Walking into the celebration this weekend brought back a whirlwind of memories and emotions. From the smell of the hallways to the loud voices of the hundreds of people there to say goodbye to our executive director, I felt home again. By far, this was my most meaningful volunteer experience of my career- president of this temple. And although I offered countless hours working with gifted volunteers and professional staff, what I learned and what I gained from this role was beyond measure. This extraordinary opportunity added critical skills to my leadership toolbox enhancing the way l lead today.
How did volunteering grow my leadership?
What leadership skills can we build through a volunteer experience?
THE IMPORTANCE OF CLEAR AND OPEN COMMUNICATION
As a volunteer as well as in our leadership, our message is only as strong as our choice of words and non-verbal cues. No matter the information I needed to disseminate, whether in written or spoken form, it would never be received without clarity.
- Think about the meaning of your words before presenting them.
- Choose the best tone to be heard. When we are condescending, no one will be open to our ideas.
- Keep emails and written documents clean and free of grammatical errors. Be a detailed proofreader.
- Share the whole story, not just pieces. Omitted facts can trip up the best of leaders.
THE ABILITY TO INFLUENCE OTHERS
Before rolling out any project or plan, make sure to have all your ducks lined up. That means, take time to speak to all the stakeholders and be open to their initial feedback. Sometimes the meetings before or after the real meeting can be the most influential. Get the key people to support you before diving in. I learned how to do this the hard way, which ended up costing me extra time to explain and explain.
THE NEED TO ADD COMPASSION
Compassion is our ability to help others with challenges they may be facing. Our executive director was great at this and helped many in the community deal with difficult times and issues. Watching her show empathy towards their struggles and then having compassion to work things through made her the face of our congregation. Having compassion encourages people on our teams to share the truth.
[Tweet “Adding compassion to our leadership creates truthful teams.”]
THE BEST WAYS TO LISTEN
Listening is probably a leader’s most precious gift. In my volunteer position, I spent countless hours listening to the different perspectives of an issue. Everyone has an opinion and everyone is deserving of being heard. And besides, that one suggestion could be the best solution.
- Be willing to turn over and consider all possibilities.
- Ask for input and ask follow-up questions about it.
- Try not to jump to conclusions or blurt out, “We’ve done that before and it doesn’t work.”
- Listen fully to what is being shared without interrupting or finishing someone’s sentence. (This can be tough when we think we know what they are going to say.)
HOW TO BE A STRONG TEAM PLAYER OR LEADER
Each person on our team is important and can add a valuable contribution. Having that mindset empowers individuals to want to put their best foot forward even when their suggestion isn’t the one the team chooses. In the beginning of my volunteering at this organization, I was insecure and felt my ideas had to always be used. What I learned was that sometimes I needed to put a team member’s suggestion into action, and that was the best decision.
[Tweet “A leader draws upon the suggestions of their co-workers and colleagues.”]
WHY TRANSPARENCY AND TRUST RULE
Number one lesson for all leaders- cultivate an environment of trust. When team members feel safe and trust one another transparency and accountability will follow. Getting to know what was important to the professional staff as well as the volunteers on my board, helped me be a stronger leader.
- Find out about your team member’s families.
- Discover the hidden talents and interests of the people you connect with.
- Share your dreams too.
HOW TO KEEP CORE VALUES FRONT AND CENTER
One of the keys for impactful leadership is knowing what values drive us and how to integrate them into our daily routines. The executive director valued people and always made sure to consider how others might react to a change. When she worked with all the volunteers she allowed us to vent our concerns. As she valued belonging to a community and establishing meaningful relationships as foremost, all her choices flowed from there.
How has volunteering helped you grow your leadership? What leadership skills have blossomed from your volunteer roles?
(Image Credit: Pixabay Shane Gaughan)
One of my favorite leadership positions was also one of my most hated – I was the president of our HOA. If I had simply pushed my ideas forward, it would have led to homeowner turnover and sales would have suffered too. Nobody likes a HOA with a bad rep for not listening to residents.
As for your piece here, I love that you emphasized how you saw leading with compassion modeled. It’s an essential part of leadership that differentiates the cold process driven leaders from the ones who have an entire community turn out when they ultimately leave.
Thanks, Terri!
Alli
Your experience with the HOA must have been an eye opener since it involved people’s personal financial investments.I have heard crazy stories about HOA politics and how the discussions became very heated and emotional. So kudos to you for volunteering! Listening is key and then being able to integrate everyone’s opinions can be a real challenge.
Thanks for sharing with us Alli!
This is a great post Terri Klass —I have learned SO MUCH about leadership through volunteering and you hit upon a very important point: when working with volunteers, the tone of our voice becomes extremely important! The folks we are leading can quit at any time—there is no leverage like wages or benefits. And yet, the work still must be done. I have found that volunteering has demanded that my leadership style be flexible to meet the needs of different people carrying out different jobs. It is truly not a “one size fits all” sort of approach. Because of that, I’ve had to read people and then tailor my approach into something that will produce the best results.
Volunteering can be tricky with the idea that one can leave if they feel unappreciated or not valued. However, I have found that when volunteers connect with the cause and believe in the mission, they are willing to share so much of themselves.
I agree that we need to flex when dealing with volunteers and sometimes understanding more deeply why they chose a particular organization, can really help in empowering them to lead successfully.
Thanks LaRae!
Terri,
Volunteering is a terrific way to enhance leadership skills as you highlight in this post. Alli and LaRae have shared terrific perspectives as well.
My volunteer work for Habitat for Humanity both in week long blitz builds and local day builds has shown me the future of leadership. The leadership structure on the sites is not a command and control hierarchy. Rather it is a network of alliances built as volunteers move into multi-dimensional leadership, create teams on the fly and rally around a shared purpose.
Everyone at the work site is a leader in one way or another. And that has been a huge take away for me. I show up and lead differently because of that volunteer experience.
Leadership is not always about being the one in front. Sometimes the place to lead from is behind. Other times it is from the side or in the field.
The key is to take all of your points to heart and as you so eloquently stated remember that when “volunteers connect with the cause and believe in the mission, they are willing to share so much of themselves.”
Your experience with Habitat for Humanity sounded like an amazing leadership opportunity! I love that each volunteer led from wherever they were and felt so connected to the purpose. Knowing the why is key for each of us. It helps us to be leaders with meaningful goals and build deep relationships.
Thanks so much Terri for sharing your extraordinary volunteer story and all of the lessons you learned!
Thank you for a thought -provoking post Terri!
Volunteer roles have taught me so much more about curiosity, collaboration, courage, grit, communication, influence, and diplomacy than the positions I’ve been paid to do.
It really is amazing how much we can grow our leadership through volunteering. It sounds like you have put many hours into volunteering which has in turn provided you with amazing life lessons and experiences. Thank you for that!
Thanks Chery for sharing your perspectives with us! I appreciate you!