| How do I end up doing a job I love? | Focus on skills. Building skills makes work easier and more enjoyable. Skills also allow you to have a bigger impact, which makes the work feel even more rewarding. |
If you want to change the world, building skills matters.
One of the biggest misconceptions about social impact work is that you only need passion to do it. Nothing could be further from the truth. Social change results from strategic, organized, persistent effort.
The world changes because we change it, not by accident and not by magic. That means that social change depends on people doing good work well. From the way we diagnose problems to the solutions we devise, every aspect of this work requires a combination of insight, effort, resources, and skills.
Skill, by far, is the most important ingredient.
A skill is the ability to do something effectively. You gain skills from a mix of learning, training, practice, and a natural talent.
Everyone has skills. Walking, talking, swimming, texting, driving, shopping, cooking, playing video games, drawing, public speaking, strategizing, empathizing, brainstorming, and scheduling are all skills.
Some skills are learned at home, some at school, and some on the job. Over the course of our careers, we’ll all learn and use thousands of different skills.
Easier is good. When the work is efficient and elegant, it takes less time. It costs less money. It’s less likely to burn people out. You’re much more likely to actually achieve your goal.
Doing things the first time is hard. Doing things without a teacher or guide is a million times harder. Once you finally develop a skill, the exact same task becomes easier. The more skilled you are, the more you can do with the same amount of time and energy.
When you work with a group of people, you can combine skills. As a team, you accomplish far more than one person working alone.
And when your team plugs into a larger organization or movement, your impact reaches even further.
Mission is not the only thing that drives a nonprofit career. How you spend your time matters as much as a particular organization or cause.
What are your days like? Are you being challenged? Using the skills you have? Developing new skills?
Your passion may have brought you into this sector, but the skills you choose to develop will define your career. Your skills determine what types of teams you join. They determine what roles you play and how others see you.
Your skills are also a source of power. You can decide which skills to strengthen. You decide what else to learn, what becomes familiar, what to get good at.
They remind you that there is always something to learn, always a way to grow, and always hope.
In many ways, who you become and the impact you have is a reflection of the skills you nurture. They are part of you.
And wherever you go in life, your skills go with you.
You don’t need to be looking for work to browse nonprofit job boards!
Check out job descriptions for roles similar to yours or your dream job. Notice the skills they list. Do they help you recognize and value skills you developed recently? Do they give you ideas for skills you’d like to develop?
The Organizer is a newsletter for people working to create equitable and sustainable communities. Whether you are part of a nonprofit, a charity, or a social enterprise, this newsletter is for you.
Each edition, we explore one aspect of social impact work. We answer a common “How do I …?” question, and we tell you about a tool that will help make your work a little easier. Subscribe for free at Entremission.com.