Transitions

Chapter Leadership Brief 9.5.25

by Pedro Govantes

Transitions. The word can sound so antiseptic. It can be code for anything ranging from being fired from one job and luck enough to find another, to escaping some version of a perceived (or real!) professional hellscape and landing really anywhere else. But a transition doesn’t have to be viewed either way. It can be not so much a running away from one situation but an actual running toward another. I find myself in the midst of such a transition.

For the last nearly six years I have been working for a higher education organization as a fundraiser. It has been one of the most formative experiences of my professional life. I have enjoyed the privilege of serving alongside of and learning from two extraordinary leaders. These two women are creative, insightful, strategic, and decisive. Working with them has been a master class in our profession as fundraisers. Their breadth and depth of knowledge is astounding as is their ability to assess situations and people and chart effective courses of actions. Many of my colleagues and the those who made up the teams I formed and led are equally exceptional. They have shaped me in profound ways. We went through some tumultuous and difficult times for sure. But what emerged on the other side are a handful of relationships that I cherish and that will remain with me for the rest of my life.

I am going to an organization outside of higher education for the first time in over thirteen years. Naturally, I’m thrilled but I am also nervous. I don’t know my new colleagues and they don’t know me. I don’t know the systems and procedures. Honestly, in this in between time, the idea of going through such a change is a little daunting. But then I think about the mission! I am utterly captivated and inspired literally to the core of my being by the work that we will do together. I believe these years ahead will be among the most significant of my life. It will be demanding work. It will certainly stretch me in ways that I have not be stretched before. Yet, I find myself thrilled by the anticipation and eager to begin!

All to say, as I find myself leaving one world and entering another, something we all experience throughout our careers, I want to be mindful of these thoughts on transitions and how I think we can go through transitions well.

1. Leave the way you arrived. When you first came to this job you were probably excited by the opportunity and optimistic about what laid ahead for you. Remember those thoughts and feelings and take them with you. Sure, the job inevitably had its disappointments and frustrations, but leave those there. Life is short and our professional lives are even shorter. If there have been rough times at this job, learn what you can from them, but leave the heartache behind. It is too much of a burden to carry into the new role. It’s all in the past anyway and there’s nothing you can do about it. Give yourself the gift of remembering and highlighting the good that you experienced in your time there, especially the people with which you formed relationships!
2. Be mindful of the people following in your footsteps. There’s a wonderful admonition when you travel in national parks: Leave the area better than how you found it. Sometimes we can be so myopic in our thinking that we don’t fully consider the people who will be picking up the mantle of our work once we leave. Do everything you wish someone had done for you to prepare the way when you arrived fresh into what was then new role.
3. You may be leaving, but your reputation is staying. Some sage wisdom from Rocky Balboa in Rocky II, he says to Pauly, “They don’t remember you, they remember the rep.” Truer words have never been spoken! The fundraising world is ridiculously small. It is right and good to care about the reputation we build, to be cognizant of how people think about us and speak about us, particularly when we’re not around. We should strive to act in ways that will be remembered as being kind, generous with our time, and a consummate professional. It matters!
4. Take time between the position you are leaving the new one your starting. All too often in our excitement for the next adventure we rush into our next job immediately after leaving our old one. Instead, I would encourage you to take some time, maybe a week or two, if you can afford it, between the positions. We need the time to reflect on our past experiences, put them in context. We need to figure out what relationships, lessons, and experiences we are taking with us and which we are leaving behind. We need time to reflect on what’s coming, what things we want to do differently and what we want to keep doing.
5. Always be a student. Transitions offer us an opportunity to once again become students. We have a lot to learn about our new job. Not just the mechanics, but about the organization, its history, our new colleagues, board members, donors, etc. It’s also a time to teach ourselves about our new organization’s mission and the intellectual, cultural, maybe even political contexts within which it operates that makes its activities so critical.
6. Embrace the virtue of “I don’t know.” Remind yourself that the new organization likely didn’t invite you to join them because you know everything about them or how they operate. They offered you a job because they are convinced that you can help them do better and achieve more. So, don’t be afraid of saying “I don’t know.” Or of saying, in all kinds of different ways, that you need help. It will offer your new colleagues a way to get to know you and for you to get to know them. Invite them to meaningfully participate in your education about the organization and its operations. These small vulnerabilities at the time of onboarding can set the tone for your new relationships in truly positive ways.

Pedro is the son of Cuban immigrants and the only member of his family born in the United States. After attending the University of Maryland and receiving a bachelors in government and politics, he went on to complete two master’s degrees. Pedro spent twenty years working in religious nonprofits before making a move into higher education philanthropy. He began his career at Villanova University, where he received a master’s of business administration. After five years there, he joined the University of Michigan regional team, working in New York City. Pedro was then recruited to New York University where he was most recently the Senior Executive Director, Schools & Institutes and where he is nearing completion of his fourth master’s degree. Pedro has also taught as an adjunct professor in philosophy at The College of New Jersey for twenty years. He has several certifications and designations in philanthropy and fundraising. He also serves as a member of the AFP-NYC board. Pedro will begin in September to work with the KIPP Foundation as their Vice President of Development. Pedro is married and has three children.