To Serve is To Lead
The core and foundation of leadership is serving. If we do not know how to serve others with respect or without willingness, how effective will your leadership be when you have several individuals depending on you on a professional level? No matter how small the task is, it can amount to a larger role. If you are not content with the “now,” what will you do when the “more” comes, demanding greater requirements of you on many levels. For example, if you have impatience for group projects and the people in your group, will you later have the patience with collaborating with individuals of different levels of a company?
The best way to start leadership development is to do volunteer work. Simply serve others and not in a self-serving way but with a serving mindset, focused on others.
Though I am naturally an introvert, I have volunteered in several different areas that called for different forms of leadership including mentoring, teaching, and collaboration. Two experiences that have impacted me as a leader is my time as a volunteer at Crisis Pregnancy Center and being a student project manager for a service learning project.
Crisis Pregnancy Center Supply Closet
As a former Crisis Pregnancy Center volunteer, I organized donation supplies that were given by community members to the Center and assisted expecting mothers in the Center’s Boutique. This might sound very basic, but quite often two supply rooms would be flooded with unorganized donations, and anxious mothers needing a friendly face for shopping assistance or even therapy shopping. As a volunteer, I saw counselors freely serve these expecting mothers. Take time out of their day to mentor them, offer them rides to/from appointments and work so these young moms did not have to take the bus, run errands for them, and be there for them emotionally and physically throughout the whole process of the pregnancy.
What I Learned
Are we entirely willing to be there for someone’s process?
Service Learning Project-Community Garden Build
As a former project manager of a high school service learning project, our team collaborated our high school students with middle school and elementary students to build a community garden not only for the community program but for the STEM program as well. We interacted, encouraged, and taught our younger peers the importance of what we were doing as a team. Seeing these younger peers excited and motivated of their contribution, is a breathe of air for a leader.
What I learned
Do we take the time to pass on guidance and encouragement?
Volunteering Insight You Can Apply
- Anyone Can Serve
- Everyone Needs an Extra Hand
- Not Quantity but Quality
- Work with What You Have
- There is No Age Discrimination for Delegating Duties
Break the introvert/anti-socialness within you and get out there and find ways to serve!
Gabrielle Abacan: Cultivating Leadership 