In my years of coaching, recruiting and training women, the biggest difference I’ve seen between women who get ahead and those who don’t is that the ones who get ahead possess confidence.
Among that elite group women, those who show confidence and kindness rise to the top.
Today’s post is something you can share with your emerging and existing leaders to encourage them to take their community involvement a step further and engage in a non-profit board of directors. Come to think of it, as a leader yourself, you should consider this route as well. What are you waiting for?
For both experienced leaders and up and comers, it’s important to get involved in your local community. Non profit board involvement has numerous benefits. In fact, being part of a non-profit organization can be one of the most rewarding leadership experiences you can ever gain.
But many people shy away from this type of service. Here are the top three excuses I hear from leaders.
1. Who would want me? I’m not qualified.
Quit discounting your abilities, no matter how old or young you are! What a board of directors needs is your genuine interest and your time. They need you to be present and make a positive difference. And they need the many skills and talents you may not even realize you possess.
2. How would I ever fit it into my schedule? I’m too busy.
Yep, so is everybody else I know. Here’s one way to fit it in: think about where you already are in life and consider organizations that fall within your areas of interest. If you have kids, consider non-profits that involve children. There’s no better way to maximize your time and interests.
3. Where would I even start? What would I do?
Research. Find out the non-profits and organizations that interest you. Volunteer with them to make sure you like their mission and how they operate. Spend time getting to know their leaders. And, when you are ready, let their Executive Director know you are interested.
Above all else, make sure you find an organization whose mission aligns with your passion. You need to learn, live and love the message of the non-profit you are supporting. It needs to fit into your life perfectly. We are all way too busy these days to spend time furthering a mission or message that we don’t understand or have to force ourselves to get excited about! Whatever you are supporting needs to come from the heart.
If you love books, how about getting involved in your local library? On the flip side, if you’re not a pet lover, the humane society is probably not the right fit for you. Consider your Local Chamber of Commerce. Want to get more involved with your church in a meaningful way? Find a committee or board position.
We need more women leaders at the top of organizations, starting their own businesses and serving on both non-profit and for-profit boards. The only way we can increase our numbers in those arenas is to stop making excuses and just do it.
Take the plunge, serve as an example and others will follow!
If you take a look at both existing and emerging leaders in organizations, you’ll find that most of them are active in the community. They serve on boards, they volunteer with non profits, and they initiate community action in a number of other ways.
Volunteer work offers benefits at every stage of one’s career. Business leaders gain exposure and experience by working with different types of teams and organizations. Emerging leaders can apply the things they’ve learned volunteering as they rise through the ranks. In fact, volunteer work benefits anyone at any level of the organization and the organization itself – from better engaged employees to retention to positive PR in the community.
Here’s one article in a terrific series on the Business Case for Employee Volunteering. I think you’ll find the entire series enlightening.
I’m interested in hearing about your employee volunteer programs, particularly how they help your leaders become better and stronger assets to your organization. Leave a comment below and share!
Hey, leaders: many of your highest performers want to be involved in the community.
Guess what? You need to encourage it AND reward it! Some of the best organizations have this threaded into performance reviews. How wonderful!
When realizing that I was ready to launch this executive coaching business, I interviewed about 100 women and asked them, “What is your greatest challenge?” Ninety-nine of them told me the same thing: Work-Life Balance. It doesn’t matter if you have small kids, grown kids, step kids or no kids; the challenge of managing the logistics of home and life are, at times, simply overwhelming.
I often ask women, how do they do it? How do they manage a career and a balanced life? Here are some things to consider that I’ve learned over time:
1. Change! Realize that the balance equation changes daily, weekly, annually. And, when you are single the demands are different than when you are married. Throw young kids in the mix and the dynamics change again. It’s okay to stay home with your kids, put your career on hold, go part time. Be comfortable with change.
2. Unique! You are unique. No one else has the same standards, values and schedule that you do. As much as you can learn from others, you have to create the system that works for you. And, by the way, who cares what other people think? Ignore those who will judge you.
3. Help! Most women are terrible at asking for help. So, they do it all. And, they are unhappy and exhausted. They may hint around to their husbands/partners that would like support around the house or they may subtly suggest that having someone clean for them would be nice. Just get some help to ease the burden.
At the end of every day, you need to ask yourself: do you enjoy what you are doing at work and at home? What is throwing off your balance? Then, if needed, take measures to change things.
“If you neglect to recharge a battery, it dies. And if you run full-speed ahead without stopping for water, you lose momentum to finish the race.”
–Oprah Winfrey
Unfortunately, it appears that work life balance isn’t getting better here in the United States. This study prepared by SHRM last year suggests that 54% of American’s call the work/balance issue a “significant” one.
Companies today need to care for the “whole person.” Work/Life balance is about how employees feel at home and at work and one impacts the other. When your employees can’t focus on their home responsibilities, their work will suffer. Of course, when you help to create balance for your employees, you get higher productivity and happier employees.
This isn’t breaking news. So why, then, is it still a problem? I’d love to hear from you about ways you’ve been able to help improve this balance for your employees!
Amy Reilly
My Current Job/Company:
Vice President, Organizational Effectiveness at Standard Register in Dayton, Ohio.
My Birthdate:
October 29
My Work:
Responsible for providing the design and implementation of all human resources strategies-organization development, talent acquisition, compensation and benefits, communications and public relations, governance, branding, security, labor relations, facilities and affirmative action/diversity.
My Passion:
My family, My friends, My Work
My Family:
Pete (Husband) and my daughters, Shannon (15) and Megan (12)
My Heroes:
Jim and Molly Slatt (my parents). Simply put, they are the best!
My Escape:
Anywhere where I can relax with my family/friends—just enjoying the “moments”
My Pet Peeve:
Pessimists/Negative people. They can suck the life right out of you if you let them.
My Indulgences:
Getting pedicures with my girlfriends, shopping and purses
My Roots:
Grew up in the small town of Bellbrook, Ohio. A strong, nurturing and supportive family unit, I am an only child—I always wanted an older sister or brother!
My Future:
Busy, Challenging and Fulfilling
My Love:
My daughters. I love both of their unique personalities. I am just trying to hold on to every moment of them growing up.
My Movie:
There are so many great movies—Grease, Top Gun, The Notebook, The Hangover
My Quote on Life:
“Do not follow where the path may lead. Go instead where there is no path and leave a trail”
– Ralph Waldo Emerson
My Accessory:
My Purses, and my BlackBerry
My Advice to Young Women:
Make a commitment to network and connect with high achieving women on a regular basis—learn everything you can from them. Be a good listener/observer. Also, do what you LOVE, don’t settle for anything less.
How I Balance it All:
Am I balancing it all?! HA! It is a day-to-day challenge. I am extremely fortunate that my parents live close by. I count on them for so much!! My husband is a huge help too. He is always willing to step in and help out. I have always been very disciplined and organized-at home and at work. My daughters would probably tell you I am organized to the extreme! But, I think you have to be in order to hold it all together in this fast-paced, crazy, over-scheduled world we live in.
In my experience, young professionals are getting a bad rap. People claim they feel entitled, they are too casual, they don’t want to work 40-hour work weeks. They say these “kids” are connected to technology not relationships. I am here to tell you differently! I have hired several interns over the past four years and each one has completely knocked my socks off.
Like you, I believed the stereotypes and I set my expectations low. I was concerned about results as I brought each one on. And, each one overwhelmed me with their level of productivity, professionalism and all around positive attitude.
Of course, I knew it was important to create a structure to help them be successful. While these were short term internships, I did talk to them extensively about what was important to them in full time employment. Here’s what I learned:
• Work/Life Balance: No surprise here; we have heard it often. Young professionals don’t want to be tied to an office for no reason. They want balance. So, I allowed my interns to work from home and did not “watch the clock.” They were incredibly productive and usually got the job done much quicker than I ever anticipated!
• Respect Ideas: Don’t treat young employees as if they don’t know anything. Encourage engagement and ask them what they think. Even if they don’t have an opinion ask them to research the topic and come back to you with an informed point of view. Believe me, they can get online and find information much faster than most.
• Social Engagement: Show how your company makes a difference in the community and cares about the environment. Young professionals and specifically the millennials like to work for “green” organizations. This is high on their list of important attributes when deciding who to work for and with. Show them that your company not only gives back but pays forward. If your company hasn’t even put a recycling program in place (and you’d be surprised how many have not) you better get one going if you want to entice quality young professionals to come and work for you.
• Career Path: Young professionals want advancement, fast! They are ready to hit the ground running and if you don’t show them upward mobility, they will leave. They like to see lots of steps and progression. Remember, these were the kids who are known as the “trophy kids” – the ones who were constantly receiving awards and feeling good about finishing. They are wired this way.
The fact is, the average tenure of a young professional is only about 3.5 years. They just don’t see the value on long-term employment the way previous generations do. Who can blame them? After their parents dedicated their entire lives to their employers, many of them have lost their jobs in the past few years.
If you recognize that working with this new generation of employees is going to be different and embrace their unique attributes, you can experience what I did – that these young professionals have a desire for meaningful work, they are incredibly quick with technology and they are enormously productive.
Besides, you’ll never have to buy them a company lap top – they already have their own!
“Young people are fitter to invent than to judge; fitter for execution than for counsel; and more fit for new projects than for settled business.”
– Francis Bacon