Personal Issues
Then there are the personal issues that emerging sage leaders bring to their organizations. Some emerging sages are insecure because of their relative youth; they feel they get little respect or are overwhelmed by the steep learning curve they are experiencing. Other sages say they are too strident and admit they sometimes inhibit change by staying married to ideas that don’t have meaning to other people. And one reflects on his impatience:
I sometimes get frustrated with the slow pace of government and have to pull back awhile until I am patient enough to dive back in again. There have been quite a few moments on city council that I didn’t enjoy my job at all. This would typically only last a short time, but it has often been necessary for me to step aside for a while and recharge before getting immersed again.
And one emerging sage points to another problem:
The day-to-day personnel issues are the hardest to deal with. I would rather do almost anything else! It is personally difficult for me to slow down and deal with people who are not on board with the work we do, who are not passionate and excited about our mission.
Differences between Nonprofit and For-Profit Organizations
A number of emerging sages are from the business world. They find that those who have spent their entire careers in nonprofit work simply don’t understand the differences between corporate and nonprofit business models. Consequently, they have their own adjustment problems:
Going from being an entrepreneur and running a C Corporation to running a non-profit has been a bit of a learning curve for me. And being comfortable in allowing other people to make decisions has also been challenging. Another roadblock is having a single major source of income, with donations making up the balance of our financial needs. This has been difficult to get used to.
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