Positioning for That Promotion

us because we are your financial besties. I am a career coach, but I'm not your career coach, which is really important and ultimately, you gotta do what you gotta do with the information that you have. We're not your lawyer, we're not your financial planner, all of that good stuff. So this is just for funzies, just what basically your financial bestie slash big sister, big sist would say to you. And today we are jumping in with a really juicy

career question from listener Bri. Thank you, Bri. If y'all have forgotten, you can submit your question and have it be read on the show potentially if you dm us at Brand Ambition Podcast on Instagram and if you are off of the gram. You can always email us Brand Ambition Podcast at gmail dot com and let's dive on in because this question is really really good, all right, Brie says, Hey, Mandy and Tiffany, I'm looking for some

career advice. I am a program manager at a mid size nonprofit and I've been with this organization for almost four years. In the last year, I've seen a lot of staffing changes happen at the organization. Various people have been let go, while others have chosen to leave on their own. I've been trying to keep my head down and not get too shaken up by this, because the job itself has pretty good benefits. However, two weeks ago, I was informed that my supervisor was let go for

legal reasons. I'm trying to figure out what this means, what this means for me. There has been no decision yet about whether they will fill my old manager's position. Currently, I'm reporting to his old supervisor and managing some of his responsibilities. My question is how patient should I be with waiting to hear the direction of our department and

my decision. Should I suggest a promotion for myself or wait to see what they decide if I should assert myself, how should I go about it, and if I should wait for how long? Thank you both. Oh, I really

love this question, and it's multifaceted, multi layered. And the first thing I'm going to say is, you may think that the word nonprofit is not you personally breathe, but just the listeners like y'all may think that nonprofit world and the nonprofit space in general is I don't know, some sort like on a different level than the for profit corporate space. But I have said it once, and I'll say it, and I've probably said it more than once.

I say it all the time. Nonprofits can be just as janky, just as dysfunctional, just as greedy and toxic as name the most toxic company you can think of, Like why is Tesla coming to mind? I don't know, maybe because I read things. So think about a nonprofit like you would any other job. I don't care what, I don't care how sanctimonious your causes or what your mission statement is, and all the incredible work you do

for the world. Some of the best businesses do incredible things for their customers, for the people who purchase their products. That's the same thing as customers, you know what I mean, but for the world. But they can still be really effing toxic inside. Who doesn't love Amazon, But y'all have heard the worst things about working there. Okay, the same

things can be true for nonprofits. And I just want to like preface my answer by saying that don't let them get away with tox shit, and don't fool yourself into thinking that you will be treated anymore you know, I don't know, generously or uh yeah, just treated any differently than you might in the corporate world, because at the end of the day, they also have money to make, funds to raise, and the level of toxicity really is like a people thing, right, So if they hire the

person who is more toxic, or a leader who is more toxic, then it can be quite toxic. They could also have reorganizations. They can also have cuts to budgets, like the same stuff that happens in the for profit world. So first, Brie, I want to commend you because you are not keeping your head down, You are keeping in the loop about what You're not trying to ignore what's going on, like you are seeing the signs of dysfunction and seeing the signs of the boat is rocking, and

then where do I fit. The first thing I'll say is this doesn't necessarily have to mean that your job is on the line, although you that ultimately could be

the case. But in this case, you might find an opportunity for yourself, like you say, to move into a different role, or at least present yourself or position yourself as someone who can be relied upon, can be counted on during these times of a little bit of chaos, all these different fluctuations when companies nonprofit or for profit, when they are going through reorganizations, there is that level of what on earth is going on, and it seems

like the leaders kind of sometimes know what's going on, but it doesn't really trickle down, and that causes a lot of misinformation. It can cause a lot of stress

and anxiety just from the lack of understanding. And I will tell you, as a former corporate leader myself, what can be really frustrating is when you have direct reports or team members who are very, very antsy and don't really do well in times of uncertainty, and they start like losing their shit and they start getting really stressed, and their work products starts to get affected if you can prove and show by your actions that you are someone who is steadfast, who can get the shit done

and still show up and be reliable the holes and the gaps that are being created as they shift things around and as people leave for whatever reason, whether it's like just personnel cuts or like in the situation with your manager, sounds like they were fired for cause when that happens, if they can turn to you and they can say, Okay, Brie, we don't know what's going on with this particular project, but we know that you're a really good program manager, so we're going to put you

on it, and then you just take the ball and you run with it. Like that can actually open you up to additional opportunities for promotion raises down the line because they rely on you all of a sudden, someone who like, maybe you were a really important team member, but you become even more important during times of uncertainty like this because they start to rely on you for the knowledge that you have from working there for as

long as you have. Maybe you were the only person who knew what the f your supervisor meant by the emails they were sending in the plans that they had and you know basically where all the bodies are buried. Like that, institutional knowledge makes you important, makes you special. Okay, so as far as your decision and as far as their decision or whether or not they will fill your

old manager's position. I myself was in this exact same situation about a decade ago, when I was a writer for a big publication and my editor was fired and I was maybe there for a little over a year, and I didn't waste any time. And I don't think you should either going up to leadership whoever's there and telling them, Hey, you know, I'm really sorry about what's happened with so and so. I just want to let you know that I feel more than capable of taking

on additional responsibilities, taking on this position. So please consider me if you were looking to feel that manager's position. I believe the word that one would use to describe this kind of tactic is opportunistic. But like so what I don't know. I feel like opportunistic is the same as ambitious, where when you put it in the same sentence as a woman at work, it has this like connotation of negativity. But girl, be opportunistic. That's what a

career is you got to take your chances. And you know you don't have to feel or I hope you don't feel, you know, some type of way about Oh, this is my old manager's job. Am I being disloyal? Like? It is what it is. You're still there, you have a long career ahead of you, So I think it makes perfect sense for you to just go and tell them, like, hey, i'm here. You know, feel free to ask me questions, feel free to rely on me, like, let them know they can count on you in there. Yeah, and your

manager's absence. Okay, Your next question is should I suggest a promotion for myself or wait to see what they decide? Like I just said you should go in there. You don't have to suggest a promotion, but you should just say, hey, I'm here, here's what I understand, here's what I can do. I know that this person is left. I want to throw my hat in the ring if you're looking for

someone to take that place, and let them decide. Now, if you're they may have certain levels, even at a nonprofit, there's like levels, you know, and job levels and job titles and like if it's too far of a jump for them for you, to go from program manager to like, I don't know, director of programs or whatever your manager's title was. Maybe there's another title they can give you and give you a bump up and give you more responsibility.

So I think you should even if they even if they say, hey, we're working on a plan, we'll get back to you, you should schedule some time chat to them candidly and say, hey, I'm ready for more responsibilities. I don't know what it's going to look like in the future here, but hey, I'm not going anywhere. I'm down. Okay, maybe don't say you're not going anywhere, because you know you might, but at least let them know that you're around, you're available, like reach out. All right. Now, you also

ask if I should wait for how long? I don't think you should wait, So that's an easy answer, don't wait. All right. I'm going to take a quick break and be right back and we're going to talk about, Brie, what else you can do to become professionally resilient in how to not let this situation hinder the rest of your career. All right, be right back, and I am back to answer Bree's question. Brie has a very juicy question about what's going on at her nonprofit right now.

Manager has been quit, there's been staffing changes. Things are in flux. It's all Shenanigan's all right, Brice. So we already said that you should assert yourself. You should go for the open opportunities if you want them and if

you feel like you're a good fit for that. However, I think you would be wise to make sure that your LinkedIn is updated, that you are contacting your network and staying in touch with your network so that they know what's going on and you can kind of keep them on watch, like, hey, guys, it's a little funk you over here. I might be reaching out in the future, but if you know of anything that's open, here's the

kind of role I'm looking for. Feel free to, you know, reach out to me, make connections with your network, just to start warming them up on the off chance that you also are affected by the staffing changes, because you know, we all know shit can happen on top of that. I would say, while you're making those connections, what I want to caution you against is talking being like overly

candid about what's going on at at your nonprofit. This kind of goes in the same category as like what to do when you're interviewing for a job and you're leaving a really shitty experience where you're currently at. You don't want to spend a lot of time in an interview or in a conversation with someone from your network who can potentially lead you to another opportunity, like bashing your ex. Okay, it may feel good, but save that conversation for happy hour with your BFFs. Don't take it

to a professional conversation. Why because maybe they'll understand where you're coming from, but it's going to leave them with like an impression of you of being someone who's negative, being someone who's going to gossip and talk smack behind their backs if you decide that they are toxic and that you want to share what's been going on. So I would just keep a professional You can say, Hey, you know, I've been at this nonprofit for a few years now as a program manager. There's just a lot

going on right now. There's staffing changes, my supervisor has been let go, and it's just made me sort of reevaluate where I'm going in my career, and so I'm you know, reaching out to you to have a discussion about potential opportunities at your firm, and you can like insert the name of the firm there and just leave

it at that. And if they want you to like spill the tea, then you got to make a call, like is it worth sort of like loosening your professionalism just to kind of give someone else a little kiky and give some Everyone loves a little gossip, right, but it could actually do more harm than good if you kind of take that path and follow the like, oh, let me tell you every little detail of what's happening here, Like keep it professional and just keep focused on the

value that you can bring and the work that you have done. Yeah, so that's what I'll say, Brie. Thank you so much for your question. Good luck. We love updates, y'all. So if you have a if we answer a question and you have an update, feel free to hit us up again. We are broad Ambition Podcast on ig or you can email us broad Ambition Podcast at gmail dot com. All right, until next time, Byeba fam