Taking that first step into charity leadership roles can feel daunting and sometimes, unattainable. Many positions can call for experience that you won’t have had the opportunity to develop in your current role. So, where do you start?
As recruitment specialists, we talk with hundreds of charities and not-for-profit organisations every year, looking to appoint senior leaders across all functions. From these insights, we’ve put together 6 steps for candidates who are looking for career progression in the not-for-profit sector to move into more leadership positions:
1. Take the Lead on a Project or Work
One of the key components of landing your first senior leadership role is the ability to lead. This could be independently, taking charge of the devising, delivery and implementation of work, or it could be being the main stakeholder on a project of work. Not only is it vital to be able to demonstrate the ability to lead on work yourself, but having the confidence and exposure to this will ensure that future work you lead on is stronger because of this experience.
It can sometimes be difficult to know where to start with this but having a conversation with your line manager about wanting to take more of a lead in your work will allow them to support you to grow and develop this skillset. This could be external project work, or it could even be through internal workshops. By leading and taking ownership of these areas, it demonstrates good time management, organisational skills and independence. With this experience, you can bring confidence and credibility into your applications and interviews for senior roles.
2. Develop Your Management Skills
Prior experience in line management is something that is almost always required whilst stepping up into a senior position. This isn’t just ensuring people you manage are performing their roles successfully, but also to support, motivate and inspire. Ensuring those that you manage are happy and engaged is a fundamental part of being a successful leader. However, this can sometimes be hard to demonstrate if your organisation and current role doesn’t have line management responsibilities.
There are solutions to this though; you could support a newer team member, manage an intern/volunteer, or even partake in a workplace buddy system. All these experiences should be fairly easy to facilitate in your current organisation and can provide the opportunity for management and start to develop your leadership style and confidence. You will be asked during the interview about your experience of management. By working on some of the suggestions here, you can begin an answer with, “Whilst I do not have any direct line reports in my current role, I have developed my management experience through…”. This allows you to still engage with the question and demonstrate your ability to manage, lead and inspire
3. Work on Strategy Development or Business Cases
When you step into a more senior position, your responsibilities will change. You will have a deeper knowledge of your work area and sector and be able to contribute to higher-level conversations with nuance, context and confidence. As you build on this, you will also begin to see areas of work that could be improved. You might see a whole new area of work that the organisation could move towards to deliver better.
Not only is this essential in taking the next step in your career, but it’s also essential to effectively communicate this. Every change or new way of working comes with its considerations – including the risk, budget, purpose and impact. All these need to be measured and communicated either through a business plan or strategy document. This might seem daunting, but business cases could be needed for putting together a new team, an additional team member, or even requesting flexible working. Writing formal documentation to support proposals you are making is always a good skill to develop to support you land your next role as a senior leader.
4. Build Your Internal Brand
It’s needless to say employees who perform their roles well tend to be high in consideration for promotions, but this isn’t the only factor that can have a significant effect. How you are perceived internally by your colleagues and managers is vital for consideration for more senior opportunities. It also plays an important part in being trusted with any of the above areas too. Most organisations have key values that they like employees to present. Going above and beyond to not only stand by these values but also promote them across the organisation, is a good way of demonstrating leadership and a sense of community with those you work with.
Being trusted, valued and respected by your colleagues is a vital part of being seen as a leader within your organisation. Other skills can be learnt, but this is an important aspect to be aware of and work towards. Internal peer reviews can also reveal how those around you perceive you, to give you tangible objectives to work towards.
5. Understand the Role and the Organisation You’re Applying For
This advice is mainly for applying for a new position. I have seen numerous times candidates outperform other candidates who have more experience if they ‘just get it’. I know that isn’t very clear, but hopefully the following will explain!
From covering letter to the final interview, if you can communicate a deep understanding of the organisation’s work it can really help secure you an interview. This could be why it’s important, what that means to you and why you want to work in the organisation. Many people will be applying for the role and whilst they might do a good job of talking about why they would be a good fit for the organisation, many don’t focus much on these areas. It can really impress hiring managers and help tip you into the interview pile. This could be talking about specific programmes of their work, or talking about why the organisations’ work is so pressing, through to using similar language the organisation uses in your application. By engaging in this way, you are already communicating in the style and manner of someone who works there. They’ll read your application and feel, ‘wow, this candidate just gets it‘.
At interviews, we are seeing more and more questions not specifically framed as “tell me a time you have delivered…” but are moving towards more scenario-based approaches. In these types of questions, organisations will ask you how you would approach something. With this style of questioning, you don’t need to have previously done this to be able to answer this question well. You could be asked a question about the management of a team and how you would approach this. If you have researched the organisation and know one of its values is collaboration or support, you can bring this language into your answer. This will leave the interviewers feeling like you’re already aligned with the organisation. Whilst you might be lacking a little experience, this will soon be rectified in the role.
6. Refine Your Interview Approach
You’ve made it to the interview! The organisation think you can do the role on paper and now you have the opportunity to bring your experience to life. This ensures they bring you through to the next round to make you an offer.
At the interview, it’s important to keep your calm and stand out amongst the crowd. That can be easier said than done. Coming to the interview calm, prepared and focused will give you a strong chance of success. In leadership roles, they will be looking for candidates to be confident, credible and concise. Be sure to review our Ultimate Interview Guide for further tips on turning your interview into a job offer.
Final Thoughts
The charity sector is always growing, changing and adapting to new challenges. We have seen this recently with COVID and the Cost-of-Living Crisis. Talent pipelines are essential and the sector needs driven, ambitious leaders to tackle these challenges in new and exciting ways. If you’re looking to move into your first CEO role, this blog also gives some useful guidance. Leadership in the charity sector is about more than titles – it’s about impact, empathy, and vision. By following the above steps, you’ll be well on your way to making a meaningful difference in a leadership role.
View our current opportunities for senior management roles on our job board and explore more helpful resources here.
