content development (&) management

I often get the question, especially from the “traditional” students at the local community college, “So you’re a consultant… but what do you DO, exactly?” It’s a fun question to answer, but can often be hard to convey the true nature of my day or week. In addition, I’ve been taught that every interaction is an opportunity for marketing, so I now find myself emphasizing different things to different people.The full picture makes some folks wonder about my sanity…

As it happens, I wrote the following in response to an email from a recently reconnected mentor, and I thought I’d share an excerpt for the family and friends and classmates that wonder what one consultant does, exactly.

Liz asked: “How amazing is it when you love what you do?!”

And I responded:

“Swear to God, I didn’t know what it was like to love what you do SO much! It’s great. I got out of I.T. finally, and started writing product (sales) proposals a few years ago. And I love it… now I’m performing nonprofit grant writing, and OMG that feeds me. I am living a career dream I’ve had for over 10 years. Not that there aren’t other dreams I’m NOT living – like, rock star, for example, or winged bird (there’s this recurring one where I’m, like, a carrier pigeon flying over the stands by my HS football field… I digress) – but I never thought I’d actually live ANY of them so this is freakin’ super.

And the best part is… it changed just a few days into the week. A family member needed help with a job application. The obesity education project is on hold for the moment. The knowledge management call was cancelled (they decided they didn’t have any questions), then I got asked to do an opportunity assessment for one part-time client, then asked to join a project team responding to an RFI for another! And I wrote three blogs (and started three more), and this morning was asked to write a review of a new CD by a local bluegrass band. I got the “okay” from my artist friend to commit some of her work to a new cause… and it’ll go on like that the rest of the week. A request to edit an application for an award for an outstanding performer at one of my nonprofit clients… a timely phone conversation with a new, super-cool colleague about stress, the consulting industry, and our moral compasses… impromptu lunch with a web guru…

This isn’t the norm… well, okay, it IS the norm, but SOMETIMES it slows down. The dogs demand some attention, and it’s good to go play with them and just hang loose once in a while. My wife made a mean Thai Basil Chicken for dinner, and tomorrow I’m making a pork roast (in my new crock pot – the salvation of the hard working consultant!), but dinner and dog-time might be the only opportunities Dana and I have to see each other until the weekend.

I’ll try to remember to log this stuff every once in a while. It’s a good reminder – like the character George does, in the movie Phenomenon – to find my pace, and not get overloaded… but it’s also good to really think about what I do in a week, and respect the accomplishments. Check off the lists, mark the milestones.

And Liz would probably say, “Most importantly… love what you do.”

Exactly.

Be free,

Jeff

The Chronicle of Philanthropy had a live Q&A session today titled “Starting and Building a Career in the Nonprofit World”, hosted by career consultant and author Shelly Cryer. The following is an abridged version of the conversation (the full transcript of which is now posted on the CoP site) that I found particularly interesting.

Ms. Cryer’s responses really work for job seekers in every area, not just nonprofits!