If I Only Knew Then: Will Schneider

This is the last post in our “If I Only Knew Then” issue. I’d like to think that I get to post in the coveted “closing spot” because of how valuable my experiences will be for the FLiP community. Actually, the way I see it, my post must have been put in a prominent place because everyone who reads my top five insights will be better off for it.

Of course it could be because, as Chief FLiP, I am the one who picks the order of the posts… but either way here I am - I hope my thoughts are helpful.

If I Only Knew Then - my top five insights:

1) “Let me get back to you on that” – When I started as a consultant, the President of Changing Our World gave me the most useful piece of advice I’ve heard: Learn to say “let me get back to you on that.”

Don’t make up the answer. If a foundation wants to know how many patients were treated for an eye infection at your walk-in clinic last year, and you say 100,000, it will take you hours of work, and cost you an untold amount of lost confidence, to explain why the right answer is actually 54,500. Learn to say, “let me get back to you on that” to your prospects, to your boss, and to your employees - and then make sure you get back to them. More often than not, nobody minds that you don’t know the answer at that second; just get it right when you respond. Trust me, this one is vital.

2) Take an accounting class – Not much explanation is required here, just don’t be afraid to learn money. If you understand basic finance and accounting, I promise that your job will be easier. This is especially true if you hope to start your own nonprofit or if you want to be an executive. Your drive to “do good” is admirable, but ask yourself if you would give $1,000,000 to someone who doesn’t want to invest time in keeping track of it. Regardless of how good your mission is, you need money to do it right, so learn money.

No doubt, I wish I’d known that while I was drifting off in my accounting classes at NYU.

3) If you bring a problem to your boss, also bring him a potential solution – He may not go with your solution, but as long as you have one it sounds more like problem solving and less like whining.

I only had to be told to “stop whining” once to figure this one out.

4) Work hard, every day. It’s simple, but it works. The Chairman of Changing Our World told me the secret to success is getting to the office at 6:00 AM every day. I’m not quite there yet, but I understand the lesson. Regardless of your job description or the project you’re working on, if you work hard every day people will take notice, and you will get ahead. I hear, “I don’t get paid enough to work longer hours, but I’ll work harder when I get promoted” all the time. If you think that, you may not deserve that promotion. Be devoted to your work, knock it out of the park every time, and you’ll be your boss’s boss soon.

5) Rely on Others – FLiP was a good idea I once had. I tell this story a lot, so I apologize if I’m repeating myself. After a Changing Our World happy hour, I took a long walk to the Brooklyn Bridge with my colleague Jessica, and I told her how I thought our sector is in dire need of a professional networking organization. Jess and I told Divine Tabios about the idea, and the three of us tore it apart and put it back together. My initial idea was in there, but completely re-packaged. The three of us pitched it to Changing Our World senior management, and along the way picked up four or five other colleagues, each of whom brought something new to the table. The cycle has continued to repeat itself today, and FLiP is being constantly reinvented. Now that FLiP is a community growing into the thousands, I see that my idea is in there, but everyday the team keeps making it better.

Do you have an idea for a project? For a nonprofit? For a way to change the world? Find a team you trust, work with them toward a series of realistic goals (all steps to the end goal), and watch your idea take off.

That’s all I’ve got for you today, thanks for reading FLiP. What do you wish you knew when you started? What are you still learning today?