When it’s that time of year for nominations for the NAPO Board do you sometimes think you would love to do it, but then doubt sets in? Do you find yourself thinking “But I’m not a strategic thinker, I don’t think big enough, I haven’t done the kinds of things Board Members do” and once again you decide not to apply? 

I’ll never forget the time someone said to me that strategic thinking isn’t always coming up with the next big idea; it can be seeing ideas elsewhere and knowing to apply them to your situation.  That for me was the key! Feeling unsure about my ability to be strategicwas the one thing that had held me back from raising my hand to run for the Board, but I knew I could make a valuable impact bringing in the way I see the world and applying it to NAPO’s challenges and opportunities.

It is quite common for our members to feel unsure about stepping up to serve on the Board. But the truth is you are probably a great candidate!  It’s one of the reasons we are launching the ”Next to Lead” initiative in the next few months. Because many of our members are ready, but they have self-doubt. Our goal is to provide NAPO members with resources and focused exploration across the areas of leadership that can help them develop or even show them they’re ready for more leadership, whether it be within NAPO or their own business or personal life. We are so excited to share that program with you!

As I reflect on my three years on the board, I can see that I learned so much and have even more confidence in my leadership skills. I feel more confident raising my hand to be on other boards outside of NAPO. NAPO was a safe place for me to observe, learn and refine my skills.

Not only did I gain confidence in my leadership skills, but I was also exposed to so many other areas of growth. As the board liaison to marketing, I gained so many skills that helped me with my business. Then as board liaison for the securing sponsorship for NAPO2023 Summit. I’m learning the ins and outs of how this works, which will also help me with my own speaking business.

When you are on the NAPO Board, you are surrounded by highly accomplished individuals in the profession. It’s a perfect place to learn and improve. Whether it be just observing the way others on the board behave or soliciting feedback from each other on how we can improve, we all seem to learn so much from our fellow board members. My colleagues on the Board have taught me so much:

• I thank Amy Tokos for showing how a leader can be kind but firm. She has been a fabulous role model as an empathetic leader and driver of change.

• Cynthia Lindsey taught us all so much about sales and negotiating skills and was an awesome role model to learn from as we piloted bringing on sponsors for our 2022 conference.  Because of her influence, I now think bigger and have more confidence when negotiating with others.

• Sharon Lowenheim has been an amazing mentor that reminded us all that we should have fun while working. Thank you to Sharon for keeping things livelier while at the same time delivering tremendous value to NAPO.

I am fully confident I have learned at least one thing from each of my fellow board members. I come out of my three-year term feeling more confident in my strategic thinking and leadership skills. I know these skills will help me grow my business and run my multi-person team much more effectively. 

If you aspire to be a leader in your industry or as part of a larger team, I would highly recommend you consider running for the NAPO board or stepping up into another national leadership role like a chair for one of our various committees.  It was an excellent decision for me to step up and I know it would be for you as well!

If you are ready to volunteer but don’t know where you are needed, please contact me. I would love to help find the right role for you.  My email is jlehman@ctcproductivity.com

To your success!

Jan Lehman

About the author: Jan Lehman is a board member and chair of the Nominating/Leadership Development Committee. She is founder and CEO of CTC Productivity in St. Paul, Minnesota and has been a member of NAPO since 2009.