First Day: Goals, Not Tasks

Swamped. Deluged. Inundated.

It wasn’t even lunchtime on my first day and I was already overwhelmed by the information coming at me. Re-learning how a PC works (I’m a Mac person), finding all the marketing archives, remembering a dozen names, and locating the coffee machine.

In this turbulent environment, it was very tempting to grab on to something concrete, to get my hands on some project that I could dive right into, to hang onto something that would keep me afloat for these first few days.

One of the directors showed me around the office, describing a handful of such opportunities: revising a poster template for clients, cataloguing media mentions, designing a Web-based map of their work, revising a graph of their impact on communities.

However, I had to remind myself that doing these tasks is not the real reason that I am here. As the communications director, I am here to formulate a strategy, articulate a vision, and set priorities. As interesting as it would be to dive right in to revising the web site, I need to focus on the “Why?” question first. My job is to strategize first, execute second.

Therefore, in these first few days and weeks (and beyond), I have to remember that the way to keep my head above water is to focus on where I’m going with this communications program, not grabbing on to the nearest life raft. My mantra: Goals, not tasks.

Will I Be Ready on Day One?

For months I have been preparing for this Monday – the day I walk into my new position as Director of Communications for a social change organization. The question going through my mind this weekend is:

What am I walking into?

I know I am ready for this opportunity. I have years of experience running an education outreach program. I spent years studying political advocacy for social change. Over the past year, I have immersed myself in the trends and tools of social media, nonprofit advocacy, and online communications.

Yet I am still nervous. Why?

Because on Monday I will no longer be thinking about what I want to do in this position – I will actually be doing it. And that requires taking the first step, making the first decision, choosing the first direction.

While interviewing for this position, I laid out an ambitious communications vision. I want to tell the essential story of the organization using the best available tools of the trade – relevant enewsletters, active social networking, a compelling web presence, engaging collateral. I want to weave text, images, video, and audio together to capture the attention that this organization deserves. I want to put a human face on the people who create high quality affordable housing and the people whose lives are changed because of this.

And I want to do all of this starting on Monday.

I have to trust that these grand ambitions will be realized only a step at a time and that it doesn’t matter exactly which direction I step first on Monday – it only matters that I take that step.

To focus my mind, I will concentrate on Kivi Leroux Miller’s first five recommendations in her e-book, “The First 100 Days in Your New Nonprofit Marketing Job.”

1. Make “get-to-know-you” appointments.
2. Review all of the plans you can find.
3. Read the last two years of newsletters.
4. Read the last two years of donor communications.
5. Learn the chain of command.

As much as anything, these tasks will get the ball rolling. I’ll let you know how it goes on Monday, the first day of my new career!

My First 100 Days

In less than a week, I start my new job as Director of Communications for a medium-sized nonprofit organization. My charge is use the organization's bully pulpit to change how this country thinks about affordable housing and raise the organization's visibility as a leader in creating sustainable communities.

This will be a big challenge for me -- a step up from running an education outreach program and studying the theories of political advocacy and social movements. My first weeks will feel like walking into a tidal wave of new information, new people, new projects, and new ideas.

Thank goodness I've got Kivi Leroux Miller's "The First 100 Days in Your New Nonprofit Marketing Job!" In this ebook, Miller lays out 100 critical tasks that marketing and communications directors should do in their first 100 days. As an exercise to keep my head from spinning off into space, I am using Miller's list as an anchor for my first three months on the job.

This blog will serve as my muse. What will my first day be like? How about my first week? What is the first crisis I will face? What is the first mistake I will make? Follow along to see the inside story of building an advocacy/ communications program as I try to get it off the ground through the first 100 days.

Note that names have been changed to retain privacy.