his role as Principal of Vogl Consulting, aptly describes the problem as a clogged and leaky pipeline. Basically, there are a small number of leadership positions at the top, often held for many years by the same people (that’s the clogged part) and therefore more junior employees are stuck at their current level, growing increasingly tired of waiting … [Read more...]
Career Navigation for Working Learners
This position paper sketches out a system to support career development in our contemporary economy, where careers no longer consist of "climbing the corporate ladder" in a company. The focus is on supporting low wage workers and on government solutions, but in many ways the challenges are the same for working professionals. How clear and intentional are each of us about our goals, our current skills, how we will fill the gaps, and our strategies for reaching our goals? Career Navigation for Working Learners . … [Read more...]