How about telling her the truth about what you have noticed. Acknowledge her abilities and drive and ask her about her desire for growth, be open to the possibly it could be in a different dept. If she is a great employee, and you genuinely want what's best for the company and her, then let her grow in the direction she is naturally gravitating toward. Of course until there is opportunity for this growth to occur, then she needs to follow directions and work within her own team and department unless it is discussed beforehand. If she cannot 'stay in her lane' as you put it after that conversation, I would consider that disrespectful and worthy of reconsideration. Also, how are the other departments communicating with you on the assignments they are giving her/allowing her to take on?

I’m not sure I like a lot of the advice given here. You are trying to load her down with work so she “stays in her lane”? Your issue is not with her; your issue is with the directors from other departments who are allowing her to take on difficult tasks when they know she is your direct report. Is she making big mistakes or failing to keep up with the work you assign her? If she is successfully handling multiple challenging projects, I wouldn’t consider that a “problem”. Someone who can perform difficult cross functional assignments is an asset and hard to find. Why does the CEO want to “rein her in”? This sounds like a pretty toxic work environment and too heavily focused on heirarchy.

I think you've got some great suggestions above and that you'll have the ability to message them into a good fit for the organization as well as for your direct report and your team. It's not an all or nothing thing. She's getting good reactions from the other teams she's helping, but she's also bringing some negative attention to herself and to you by not following proper channels. If you can help her see the good and the not-so-good about her actions and reframe things within a structure that benefits everyone, it becomes win-win.

I suggest putting her on a career pathing plan. This should be well-defined and fit within the parameters of your business's culture, of course. Meet with her and discuss what this can look like and let her know that you recognize her enthusiasm and energy and that this career pathing plan will help steer her career growth in the right direction. This plan will give you a way to help her develop without diminishing her drive and give you the peace of mind in knowing that you are helping a young woman to learn better collaboration and communications skills (all necessary and important in any business). Meet once every two weeks for 30-45 minutes to discuss her progress and have her bring a list of what she's worked on and accomplished in those two weeks before each meeting so you have a productive meeting each time. I did this with a direct report years ago and it worked perfectly. A few years after we starting working together, his then wife-to-be couldn't thank me enough for helping him to mature and develop into the fine professional he became. Her comment gave me the warm and fuzzies and reinforced how important it is to give young talent a hand up. Good luck!

This is really the most challenging kind of personality to manage. When you have your next sit-down with this person, let her know that yes, indeed, she is garnering attention outside of your department, but not in a good way. She deserves to know that. Then encourage her to work with you to find ways in which she can find greater satisfaction doing things that will help further her career aspirations. I know, you've already been giving her challenging projects and opportunities, but maybe if you include her in the decision-making about those projects, she might be more willing to accept your mentoring. My experience has been when you let these kinds of situations just "play out" it never ends well. You have an opportunity to really provide some valuable mentoring to this person. If she will accept it, it will be likely be a great learning opportunity for both of you.

Future cluster in my opinion. Very fun to watch if you aren't in the same department but can be distracting and highly unproductive if left unchecked. While it's all harmless fun & games now, it's easy for this to spin out of control and then you'll be crushing her spirit or letting her go.

Lis, Rachel, and Melissa have awesome suggestions! Quick question: why does the CEO think she needs to reign it in? Is your department suffering or her work not getting done? If she is adding value, it seems like an opportunity for a new, cross-functional position, maybe reporting to you and employing some of the other suggestions - like the ratio of %/% department work, process docs, regular one-on-ones. But also, non-profits always need more ... help, money, resources, initiative champions. What else can she take on that supports your mission? Sounds like a challenge, but one that could reward you as well. Best of luck to you!

One minute manager has given me the right words to use for redirects. It's a quick, easy read. Also, I document all redirects.