This month we talk about how community service is more than just volunteering – it is a leadership opportunity as well as a reflection of your view on the world!
PODCAST TRANSCRIPTION
Carol: Hello!
Katie: Hello – from Skirt Strategies.
Carol: How are you today?
Katie: Another month, another topic.
Carol: That’s right.
Katie: And this one is about Community Service. Skirt Strategies bringing it to you – the topic of Community Service and Women in Leadership for those of you that see yourself as high potential women – moving through the world with great effect.
Carol: Yes.
Katie: Why would you see was Community Service – what’s the relationship for Community Service for you and a woman in leadership? Where is the connection there?
Carol: Well, I think Community Service teaches you a lot about leadership. And what’s interesting is it teaches you about volunteer leadership – because you were trying to get people to do things for you that you’re not paying.
Katie: And you don’t have the leverage.
Carol: It’s quite different, but what a better way to get that leadership skill of motivating people without necessarily having money to motivate them.
Katie: Right.
Carol: Every single one of my jobs – except for being in business for myself has come from a leadership position I held in a Community Service Organization.
Katie: Oh! So it’s been what kind of got you in the business world as well.
Carol: Right. Do not ever hesitate to take on more responsibility in those Community Service jobs. And I don’t mean to say jobs through – you’re a volunteer as well.
But it really teaches you how to be a good leader when you can manage a meeting, get an agenda together and get people going, have a big picture – that kind of big picture thinking that we say that women do so well.
Katie: Aha.
Carol: You get the big picture and then you lead the troops. And no better way to do that than with volunteers.
Katie: Well, I kind of laugh at that because saying “Don’t hesitate to take on more.” We’re usually doing the opposite. We’re usually taking on way too more – way too much more in philanthropic environments. So we’re overcommitted.
But I started wondering – Why is it that you look at the women that you know in your world? And how many of them (if you had to compare, this is dangerous to do – I know, but just follow me for a minute.)
If you had to compare how much community involvement they have versus their male counterparts. I’m not sure I know of many where the man is as much or more involved in philanthropic Community Volunteer Services than the woman is.
Carol: True.
Katie: And I think I wonder what that comes from. Well, some of it comes from you generationally – mothers and grandmothers.
You know, my mother and grandmother were involved in junior league, in the garden club and all sorts of stuff that they could stay busy in because they didn’t have a job and their husbands work.
Carol: Right.
Katie: And it’s translated to the modern day generations quite readily. But I don’t think it’s just because it’s a leftover. I think there is something about – I know there’s something about the way women look at the holistic view of where we fit into the world.
Our jobs aren’t just a job. We don’t just go do it when we come back. We like it to have meaning. We like to be able to make an impression or difference in the world around us in our community.
So to us – our job doing that is not much different than a community volunteer positon doing that. It’s just natural for us.
Carol: Yeah – pat on the back. But I’m going to put a challenge out there – because many times, we take on the jobs, the real jobs in these Community Service Organizations. It’s a whole lot easier to be the word President than to be the person who puts together the option – just saying.
Katie: What is this hitting on for me? Okay.
Carol: Yeah, you really do… It’s still work.
Katie: It’s a lot of work. You mean the committee member? The actual – “getting your hands dirty stuff” than the board…
Carol: Yeah. I’m just trying to help with some work life balance here too. Because if you are taking on work, family and community service – I want it to be easy enough for you and I wanted to teach you the leadership skills you need to apply them in your job – those transferrable skills that do apply in your job.
Katie: Yeah.
Carol: And when people see you as a leader in a Community Service Organization, they’re going to see you as a leader in your Organization.
Katie: Absolutely true. And you’re a testimony to that – because you moved into your real job, paid job.
Carol: But be good at it. Run the meeting. Be dictatorial if you have to. Well, I guess…
Katie: You just move on from here. It is a great place to be able to practice your skills.
Carol: Yeah.
Katie: So I would leave our followers with two key points with that.
Number 1 – Use those leadership skills. Maybe use the community environment to be able to practice them and polish them – because you’ve got a little bit more grace there.
Carol: Because you are a volunteer. That’s right.
Katie: Yeah. You’re less likely to get kicked off in a committee. You might not be liked, but you won’t be fired.
Carol: You’re less likely to be liked.
Katie: And secondly – Think about what community involvement can be brought into your actual workplace. If you’re in charge in a department, if you have your own small business and maybe there are some employees – there’s community around you.
How about a workday in the community where you go out and you clean the neighborhood or you have them in for a brownbag and you teach them what your business does and how you like to be supportive of what’s going on around you – if the nature of your job is something like that or pick a day in the [Inaudible][0:05:52.3] into a book drive for the local elementary school – all those fun things that are there. And listen to how I said they’re fun. It’s too much fun.
Carol: We do see this stuff as fun. And just to let you know – we have a lot of different tips in the book. And one that I can remember, that I thought was just fascinating was – getting all of your employees to vote on what project they wanted to support you next year.
Katie: Oh, yeah! I like that.
Carol: And then once they voted – and everybody gets to the lobby for their own project. But once everybody voted, everybody gets behind that project.
And then you have something – kind of the skilled building, team building thing that you’re working on all the time to make your team better at work.
Katie: Oh! It gives everyone else a little wider if you have the world as well.
Carol: Right. Yeah.
Katie: Okay. Good. You’re so smart. You should write a book.
Carol: Just a thought. Yeah. We wrote it.
Katie: Yeah. Okay. So we’ll leave it at that.
Carol: Yes.
Katie: More on this – for those of you that are monthly subscribers. And we love you – our monthly subscribers pay only $27 a month.
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Carol: It is fun.
Katie: It’s tons of fun.
Carol: I get it. It’s fabulous.
Katie: So those of you that are free – we love you, we love having you. But if you ever want to take it up a notch and see us more often – who could possibly not want that?
Every Monday – $27 a month at the subscribe level at Skirt Strategies. Love you! And we’ll see you next month.
Carol: Ciao!
Katie: Ciao baby! Bye.
Carol: Bye.
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