Deirdre Reid writes about association and business management, with a focus on building communities in the association, non-profit and business world. She also shares her ideas at Reid All About It and on Twitter.
On my flights to ASAE09 I read Cynthia D’Amour’s book “Lazy Leader’s Guide to Outrageous Results.” If you know Cynthia’s blog, you’ll recognize her bullet point style. This easy-reading format makes her book a perfect read for traveling.
She says that it’s not about you, the volunteer leader, it’s about others, so stop being a martyr and empower others to become leaders too. It’s a shift in attitude and behavior.
• Develop others rather than doing all the work.
• Invite people to have a fun and meaningful experience.
• Celebrate the work of others.
As I read I remembered a chapter whose membership committee meetings were sadly predictable. The same old small crowd always showed up. New faces came and never returned. There was a lot of familiar banter but no energy or excitement. Members volunteered for tasks but nothing ever seemed to happen. Chairs were hard to get and usually appointed for political reasons. They served but didn’t lead. Why would anyone spend their precious time with this group? Sound familiar?
So if you were staff, what would you do to help this committee get off life support?
• Shift your leadership culture. Budget for copies of Cynthia’s book and give them to all leaders – new and old.
• Throw a party to create goals and tactics for this committee. Market this party in every new way you can think of so you can reach all your members. Find sponsors so you can provide free drinks and munchies. Buzz it up!
• Set up comfortable seating where members can relax and brainstorm together. Make it very unlike your regular meetings. Anything is possible when it comes to ideas. Don’t be imprisoned by your traditions and old mindsets. Don’t shut down any ideas. Have the crowd select the best of the bunch.
• Look for new leadership recruits in the crowd. Think diverse. Invite them to join a new team.
• Share your crowd-sourced goals and tactics with the entire membership. Recognize those who came to the party. Invite more participation. Keep the buzz going.
• Work with your new leadership team to break the goals or tactics down into projects. Invite a member to lead each project; don’t rely on the standard call for volunteers. Help them to create their team so more members get involved and no one is overloaded with work.
• Support new ways for them to work together beyond the traditional meetings – conference calls, online chats, wikis, whatever works for them.
Be ready to deal with the insulted egos and hearts of the members who have been showing up for years, but remember that they’re not doing much to help the association move forward. Be kind, keep them engaged and honor their service but don’t be held back by the “we’ve always done it that way” crowd. The same old ways don’t work anymore.
Great post, Deirdre! My association will be assessing our current committee structure to see what improvements can be made and create a more meaningful experience for our committee members. I shared your insights with the group who was tasked to start doing this. What’s great to know is that, based on what you wrote, we’re headed in the right direction. Cheers!
Thanks, Toni, that’s great news. Keep us all posted (via Twitter and your blog) on how that’s working.
Deidre, thrilled you loved my Lazy Leader book. We can truly transform associations if we can get the Martyr Leaders to allow others to get involved by being a Lazy Leader.
Thanks for a fab review and nice application!
Cynthia
Deirdre, I appreciate this and whatever other advice you can offer now that I’m inheriting the Membership Committee.
Insights contributor Deirdre Reid is inspired by Cynthia D’Amour’s book on leadership, offers assn committee tips: http://ow.ly/lgND
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Great job, Deirdre! RT @DeirdreReid: Get your committees off life support – my post today on SmartBlog Insights – http://bit.ly/xQhAM
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You both do! RT @CynthiaDAmour You rock Deirdre! RT @DeirdreReid: Get yr cmttees off life support – SmartBlog Insights – http://bit.ly/xQhAM
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Get your committees off life support http://bit.ly/qjxU1 via @AddToAny
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Good stuff RT @CynthiaDAmour: You rock Deirdre! RT @DeirdreReid: Get your comms off life support – SmartBlog Insights – http://bit.ly/xQhAM
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Get your committees off life support http://bit.ly/1Wl7Wv
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Thanks @martintirado and @bkbwyo for your RTs on my post – Get Your Committees Off Life-Support – http://bit.ly/xQhAM
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@CynthiaDAmour’s Lazy Leader book changed the way I think about volunteering. Read @deirdrereid’s take on it. http://bit.ly/1Wl7Wv
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Get Yr Assoc Committees Off Life Support by @DeirdreReid [Thoughts on @CynthiaDAmour 's Lazy Leader Bk] http://ow.ly/ngzh
This comment was originally posted on Twitter