AI-generated image of a booster club meeting by DALL-E

Prior to my last post, it had been almost 2 months since I shared my thoughts here on this humble blog, and the response from you my dear readers was overwhelming. Overwhelmingly non-existent, but I digress. With the volume of email we all get, not to forget RSS feeds for some as well, I am sure my musings may have taken a backseat to everything else going on in the world.

What was the reason for this? I’ve recently gotten a little busier than the typical busy that my life is. So what am I doing? I was recently elected the president of my kids high school sports Booster Club.

The Booster Club is a 501(c)3 non-profit organization that is independent of the school yet tied to it by its charter. I’ve been involved for the last two years, helping with the Web site and starting an email newsletter. As I realized these could be handled by more creative and marketing focused-people plus an opening for this leadership position, I decided to jump in, of course with my wife’s blessing.

When I told people what I was doing this I got a variety of reactions, everything from, “congratudolences” to why on earth would I want to do that. To that end I am able to sum up my reasons in one word: impact.

In this election year here in the US, I’ve repeatedly heard a phrase familiar to me over the years attributed to the late historian James Bryce regarding someone taking on a top leadership position: the presidency is open to anyone who has the audacity to believe they can do it. Even for a position like the president of a Booster Club I think you have to believe similarly. Yes, I can take on this leadership role and yes, I can fulfill it to the best of my abilities. For me that was a big part of it, but equally important is it’s helping me fulfill something in missing in my life, in having a leadership position that I don’t quite have elsewhere.

Similar Yet Different

When I put my hat in the ring I knew a little of what I was getting into as I’ve had leadership roles in non-profit organizations in the past. Most notably in the early 2000s I was president of the Boston Jaycees, a member-run leadership organization that was affiliated with a larger US-based and international society. The Boston chapter had just under 100 members and all the challenges you think you’d have with an organization of young people trying to make a difference in their community. Our greatest one was recruiting new members. People would have to commit not only a membership dues but also to being involved as we were volunteer-run; we needed people to be active and run projects, ideally creating a base that would be the future leadership of the chapter. I recall from that time period someone telling me that your job as a leader to find your successor, something that is in the back of my mind as I commence this new role.

Impact to me is two-fold. First there’s the organization’s impact on the community. In this case the Booster Club serves the high school athletic programs with equipment and funds from the money we raise from donations and concession sales. Then there’s the personal impact. This is satisfaction from the good I and all the others involved do in growing our Booster Club and in the support we provide. It’s that personal pride from a job well done and overcoming challenges.

That part about growing the Booster Club is something that’s not entirely new to me, and probably even greater than it was the last time I encountered it. Back in the late 90s and early 2000 with the Jaycees, we were competing for the time of young adults against them staying home, watching cable TV and playing video games. If they actually did something, many would want minimal commitment. The Booster Club audience is grown adults who have very active children participating in sports, academics and other activities and sometimes the last thing those parents want to do is work in a concession stand slinging burgers and hot dogs, let alone take a leadership or other role in the club.

Back to the personal impact, back when I was the Jaycees president I would occasionally hear snarky comments that I was in it to stroke my own ego. Sure, to say that you’re the “president” of something can boost one a bit, but it is a healthy reminder as well that in order to fulfill the position you have to rise up. You have to be a better person than you are and sometimes you got a bear the brunt of things that you may not think you should in order to ensure progress, whether it’s lending a hand in different areas, having tough conversations with people and putting new, bold initiatives out there.

As I reflect on just the past few months I’ve been at the helm of the Booster Club it’s so far so good, but there’s much to do. Hopefully it’s won’t continue to curtail my blogging or other activities that I enjoy.

Deconstructing Stepping Up to Volunteer Leadership

I’ve often said there’s never a best time for anything and this is true whether it’s volunteering leadership or making a difference in an organization. For myself, even though I’ve been through this before, I’ve always enjoyed it and I’m looking forward to this new role with new people and opportunities before me and the opportunity to make an impact in the community and myself.

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This is from The Hot Iron, a journal on business and technology by Mike Maddaloni.

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