More Confessions of a First Time Member

Anna Tegen

When I left for college, my godparents gave me one valuable piece of advice. They told me, “surround yourself with people who are smarter than you are,” and I have lived by that advice ever since. I knew when I was chosen to serve on the YNPNdc (Young Nonprofit Professionals Network, Washington, DC ) board that I was going to be sitting at the table with some of the best of my peers. The board’s reputation preceded them and I had no doubt that this was going to be one of my greatest challenges. There was no way I was walking into that first (my first ever) board meeting unprepared. And this is my advice to you:

Consult: your board chair. Take the guesswork out of figuring out what qualities and skills got you on the board. It allows you to develop a relationship with the chair and gives you a clear idea of what is expected of you.  

Talk: People have actually done this before me? As soon as I got word about the board, I booked it to a fellow Next-Gener (a term of endearment for my friends and co-workers who are self-proclaimed Young, Fabulous, and Broke).  And then my boss. And after that my CEO. I talked to everyone who was willing to give me advice, which is where my next point comes in….

Know yourself: The advice I got was great, but some was conflicting and didn’t feel right. I had to know myself! The truth is that when I am nervous I babble, my voice quivers, and all around, I just sound like an idiot. You can see how advice like “talk and ask questions in the first meeting” doesn’t exactly apply to me. My solution? I took note of my questions and addressed the appropriate person(s) afterwards. It worked for me.

I applied for that board position because I knew that I would be surrounding myself with people who are smarter than I am…. But they didn’t need to know that.