Accounting for nonprofits includes both the people and the skills they bring to the world of nonprofit financial management. Skills can be acquired through formal studies, such as a college degree and CPA program, or through additional professional development. One often overlooked method of improving professional skills is through mentoring. And while we often think of mentoring programs as programs for people just entering their careers, senior-level accountants can benefit from mentoring just as much, if not more so, than junior level accountants.
Newcomers to the professional world of accounting benefit from mentorship in many ways. A mentor can help you navigate new territories, such as office politics, ethical issues, and career decisions. They can help you choose the best school to finish your CPA or listen to you and provide advice as you juggle work, family, school, and career issues.
But senior accountants working at nonprofits face these and even more challenges. Challenges, issues, and problems don’t go away the higher you rise in the company’s ranks. Instead, they grow increasingly complex. The opportunity to network with and be mentored by other senior accountants offers priceless opportunities for professional growth.
Issues for Senior-Level Accountants: It’s About the People
For senior-level accountants, the issues they bring to mentors aren’t about the work itself, but about the people they manage. Management takes practice and training and often improves the most from mentoring. Most people aren’t natural-born leaders and managers and need good managers to emulate. That’s where mentoring comes into the picture.
Through mentoring and modeling better management and communication skills, those working at accounting for nonprofits can learn and grow.
The Trickle-Down Effect
If you think you can’t take the time out of your busy schedule to find and work with a mentor, consider the many positive benefits that mentoring brings not just to your personal and work life, but to your entire organization. Mentoring builds management skills, and better management skills improve morale and productivity in an office. The result is a trickle-down effect that can improve the entire company.
An important aspect of being an executive is being able to help nurture the talents and skills in others. When you improve your skills, you can now share that with others below you in the organization.
How to Find and Work with a Mentor
Many people seeking mentors work with life coaches, business coaches, or other professionals to find a matching mentor who complements their skills. Other avenues to find a mentor may be local networking group, business meetings and groups, and professional networks. You may also find someone you admire and ask if they would mentor you.
If you’re considering entering into a mentoring relationship with another senior level accountant, have a plan of action in mind. Approach the relationship with a goal and be open to the other person. Explain the reason why you are looking for a mentor and how you can mutually benefit from the relationship.
Other tips to find and work with mentors include:
- Identify specific skills to work on and communicate this to your mentor.
- Establish set time periods for the work and schedule appointments to review progress.
- Be receptive to constructive feedback. This isn’t about stroking your ego, but about learning and growing. It can be painful to hear some criticism, but it will help you grow.
- Ask your mentor for homework. Assignments can help bring structure to the relationship and give you concrete tasks to work on for your personal development plan.
- Track and measure progress. Don’t leave it open-ended. Write down in a personal journal or notebook what you are learning and review it frequently so that you can get the most benefit from the mentoring relationship.
- Consider giving back what you have learned through a mentoring relationship with others.
Mentoring takes time, and it’s important to find someone who has the skills required as well as earns your respect. But once you do find a mentor, the relationship can yield many valuable insights that can make you a better manager.
Beck & Company
Beck & Company are Washington DC nonprofit advisors. We also are Virginia certified nonprofit accountants. We work with nonprofits of all sizes serving many different constituents nationwide, providing a variety of consulting, auditing, and accounting services. For more information, please contact us at 703-834-0776 x8001.