If there is one thing that will get under my skin it is hearing someone
in the nonprofit sector utter the words “that's not my job”. It takes everything in me not to say, “Pack up!
You’re in the wrong job!”
I’m the first to agree that it isn’t fair to put too much on anyone or
for any one person to be doing the work of many while others are hardly doing
the work they actually signed on to do. But when you work for a nonprofit, it
goes without saying that there will be times (in some cases more often than
not) when there is far more work than there is capacity to get it done. This is
especially true when you work in a small shop where it is necessary for the staff
to wear many hats. But if you are there because you genuinely care about the
mission, you understand that it’s an “all hands on deck” operation and together
you move the mission forward.
I have held numerous positions at nonprofits large, small, and in
between. I’ve been the chief executive who walked pass a janitor to secure the
mop and bucket from “his” closet to clean up a spill when I saw he was busy working on something
else. Sure, I could have said “that's not my job” and asked him to stop what he
was doing and focus on the more urgent issue; but I chose to demonstrate two
things: (1) his work was not beneath me and (2) teamwork makes the dream work.
If as a nonprofit staff you have found yourself becoming agitated when
ask to complete tasks not in your job description or stating “that's not my
job” and refusing to do the work, I urge you to do some self-reflection. If you
determine you are fully committed to the organization’s mission, change your
attitude. If you determine that you are not, change your career path.
