SOCW 6070 wk 11 Discussion 1: Future Career Goals

What are your short- and long-term professional goals? Do they include moving into a leadership and management position? Transitioning from clinical to administrative roles is not uncommon in social work practice. It is useful, however, to think about relevant skills, knowledge, and professional experiences that will prepare you for the transition. In addition, you should consider the personal benefits and challenges of assuming a leadership role.

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Post your thoughts about your future career goals, your interest in moving into leadership or management positions, and the benefits and challenges of a social work administrator’s role.

Support your post with specific references to the resources. Be sure to provide full APA citations for your references.

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Administration in Social Work

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Becoming a Manager in Nonprofit Human Service
Organizations: Making the Transition from
Specialist

to Generalist

Michael J. Austin , Kate Regan , Suzanne Gothard & Sarah Carnochan

To cite this article: Michael J. Austin , Kate Regan , Suzanne Gothard & Sarah Carnochan
(2013) Becoming a Manager in Nonprofit Human Service Organizations: Making the
Transition from Specialist to Generalist, Administration in Social Work, 37:4, 372-385, DOI:
10.1080/03643107.2012.715116

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Administration in Social Work, 37:372–385, 2013
Copyright © Taylor & Francis Group, LLC
ISSN: 0364-3107 print/1544-4376 online
DOI: 10.1080/03643107.2012.715116

Becoming a Manager in Nonprofit Human Service
Organizations: Making the Transition from Specialist

to Generalist

Michael J. Austin, Kate Regan, Suzanne Gothard, and Sarah Carnochan
School of Social Work, University of California, Berkeley, Berkeley, California, USA

The transition from direct service to management in human service organizations requires newly pro-
moted managers to engage in significant role transformation that calls into question their self-concept
and identity. This analysis draws upon the for-profit and nonprofit literature to construct a conceptual
model of managerial identity formation. The model is then applied to a case vignette of a managerial
leadership development training program developed by a regional network of nonprofit human ser-
vice agency directors. The analysis concludes with implications for managerial training and leadership
development in human service organizations.

Keywords: human service organizations, leadership, management, training

INTRODUCTION

It is common for human service organizations to promote direct service practitioners into manage-
ment positions, yet there is often little attention paid to the altered sense of identity and role changes
that accompany this transition. While formal prior training and experience can be useful when direct
service practitioners in human service organizations move into managerial roles, new managers
often face challenges as they learn to exercise authority, negotiate competing interests, manage
organizational politics, and move from their role as a technical specialist to becoming a managerial
generalist (Austin, 1981; Donovan & Jackson, 1991; Lowe & Austin, 1997; Patti, Diedrick, Olson,
& Crowell, 1979). Nonprofit and public sector training programs often do not adequately address
these transition challenges and tend to focus more on managerial skills.

The organizational assumptions underlying most promotions in nonprofits, even when those pro-
moted have moved up through the ranks of human service organizations (often with little or no
management training), include: 1) that participants enter with a relatively clear idea of their man-
agerial responsibilities and seek primarily to improve their management skills; 2) that participants
have broadened their client-focused identity to include an organizational and community focus; and
3) that participants have assumed a managerial role that fits their career interests.

Based on the comments, reflections, and observations of participants in a new managerial leader-
ship training program that is described elsewhere (Austin, Regan, Samples, Schwartz, & Carnochan,

Correspondence should be addressed to Michael J. Austin, School of Social Work, University of California, Berkeley,
120 Haviland Hall #7400, Berkeley, CA 94720, USA. E-mail: mjaustin@berkeley.edu

MAKING THE TRANSITION FROM SPECIALIST TO GENERALIST 373

2011), it became apparent that nonprofit human service managers were having difficulty with their
managerial roles where the “managerial hat” neither “fit” nor “looked good.” For example, the
following comments were shared by the training program participants (Austin, et al., 2011):

1. “I miss the satisfaction of working with clients and I try to get similar satisfaction from
working with staff, but I really identify with the clients we serve.”

2. “I like the power and authority that comes with my manager role, but I find it difficult to be
part of the administrative hierarchy of the agency or to actually use my power and authority.”

3. “When faced with new roles, like fundraising, I find it very difficult to envision myself
attending fundraising events where I need to dress-up. I can’t imagine liking this part of
being a manager as talking to wealthy people puts me in conflict with who I am and what I
believe about serving poor people.”

4. “I often feel like I’m under siege as a manager, making it difficult to see the big picture of
my agency within its larger environment.”

5. “One of my biggest challenges is dealing with the negative projections of my staff now that
I’m a manager, especially when I’m attempting to set or maintain accountability.”

6. “I have no clearly identified space to reflect and get feedback about how I’m doing as a
manager, especially in my relationships with staff.”

These perceptions made it clear that the issues of identity and role required further investigation and
future program adjustments.

We found that some of the issues were addressed in the literature on the transition from techni-
cal specialist to first-line manager. However, due to the limited research in the nonprofit and public
sector human service organizations on this transition from direct service supervisor to program man-
ager (e.g, there is no aggregate data in either sector to identify the number of people advancing each
year up the managerial leadership ladder), this analysis involves a review of the for-profit manage-
ment literature in search of concepts and findings relevant to the nonprofit sector. The outcome is a
conceptual framework that is then used to inform nonprofit management.

This framework evolved as part of the redesign process of a nonprofit managerial leadership
development program in order to address the emerging issues of identity and role development.
The framework served as a lens to examine the experiences of participants in subsequent cohorts
to develop a deeper understanding of managerial and leadership identity formation. The follow-
ing review of the literature and its application to a managerial leadership development program
concludes with implications and recommendations for further research.

LITERATURE REVIEW

In reflecting on the transition from specialist to generalist in for-profit organizations, McCall
et al. (1988) found that successful transitions are often built upon a prior on-the-job work history
of developmental assignments (sometimes referred to as stretch assignments) where managerial
capabilities are demonstrated through a variety of activities (e.g., first supervisory experience,
project/task force experience, demonstrated capacity to cope with the ambiguity through an
understanding organizational culture and strategies, leading a team and surviving difficult situa-
tions, fixing programs that requires persuasion and toughness, and/or a significant expansion in
scope of work that requires relying on others and thinking like a manager). Successful transitions
from specialist to generalist were found by McCall et al. (1988) to reflect the following lessons
learned: 1) setting and implementing agendas (e.g., taking responsibility, building and using
organizational structures, thinking strategically and engaging in innovative problem solving); 2)
handling relationships (e.g., dealing with people over whom you have no authority, negotiating

374 AUSTIN ET AL.

political situations, understanding other people’s perspectives, dealing with conflict, directing-
motivating-evaluating-developing subordinates, and managing up to senior management); and 3)
demonstrating core values rooted in self-awareness (e.g., belief that one can not manage everything
alone, importance of the human side of management, continuous acknowledgement of one’s limits
and blind spots, and recognizing and seizing opportunities by taking charge of one’s career and
maintaining balance between work and personal life).

The theme of self-awareness calls for a personal framework for self-reflective practice that,
according to McCall et al. (1988), involves identifying one’s shortcomings (either reactively as
a result of negative feedback or proactively by learning how to expand one’s self-reflective capaci-
ties), accepting responsibility for one’s shortcomings by searching for their sources, and addressing
shortcomings (e.g., placing oneself in situations calling for new learning, accessing the expertise
of others, hiring staff that compensate for one’s weaknesses, and/or change the situation, and/or
seeking coaching for use in developing personal change).

In more recent work, Charan, et al. (2011) reflect on the process of managing self to managing
others where they focus on getting work done through others (rather than relying exclusively on
yourself) and giving up the tasks and responsibilities that gave them the recognition needed to
become a manager. They noted that the transition from specialist to generalist calls for different
skills, use of time, and work values. For example, the different skills include defining/assigning
work to be done, monitoring/communicating/coaching/acquiring resources/problem solving, and
building relationships up/down/out). According to Charan et al. (2011), the use of these skills
should lead to less doing and more discussing, completing the role transition, hiring others who
reflect the organization’s work style and beliefs, maintaining availability to teach, sharing in the
successes of staff, and continuously learning about the organization’s expectations of managers.
With respect to the use of time, they note that managers need to move from the daily discipline of
managing one’s own time to more annual planning (budgets/projects) and making time available
for others (communications and team priority setting). And finally, with regard to work values, they
observed that there needs to be a shift from valuing personal/technical proficiency to valuing the
results of others and the successes of teamwork. In commenting on the transition from specialist to
generalist, Charan et al. (2011) noted that:

When first-time managers lack the ability to delegate or coach, they’ll schedule relatively little time for
each activity, preferring to spend as much time as possible on what they’re good at . . . They don’t want
to look foolish in front of their former peers and will therefore spend time on activities that make them
appear competent. They also are avoiding the monumental shift of being responsible for the productivity,
output, and expansion of individual capacity that comes with a manager’s job (p.48).

Some observers of the transition process have sought to compile their findings into a set of
success strategies to be used in the first 90 days of becoming a manager. For example, Watkins
(2003) identified the following 10 key strategies viewed as prescriptions for success: 1) promote
yourself by making the mental break from specialist to generalist; 2) maintain a systematic focus
on what needs to be learned and how to do it efficiently; 3) match strategy to situation by using
diagnosis in order to develop action plan; 4) focus on early wins to build credibility and momentum;
5) negotiate success by building relationship with your boss through multiple conversations about
expectations; 6) achieve alignment by bringing organizational structures into alignment with its
strategies, especially systems and skills; 7) build your team by evaluating current members and
recruiting new members; 8) create coalitions, both internal and external, to identify those whose
support is essential for success; 9) keep your balance between the personal and the professional
with the use of an advice/counsel network (avoid getting isolated, making poor decisions, and/or
losing perspective); and 10) help others accelerate their own performance and transitions (p. 12–14)

As these highlights from the for-profit literature on transitions indicate, the considerable change
process involves: 1) developing a sense of self and interpersonal judgment, 2) gaining role clarity

MAKING THE TRANSITION FROM SPECIALIST TO GENERALIST 375

and learning how to transition into and out of role, and 3) learning how to learn on the job (Fleming,
2008; Hill, 2003). In essence, a profound professional and psychological transformation takes place
in the process of becoming a manager (Hill, 2003).

Developing a Sense of Self

Learning to engage as a self-reflective practitioner is a key theme throughout the literature on
becoming a manager. Hill (2003) notes that personal learning is often more demanding than task
learning. Many of the managers in Hill’s (2003) study had previously relied primarily on taking
action rather than engaging in reflection and introspection and quickly discovered that this action-
oriented approach was not sustainable in their new managerial role where developing a sense
of self was critical. Watson (2001) notes that many components of managerial learning require
self-awareness and include helping staff feel valued, recognizing hidden agendas, and navigating
organizational politics. Interpersonal styles, attitudes, and mindsets that worked well at the line level
may need to be modified to be effective at the managerial level (Hill, 2003, 2007). Leadership coach-
ing has been shown to assist new managers in identifying their own interpersonal style and ways
of adapting in order to develop a managerial style that is both comfortable and effective (Koonce,
2008). Additional examples of the process of developing self are located in Appendix A.

Managing Role Transitions

New managers need to learn how to shift from the role of specialist where they rely primarily
on their own efforts to carry out their jobs to that of generalist where they rely on others to get
things done (Hill, 2003). Yet, the satisfaction that new managers typically derive from excelling as
a specialist may make it difficult for them to leave this role in order to manage a broader scope of
work and acquire the wider lens needed for managerial work (Hill, 2003). Moreover, this transition
requires that new managers move from a position of independence to one of organizational interde-
pendence where they are called upon to integrate multiple agendas and build networks both internal
and external to the organization (Hill, 2003). However, the conceptions of work and the responsibil-
ities held by new managers often conflict with the notion of getting work done through others (Hill,
2003). In addition, the increased interdependence that characterizes the role of manager heightens
the sense of a loss of control (Hill, 2003). New managers are tempted to revert back to their special-
ist role when they feel most out of control, and feedback from subordinates can help them resist this
temptation and embrace the interdependent nature of the managerial role (Hill, 2003). Additional
examples of the process of managing role transitions are located in Appendix B.

Learning How to Learn from Experiences and Training

New managers need to learn from experiences in order to make a successful transition into manage-
ment (Hill, 2003; Hill, 2004; McCall and Hollenbeck, 2007; McCall & Hollenbeck, 2008; Watson,
2001). On-the-job learning requires active reflection and inquiry, asking the questions “What did I
do?” “What did I learn?” and “Why did I do it that way?” (McCall & Hollenbeck, 2008; Watson,
2001). To engage in self-development, managers need to “adopt an explorer’s stance” by using
introspection and reflection, incorporating diverse perspectives, and seeking out opportunities for
life-long learning (Hill, 2004, p. 124). To help managers learn from their experiences, superiors
need to offer coaching and multiple sources of feedback (McCall & Hollenbeck, 2007). Research
indicates that learning on the job is enhanced if the learner is able to access support from both peers
and superiors (Hill, 2007). A person’s natural curiosity and ability, desire, and drive to learn from
her or his own experiences are often considered when assessing leadership potential (McCall &
Hollenbeck, 2007; Muson, 2008). McCall and Hollenbeck (2008) warn against moving people into

376 AUSTIN ET AL.

leadership positions too quickly because sequential experiences with increasing responsibilities are
necessary to grasp some leadership concepts related to one’s own stage of development. Watson
(2001) presents the concept of an “emergent manager,” one whose on-the-job preparation and train-
ing for management can be understood in the context of a full life history of leadership development
rather than simply the point at which a formal promotion occurs.

The responsibility to develop new managers rests on both the future manager and the organization
(Hill, 2003; McCall & Hollenbeck, 2008). Organizations need to provide prospective managers
with: 1) an accurate portrayal of management, 2) resources and support throughout the transition,
3) opportunities for stretch assignments to develop managerial competence, and 4) opportunities for
post-training follow-up that reinforces new learning and allows discussion of challenges that arise
from putting training principles into practice (Hill, 2003; McCall & Hollenbeck, 2007; Pledger,
2007). Dubouloy (2004) notes that to develop managers who are comfortable innovating and able to
use their talents, management training programs need to: 1) help participants examine and construct
their identity, 2) allow time for experiences to be discussed, and 3) provide an emotionally safe
environment.

In essence, future managers need to engage in their own self-assessments to identify the fit
between their skills, attitudes, strengths, and interests and the managerial role itself, as well as
substantial “self-development” throughout their first year on the job (Hill, 2003). Suggestions for
new managers who make the transition include the need to: 1) be patient, 2) anticipate common
pitfalls, 3) demonstrate an openness to criticism, 4) maintain integrity and honesty, 5) engage in
ongoing training and development of yourself and your subordinates, and 6) develop a resource
base for ongoing assistance (Fleming, 2008; Hill, 2003).

CONCEPTUAL FRAMEWORK

These themes parallel the issues faced by human service managers who experience substantial
“social psychological discontinuity” in the areas of: 1) exercising authority, 2) guiding group
decision making, 3) focusing on service effectiveness and outcomes, and 4) managing collegial
relationships with former peers (Patti & Austin, 1977). To capture the professional and psycho-
logical transformations that accompany the transition from direct service to management in human
service organizations, where new managers seek to renegotiate their professional role and adjust
their own self-perceptions, a conceptual framework is needed as illustrated in Figure 1. The frame-
work identifies four stages that characterize the transition: 1) Emerging, 2) Becoming, 3) Acting,
and 4) Thriving.

The first stage, Emerging, marks the period in which a specialist is identified as a prospective
generalist for a role in management. Emerging managers, as well as their supervisors, often use this
time to assess the fit between managerial work and the potential manager’s knowledge, attitudes,
skills, and interests (Gaynor, 2004; Hill, 2003). An “emergent manager” is one who is encouraged
to: 1) reflect on past experiences and future goals, 2) seek stretch assignments, 3) ask questions
and observe to get an accurate picture of managerial work, and 4) actively develop professional and
support networks (Watson, 2001; Hill, 2003).

The second phase, Becoming a manager, often begins at the point of promotion and is marked
by negotiating the role and re-constructing elements of identity. The five substantial identity-related
shifts that characterize this phase include what Hill (2003) describes as: 1) moving away from
technical or clinical mastery and toward generalist competencies; 2) shifting from the role of a
specialist or an independent practitioner to that of an interdependent manager; 3) learning to adjust
one’s locus of responsibility from individual-level task completion to team-level success; 4) shifting
from building credibility primarily with clients or customers to learning how to develop credibility
with ones staff; and 5) letting go of the need to be personally liked and moving toward reliance

MAKING THE TRANSITION FROM SPECIALIST TO GENERALIST 377

FIGURE 1 The Transition From Direct Service to Management.

on being respected in role—a shift that is often associated with the loss of peer camaraderie and a
well-defined reference group (Barnes, 1981; Cohen, 2005).

As new managers gain role clarity and begin Acting in role, they are often confronted with com-
peting demands. New managers continue to construct their managerial identity as they learn to
balance the processes of: 1) managing individuals as well as an overall team (Fleming, 2008; Hill,
2004, 2007); 2) offering support while developing an ability to effectively confront problematic
behavior; 3) setting high expectations for performance as well as opportunities for growth and devel-
opment; 4) acknowledging managerial authority while striving to empower team autonomy (Hill,
2003); 5) relying on personal power while recognizing their new positional power (Hitt, Black, &
Porter, 2005); and 6) managing up and down, as well as out (both in the agency and the community)
(Hopkins & Austin, 2004).

While this model depicts a linear framework, new managers often learn to “become” and “act” as
managers simultaneously by thriving in one area and continuing to construct a managerial identity
in another. New managers find themselves Thriving as they begin to move away from crisis manage-
ment toward managerial leadership, marked by comfort and competence in planning ahead while
effectively managing the present. In order to thrive as leaders in human service organizations, new
managers are called upon to engage in the following managerial roles: 1) analytic roles that include
leveraging resources, managing resources, creating and influencing policy, and evaluating outcomes;
2) leadership roles that include boundary spanning, future planning, aligning process and structure,
team building and management, and coalition building; and 3) interactional roles that include facil-
itating, communicating, advocating, and supervising (Austin & Kruzich, 2004; Menefee, 2004).
To maintain and renew their ability to thrive, managers need to engage in an ongoing process of
self-reflection and continuous on-the-job learning (Hill, 2003, 2004; McCall & Hollenbeck, 2007;
McCall & Hollenbeck, 2008; Watson, 2001).

378 AUSTIN ET AL.

An organization’s culture and context can affect the ease with which new managers form a
managerial identity. To begin exploring the application of issues related to identity formation and
managerial roles highlighted in the conceptual framework, several findings from classroom obser-
vations and participant interviews (in the form of the following case vignette) are used to illustrate
(in the context of grounded theory) the different ways that the transition from specialist to generalist
is impacted by organizational culture and context (Austin et al., 2011).

CASE VIGNETTE

Emerging

Despite the fact that many of the training program participants had been in managerial positions for
over five years, they had not yet acquired the time and/or support to engage in focused reflection
on their identities and managerial roles. As noted in Figure 3, the importance of assessing the fit
between a managerial role and a future manager’s existing knowledge, attitudes, skills, and interests
(prior to movement into a managerial role) is a key element in the Emerging stage. The responsibility
for such an assessment rests with the future manager as well as the organization (Gaynor, 2004;
Hill, 2003; McCall & Hollenbeck, 2008). While the training participants had been promoted to
managerial positions prior to the training program, it became clear that they were not comfortable
in the role, despite the fact that they were selected for the training based on their motivation, learning
readiness, natural talent, and initiative.

The clash in expectations between those who had done the promoting (agency directors) and
those who were promoted was evident in the differences between the training goals identified by
agency directors and those identified by the program participants. The primary training goals identi-
fied by agency directors included: 1) expanding the professional identities of participants to include
leadership roles within their organizations; 2) helping participants build upon their personal identity
and interpersonal skills to manage staff and develop the ability to step in and out of appropri-
ate managerial roles; and 3) developing the perspectives needed to promote systems management
(e.g., financial, information and human resources). The training goals identified by the participants
were wide ranging and included improving work/life balance, increasing their managerial compe-
tence, developing the confidence and capacity in leadership roles needed to address organizational
challenges, developing time management and prioritization skills, acquiring the tools to manage
resources while maintaining staff morale, and increasing their capacity to look and plan ahead while
managing day-to-day issues and commitments.

These different learning priorities made it clear that, while participants had been functioning in
their jobs and were clearly seen as successful (by virtue of the fact that they had been selected to
attend the program), they had different learning goals from those of their agency directors. While
the executive directors who participated in the design of the program identified the skill sets they
hoped participants would refine or acquire to become more effective managers and leaders, partici-
pants often joked about the organization’s need for “warm bodies in the management positions” as
the primary reason that they had been promoted, even if they were told that they showed consid-
erable promise for assuming managerial roles. In the Emerging phase of managerial role identity,
two factors are prominent in nonprofits. First, staff members are often critical of those in agency
leadership positions and frequently conclude that they would be able to perform more effectively
than the current incumbents of those positions. This perception does not necessarily lead to a com-
prehensive self-assessment of the strengths and areas for improvement among those in the pool of
possible candidates for promotion. Neither does the relief from finding a ‘warm body’ to fill a vacant
management positions create a firm foundation of organizational assessment needed to help a new
manager become successful.

MAKING THE TRANSITION FROM SPECIALIST TO GENERALIST 379

Making the shift from developing credibility with clients to developing credibility with staff
is another important element of managerial identity formation. A self-shadowing exercise fur-
ther indicated that participants did not feel comfortable in, and had not solidified themselves, in
a management role. In this exercise, participants recorded their time and activities on a typical day,
enabling them to reflect on how they spent their time, especially in the areas of crisis management
and counseling with staff. Participants found themselves re-creating client experiences with their
staff such as devoting extensive amounts of time to counseling them. While this may seem like an
effective strategy to develop credibility among staff, participants were able to identify the ways in
which this approach made it difficult for them to then step into their leadership roles when called
upon to do so. New managers came to recognize the need to balance both support and confrontation
when working with staff in order to manage effectively.

As participants admitted that they missed working with clients and had recreated their client
experience in their approach to managing staff, they came to recognize their ambivalence about the
managerial role. Although they liked the power and authority that came with managing, they found
it difficult to be part of the administrative “hierarchy” and to use the related power and authority.
Participants associated activities related to the organization’s health (e.g., pitching the organization’s
mission to donors) as conflicting with their client-centered identity. As they recognized how this role
conflict inhibited them from taking on organizational leadership responsibilities, they became more
aware of the process of consciously stepping in and out of leadership roles while building upon their
client-centered identities.

A self-shadowing exercise also helped participants to focus on the multiple roles involved in orga-
nizational leadership (the fundraiser, the financial manager, the public speaker, the human resource
manager, the staff motivator and the program evaluator), and assess the barriers they faced when
new roles conflicted with the identity that they had formed as human service workers (Austin et al.,
2011). It helped them recognize the strain they experienced from continuing to resist various aspects
of the manager’s role. For example, one participant asked one of the instructors who was a veteran
executive director how she handled the demands of “dressing-up, putting on heels, and going to a
cocktail party” to raise funds? With disbelief etched across her face she asked, “Do you like it? How
can you do it? Doesn’t that put you in conflict with who you are and what you believe about serving
poor people?”

Becoming

During a group simulation exercise participants began to experiment with the practice of stepping
into and out of role. This experience helped participants to see that one’s identity as a human service
professional is not necessarily compromised by taking on a management role. They began to see how
the managerial expectations for service accountability and cost-effectiveness could be balanced with
their support for practitioner creativity and autonomy needed to meet the complex needs of clients.

A learning lab simulation helped participants explore organizational roles that featured aspects
of: 1) their current workplace, 2) their organization’s relationship to the community, 3) the involve-
ment of other stakeholders in human service work, 4) ways of responding to the impact of systems
and organizational structures on role, and 5) perceptions of their role and how others perceived their
role (Austin et al., 2011).

Throughout the exercise, the training facilitator sought to shift the group’s focus from a “per-
son in role” to an “organization in environment” perspective. For example, in the systems analysis
component, one participant was able to move from seeing herself as a manager “under siege”
to recognizing that a shift in funding priorities was placing her program in a favorable spotlight
as innovators and direction-setters for new programs. She then linked this “organization in envi-
ronment” perspective to the experiences of participants in the simulation exercise. By picturing

380 AUSTIN ET AL.

themselves outside of their roles in their own organization, participants were better able to view
their organizations with a big-picture lens.

As Hill (2003) indicates, it is a significant transition when a manager can shift from the perspec-
tive of an individual contributor to one who is responsible for the department or organization as a
whole.

Acting

New managers in the ‘acting stage’ of development often struggle with balancing their personal and
positional power. For example, the nonprofit managers found it extremely difficult to balance the
need to exercise their authority as a manager with the need to feel helpful and supportive of staff,
resulting in their ambivalence in exercising their positional power. While they liked the increase
in authority, they did not feel comfortable being part of an organizational hierarchy and found it
difficult to know how and when to use their power.

Once a manager begins to make decisions and take action to serve the organization’s mission,
it is inevitable that that there will be a combination of positive and negative responses. This is
often a situation where managers need to confront the conflict between their personal desire to
be liked and the expectations of the managerial role. Participants realized that as managers they
needed to earn the respect of others in their new professional role since they could not rely on peer
camaraderie or old friendships to become effective managers. Participants noted their struggle in
assuming managerial leadership roles was often complicated by the negative attitudes toward senior
management that are held by their staff members. This is particularly true in nonprofit human service
organizations where authority is often viewed with suspicion unless it is being used to respond to
the personal needs of clients.

Given the mission of nonprofits to respond to the changing needs of clients, a parallel process
also seems to emerge for managers in terms of responding to the changing needs of staff. This
norm of responding to staff can complicate the process of moving from a specialist to a generalist,
especially when staff members display resistance or anger when managers seek to exercise their
authority. For example, one manager in the training program was called upon by senior management
to communicate the decision about salary cuts to her staff and was met with negative responses,
especially from a staff member who was also a long-time friend. Following her development of
greater role clarity, this manager was able to engage in a conversation with the employee/friend to
describe the organizational salary boundaries and limitations that had been created. She was able to
take up the role that best served the organization, as well as maintain her personal values of care
and concern for this individual. At the same time she was able to tolerate the fact that this individual
was angry about the decision, held her personally responsible, and sought to end the friendship.
While she successfully traversed this challenge, this manager noted that the incident sent her on
a return visit to her therapist. This example also highlights an essential difference between the
identity development of a manager in a nonprofit organization and that of a manager in a for-profit
organization. The literature makes it clear that the process of identity development in for-profits
is a process of “professional or career” identity development with less attention to the “personal”
identity. The reference to seeking therapy highlights some of the complexity in nonprofits of making
the shift from specialist to generalist, where identity clarification operates at both the personal and
professional levels.

The discussions of personal identity and leadership roles surfaced the following three major
challenges that often require greater support when making the transition from specialist to generalist
within the context of the organization as a whole: 1) an ability to tolerate negative projections in
times when assuming a managerial leadership role does not make managers popular with staff; 2) the
capacity to work with these negative projections in a way that helps staff understand organizational
realities, and remain open to hearing their perceptions, recognizing that the manager’s role requires

MAKING THE TRANSITION FROM SPECIALIST TO GENERALIST 381

the ability to develop staff and build bridges/alliances within the organization; and 3) an ability
to carry the negative projections and at the same time retain the manager’s own standards of care
and open-heartedness toward staff who often struggle with their own pain and disappointment over
various management decisions, and then inadvertently conspire with other staff to undermine the
role of the manager.

Through the use of the simulation and subsequent group and individual coaching, participants in
this nonprofit leadership development program came to realize that in order to engage in effective
managerial leadership, they needed to understand the roles they play within their own organizations
and the ways in which others perceive those roles. Program participants who benefited most from
the program were those most willing to explore their personal identity and values in relationship to
the organizational roles of managing and leading.

Thriving

As highlighted in Figure 1, the “Personal Capacity” arrow runs through each of the stages in the
model, indicating the interaction between personal capacity (i.e., for self reflection, coping with
stress and emotion, and understanding personal style) and the transition into the manager role.
By learning how to adapt their personal styles, participants became better able to engage in activities
necessary for effective leadership, including maintaining boundaries and developing professional
relationships. Participants recognized the need to allocate additional on-the-job time to the process
of reflection and identified the following outcomes from their experience in the training program:
1) increased self-confidence in assuming a leadership role, especially in groups, 2) greater willing-
ness to step outside of their comfort zone, 3) increased ability to depersonalize experiences related
to the managerial role, and 4) expanded capacities in achieving a healthier work/life balance.

Participants also engaged in facilitated group and individual coaching that created a safe space
for feedback and reflection needed for participants to engage in honest and candid self-assessment.
Through peer learning and sharing, managers came to understand: 1) the many roles they take on in
their organizations; 2) the roles that complement and conflict with their own sense of identity; and
3) how to pull from and, at times, compensate for certain aspects of their identity in order to assume
the managerial role needed to improve their leadership within the organization. For example, one
of the participants, who initially identified with her staff in rebellion against the existing organiza-
tional structure, ultimately came to build upon the existing organizational structure in order to make
dramatic changes in her department. While this act increased her status as a leader, the participant
also had to revisit aspects of her former managerial identity (that of a manager allied with her staff)
and renew the relationships she had developed in her old role within a new set of boundaries. The
clarity about this process and the willingness to find support both within the organization and from
outside coaches provided the manager with a context for experiencing the managerial role with less
strain than in the past. Two years later, this manager remains at her organization, clearly thriving in
her managerial role. She has restructured her department and gained greater responsibility within
the organization. She was able to reflect on her experience, recognize what she has learned and how
far she has progressed, and was able to share her experiences with others.

DISCUSSION

The experiences of participants in the managerial leadership training program described above
allow for further reflection on the role transitions highlighted in Figure 3. The framework pro-
vides increased clarity with regard to the key steps in establishing managerial role identity. The
evidence presented by participants of a nonprofit leadership program illustrates some of the simi-
larities between nonprofit and for-profit transitions from specialist to generalist. However, there is

382 AUSTIN ET AL.

little in the literature about the relationship between and integration of personal identity formation
and the organizational aspects of managerial role identity. Those who choose to work within non-
profit human service organizations often create career paths based on a personal value system that
shapes their personal identities. When they step into a managerial position and join the hierarchy
of the organization, those personal values are often challenged, as evidenced by the manager who
had trouble going to the cocktail party to raise money, or the manager who so easily slipped into
leading her staff in a rebellion against the management of her own organization, or the manager
who sought coaching when a colleague and friend could no longer sustain the friendship based on
a managerial decision. It is not clear if the constant effort expended by some nonprofit managers to
hold their personal identity in tact as they exercise their positional authority contributes to the high
rate of burnout among nonprofit leaders. While new for-profit managers may “fail” in their role as
managers, they do not seem to burn out. In the case of the nonprofit manager, however, it is highly
likely that the clash between personal identity and role identity makes a significant contribution to
burnout.

Recognizing that this relationship may exist, nonprofit organizations need to acknowledge that
the loss of a reference group used to support personal identity can occur within the transition to
management. Those organizations that support their new managers with education and training that
includes peer feedback may also be providing their managers with an opportunity to develop a new
reference group.

From this analysis, it is clear that more research is needed in the area of nonprofit managerial
leadership, especially since most of the research focuses on the for-profit sector. Additional research
in the nonprofit sector is necessary in order to: 1) identify experiences that are unique to nonprofit
human service agencies, as well as those that are consistent with the for-profit experience; 2) develop
strategies to reduce turnover and burnout at this career stage; 3) identify and evaluate training models
that address the development of a managerial identity; and 4) identify strategies to help managers
make the transition from reactive crisis management to proactive leadership in nonprofit human
service organizations.

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APPENDIX A: DEVELOPING A SENSE OF SELF IN THE TRANSITION FROM
SPECIALIST TO GENERALIST

I. Assessing One’s Emotional Intelligence
• Acquiring the additional human relations skills within the context of adult learning styles

to effectively supervise others (Patton and Pratt, 2002) using Goleman’s (1995) five
domains of emotional intelligence: 1) knowing one’s emotions, 2) managing emotions,
3) motivating oneself, 4) recognizing emotions in others, and 5) handling relationships

II. Assessing One’s Sense of Vulnerability and Isolation
• Identifying and addressing one’s sense of vulnerability as new managers as well as iden-

tifying and building on one’s strengths (Fleming, 2008) to acquire the five major qualities
critical to developing a managerial style: 1) self-confidence, 2) a willingness to accept
responsibility, 3) patience, 4) empathy, and 5) an ability to live with imperfect solutions
(Hill, 2003).

• Dealing with a sense of isolation and the loss of their former specialist status (e.g., the
technical challenge, the explicit goals, the clear standards of comparison, and the reg-
ular recognition; Hill, 2003), new managers need: 1) a new reference group by which
to identify norms, values, and standards for success (Barnes, 1981), and 2) a way
to re-conceptualize their past achievements and discover new ways to measure their
contributions to the organization (e.g., informal peer feedback; Hill, 2003).

III. Utilizing the Perceptions of Others in the Assessment Process
• Experiencing the threat of failure, often for the first time, can heighten the stress and loss

of control associated with the transition (e.g., psychological and/or physical symptoms)
when combined with a reluctance to discuss the emotional impact, leading to feelings of

384 AUSTIN ET AL.

being overwhelmed, trapped in the present, and often unable to plan ahead (Hill, 2003).
Heightened by the pace and type of work, new abilities are needed to quickly shift priori-
ties, accept imperfection, deal with ignorance, manage contradictions, negotiate conflicts,
manage risk, put egos on the line, and come to terms with the power they hold (Hill,
2003).

• Given the new manager’s reluctance to ask for support or guidance, current bosses are
rarely seen as resources based on a fear of being penalized if insecurities, mistakes, or
challenges are disclosed (Hill, 2003, 2007). The resources needed to maintain a work-life
balance and time for self-care can be found in executive coaching (Koonce, 2008).

APPENDIX B: MANAGING ROLE TRANSITIONS IN THE TRANSITION FROM
SPECIALIST TO GENERALIST

I. Seeking Role Clarity
• New managerial role needs to be defined, as well as “clarified,” “communicated,” and

“understood” throughout the organization, especially for former peers or when replacing
a poorly performing manager (Cohen, 2005; Fleming, 2008).

• Increased clarity about roles and responsibilities relate to: 1) the purpose of the work
group, 2) upper management’s expectations of the group, 3) the group’s competencies,
4) the level of expected inter-organizational collaboration, 5) expectations for accountabil-
ity and responsibility, 6) budgetary parameters, 7) organizational philosophy, 8) protocols
for formal communication, 9) opportunities for training and ongoing learning, and
10) limits of formal authority (Gaynor, 2004).

• Discrepancies between the expectations of the constituencies and those of a new manager
require negotiating relationships with superiors, peers, or external stakeholders, espe-
cially the reliance of subordinates on the support of their manager and the reliance of
senior managers on the new manager’s ability to protect the organization and demonstrate
leadership by building relationships, communicating effectively, motivating and gaining
commitment from others (e.g., managing people, not tasks) (Hill, 2003).

II. Managing Ambiguity
• As new managers gain role clarity, they need to: “Embrace individual differences while

embracing a collective identity and goals; they must foster support and at the same time
foster confrontation; they need to focus on performance, while focusing on learning and
development; and they try to balance managerial authority with relying on their team
members’ discretion and autonomy” (Hill, 2003, p. 297).

• By demonstrating comfort with role ambiguity, new managers need the ability to make
decisions about difficult trade-offs, a capacity to look ahead while managing the present,
and a commitment to people, not just the work itself (Hill, 2003).

• In recognizing network-building responsibilities, new managers can become over-
whelmed and stressed by: 1) their own uncertainty about how to simultaneously develop
relationships with subordinates, peers, superiors, and external stakeholders; and 2) their
place on the bottom rungs of the management hierarchy (e.g., dealing with office politics
as well as external relations) (Hill, 2007).

III. Managing Down and Managing Up
• Demonstrating the ability to delegate responsibility, authority, and accountability by

learning how to manage the needs of a group (Fleming, 2008; Hill, 2003) to utilize its
collective strength and sense of empowerment for teams to exercise their own authority to
make decisions that reflect a commitment to team goals (Fleming, 2008; Hill, 2004; Hill,
2007).

MAKING THE TRANSITION FROM SPECIALIST TO GENERALIST 385

• Demonstrating the capacity to manage up as active change initiators, displaying the
capacities to generate ideas and develop the skills to implement those ideas using the fol-
lowing change management principles: 1) recognize need, 2) establish goals, 3) diagnosis,
4) selection of change technique, 5) planning for implementation, 6) implementation, and
7) evaluation and action (Watson, 2001; Hill, 2007; Fleming, 2008).

IV. Balancing Managing with Leading
• Developing leadership strategies beyond the use of formal authority (e.g., use of expert

power over positional power) relies on building inter-dependent relationships based on
trust at the team and organizational levels to develop the influence needed to get things
done (Hill, 2007)

• Establishing credibility based on the perceptions of others regarding motives, character,
competence, and the ability of a manager to deliver the right thing at the right time calls
for the capacity to control one’s response to criticism by relinquishing the need to know
everything, refrain from interpreting disagreement with a subordinate as a challenge to
their authority, develop “thick-skin,” and deliver both positive and negative news effec-
tively (e.g., differentiating between being respected and being liked and between trust in
the professional role and fostering friendship) (Hill, 2003; Crampton, Hodge, and Mishra,
1998).