Lisa Junker challenges us to think about the potential alternative interpretations of what we say as we move through our day in her posting More influence than you think. Her example illustrates a familiar situation in today’s market: "We're going through a rough time" can be interpreted as "We're all going to lose our jobs" by a nervous employee.

My partner Peter Houstle uses the phrase “unintended consequences” to describe the phenomenon which we see all too frequently in national-chapter relationships. For example, recently we had a national organization request (actually more of demand) that we take several years of financials and reorganize based on a format they provided. The reason was unclear.

In another situation, the message from national regarding the broadcast email policy included the phrases “the marketing department reserves the right to refuse this service…” and “Please note:  Due to our extremely limited resources…” with liberal use of boldface and red type.

The most difficult communication though was the one where we (the chapter) were told to respond to the IRS letter and pay the penalty for late submission of 990 which was handled by national.

At the chapter level all three of these examples are heard much differently than I’m assuming the national office meant (at least let me give them the benefit of doubt). In the first, we heard “you don’t have anything else of critical importance to do.” Number 2 suggests that the chapter is definitely down on the priority list and possibly at the bottom if things continue to get worse. Number 3 is simply teaching us not to trust national to get things done – and that irresponsibility is acceptable.

Each of these cases frustrated the local boards and their staff making them less likely to cooperate. When you are considering working with chapters – who are mix of volunteers and staff, and who are members – it is worth doing as Lisa suggests: think about how your body language, voice, and overall attitude communicates as well.

Think about where your chapter leader may get this message (in their work in-box, at home after a busy work day, at a leadership conference far away from where they can act on it).

Consider where it may fall on their list of priorities. And remember that chapter leaders generally spend less than 10% of their professional life focused on the duties of their chapter. This means that there attention is distracted and their focus limited. Think of it as if each time they come to the table they are essentially going through a quick re-orientation. So you may think you’ve explained everything, but they only heard about 40% of it, mentally filed 15% of that and can quickly recall 10% of that.

Do you take the time to consider potential unintended readings of your words and actions in working with your chapters?

The greater the percentage of involved members, the greater the potential recruiting power of an association.

Consider (1) the probability of being promoter of your association increases with involvement & (2) word-of-mouth is the greatest recruitment tool. That's the ROI of increasing volunteerism. Note: based on Decision to Join, ASAE & The Center.

Matt Baer offered five short-term, ad-hoc volunteer jobs he'd love to have in response to my meme on volunteerism (read other great responses here).

When you read Matt's full five you'll notice that he focused on identifying ones he says are not common and may in fact not even be out there. It was that comment in particular that caught my eye. Our volunteers don't always want to the same old options. And sometimes they just don't know what they want. So creating excitement for volunteering in our associations does take both creativity and conversations.

Through conversations with our members, we can learn of their interests which in turn may help us identify exciting new jobs through which we can then draw members into volunteering. This is where the creativity part comes. Once we have a list of interests, we get to brainstorm on new jobs -- and new twists to current jobs.

So for example, Matt says he'd love to watch TV pilots for potential new shows. What if in our call for presentations we required video submissions (think informal videos, YouTube, Flip Camera). To view these, you could gather a group of members for viewing and have them rate the content idea and the speaker's authenticity. This twist on the call for presentations accomplishes a couple of objectives. From a meeting planning perspective, it helps improve content quality when you see that the speaker can speak and truly has content not just a session idea.  It also engages your target audience for the event in the design process which in turn helps build attendance. Lastly, it offers a fun and useful ad-hoc volunteer role.

One way to consider getting this new, exciting list going is asking members to participate in your own meme on volunteering ... crowdsourcing your own volunteer jobs list.

Let's keep the list of fav volunteer jobs building - I'd like to send the tag out to a few other association profs to add their five favorite short-term volunteer jobs: Cynthia D'Amour, Jeff De Cagna, Mickie Rops, Sue Pelletier, and Dana Theus.

It's not a generational preference for volunteering, it's a generational preference for work style. All generations are in the volunteer pool.

Jamie Notter captures this in The Opposite of Micromanaging on his Hourglass Blog. The Decision to Volunteer puts the facts behind the statement.

Out of the mouth of the marketing guru Seth Godin comes a leadership truism worth frequent repeating:


Seth shared with Brian Clark in his interview on How To Become A Leader. The full piece actually offers Seth’s thoughts on five questions about the dynamics of tribal leadership (building from his book Tribes). The one that grabbed my attention focused on his “universal truths” many of which have a message for association’s in search of good volunteer leaders. Here are some of those truths and my reflections:

• People want to belong, they want to be missed when they don’t show up. We need to draw on this desire to belong by asking them to get engaged and then track their involvement with thank yous, acknowledgments, and ‘we missed you at the meeting’ entreaties.
• Charisma doesn’t make you a leader, leading gives you charisma. We need to look beyond the obvious leaders for those who are in the wings waiting to be drawn out. Don’t confuse strong personality with the ability to lead.
• Most of all, people care about themselves. We need to acknowledge this and help our volunteers to see how what they need can be fulfilled through volunteerism.
• Faith is belief in the future and it is critical. Religion is a set of rules designed to amplify faith at the same time it guarantees the status quo. As you can guess, heretics have a lot of faith, but not so much patience with religion. And heretics are the ones who make change. It’s too late to embrace the status quo, so embrace those instead who welcome change because they see a future vision!
• Transparency is your only option, because the tribe will smell artifice. Everyone needs to know the volunteer career path in your association and clearly how leaders are selected, decisions are made, and policies determined.

Any universal truths or reflections you would add?

Ever noticed how when the going gets tough, we begin to expect more problems? Like in associations who are predicting that we’ll see softer renewals, fewer registrants and less volunteers around the table? (As an aside, read ASAE & The Center's new research for some comfort.)

With this conversation playing all around, it was a delight to stumble upon Ken Thomas’s posting on Six Ways to Engage People in Tough Times. I’d recommend association’s read Ken for two reasons:

First, read to embrace his assumption that you can engage people – regardless of the times. We just need to change our conversation. I was speaking with attendees at an association gathering this week and someone challenged my optimistic viewpoint to which I explained the old adage that if you go on the field saying you hope the team won’t lose, there’s little chance of winning. Heading out with the idea of we’re going to win so let’s play, ups the chances.

Second, read for the back to basics reminders like its what people are getting right now that motivates them right now. So, pay attention to the day-to-day rewards. This happens to be Ken’s first tip; you’ll have to check out the posting for the other five.

Which speaks to you the most?

Volunteering evokes both a personal and emotional investment in your association.

This truth was prompted by Stuart Meyer's 4th strategy for recession-proofing your association.

'The Board of Directors needs your help!' isn't a call for volunteers, it's a red flag and as welcome as a request to give money.

The Girl Scouts of the USA is recreating itself – again. Their new efforts are shared openly on their website and are chronicled by Megan Greenwell in Blogs In, Badges Out as Girl Scouts Modernize in The Washington Post, March 2, A1.

The Girl Scouts gave us a number of lessons following ASAE & The Center’s research on 7 Measures of Success: What Remarkable Associations Do That Others Don’t. Today, they are teaching us a few additional ones.

Don’t throw out the baby with the bath water.

The cookies stay (well except for my favorite but let’s not go there), as does the system of earning badges. But they are trying and testing new waters including a pilot curriculum that move from earning badges to focusing on broader themes, including teamwork and healthy living.

Don’t fight ‘em, join ‘em.

Girl Scouts has seen an 8% decline in membership that is attributable in part to a discontent with a program that feels more like schoolwork and ignores the changing focus of today’s young girls. Shifts in programming and in strategy that embraces technology meets the girls where they are. This quote by Susan A. Miller, who has written a book about the rise of girls' organizations, sums it up nicely: "It would be silly for them to try to run counter to the dominant culture that girls are embedded in."

Consistency where it counts not where it subtracts.

“But we’re always done it that way” doesn’t wash. The challenge is to maintain what is at the core while encouraging change. For Girl Scouts, they are maintaining the goals that have defined them throughout history. The are shifting the delivery of those goals in ways that are “fun, edgy and challenging for modern-day girls,” as described by Eileen Doyle, Girl Scouts' senior vice president of program development.

Speak their language

Girl Scouts is taking this to heart in a number of ways from moving to on-line dialogs, to giving girls their own voices, to simply the naming of their new website LMK, text-speak for "let me know.” In doing this, Girl Scouts is also opening itself to greater awareness of its constituents. One of my favorite quotes about language comes from Federico Fellini who said “A different language is a different vision of life.”

Learn from others.

This is a big one for any of us in the association world seeking to survive and thrive … Girl Scouts called on two resources in its quest. First they borrowed from the corporate world and hired the first-ever brand manager, Laurel Richie, a former senior partner at advertising powerhouse Ogilvy & Mather. Second they teamed with Microsoft on their student-driven website with blogs, videos and discussions on hot topics.

Embrace diversity.

Girl Scouts is doing this in two ways we can learn from. The obvious way has to do with embracing ethnic, racial and generational diversity. One initiative reaches out to immigrant parents and children; another taps college students as troop leaders.

Another less talked about angle is troop autonomy. This isn’t new to Girl Scouts but has been ramped up in the new era. They give wide latitude for scouts, leaders and troops to choose their programming.
Will Girl Scouts succeed? The jury is still out, but given they were highlighted as one of nine remarkable associations in 7 Measures, the odds are in their favor. In that study, they were singled out in part for their “clarity of purpose marked by a real pragmatism about the means necessary to achieve those ends.”

The question for us is can we learn from the lessons of others?