LEARN TO LEAD - Civil Air Patrol

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13.1 Leadership for Volunteers:The Way It Is and The Way It Could BeBy Richard CumminsOBJECTIVES:1. Define the term “intrinsic”.2. Define the term “extrinsic”.3. Identify four assumptions that can hinder the success of volunteers in an organization.4. List four arts that can contribute to the success of volunteer organizations.ABSTRACTThe failure of volunteer organizations iscommonly attributed to a lack of leadershipfor the organization. The failure problemmay be more closely related to unrealisticassumptions rather than the lack of leadership.Identifying common assumptions aboutorganizational goals, volunteer roles, informationflow, and feedback is crucial. Addressingthose assumptions by learning the arts ofactive listening, mentoring, public dialogue,and evaluation and reflection is critical tothe success of an organization.For some time, questions have been asked about whysome volunteer organizations are more successful thanothers. By and large, the problem is not with the leadershipof the organization. Many talented volunteers bringsubstantial leadership experience from either the privateor the public sector. The problem may be more closely relatedto unrealistic assumptions regarding the implementationof leadership for organizations.Through personal experience, four common assumptionsregarding leadership for volunteers have emerged.These benchmarks were more a result of armchair observationsand hard knocks than the result of research. Researchindicates these heuristics, however commonlyaccepted when working with volunteers, may cause moreproblems than they cure.Volunteers are attracted to organizations for a varietyof reasons. Generally, the motivations for aligningwith others in a voluntary effort can be classified eitheras intrinsic, that is, doing something for the sake of theactivity, or extrinsic, or doing something for an expectedpayoff. Whichever the case, the volunteer expects to dosomething. The following generally accepted assumptionsmay be a source of problems for volunteers willingto work.Assumption One: Everyone knows what the organizationstands for and represents. Volunteers select organizationsbecause of the vision and mission of the organization.In order to fulfill an organization's mission, goals must beclearly articulated to the volunteers. Clearly, volunteerswant to do something to help reach the goals and visionof the organization. With the increasing mobility of volunteers,the makeup of an organization will change rapidlyand the assumption that everyone knows the mission ofthe organization is risky. The only way to assure commongoals is to frequently share those goals.Assumption Two: Everyone knows their role. In thework world, employees are usually provided a listing ofexpectations for their job, such as work standards, appropriatetime schedules, authorization capabilities, oversightresponsibilities, and reporting protocol. Volunteershave different motivations for voluntary work than paidemployees; however, specific guidelines are required inorder to have a smooth functioning organization. Roleclarification cannot be over-emphasized in volunteerorganizations.Assumption Three: Everyone knows where to getneeded information. Volunteers need to know and understandhow different parts of a project fit together.Newsletters may give general comments and updatesabout a project but are usually inadequate regardingspecifics about project progress. In addition to the informallines of communication that develop, a specificreporting mechanism should be established and implemented.Many problems can be avoided when the informationflow is unimpeded.Assumption Four: Everyone gets feedback. It hasbeen said that in Vietnam, the U.S. military did not fight anine-year war; but rather because of frequent troopchanges with no feedback or institutional memory, theU.S. military fought the first year of a war nine times insuccession. Volunteers cycle through organizations inmuch the same way and new recruits are often unawareof previous efforts. Providing feedback to volunteers iscritical at all levels of the organization. Special attention44
is required in order to share previous experiences withcurrent members.Becoming aware of assumptions and the effectsthose assumptions have is important in any endeavor. Inorder to address organizational assumptions, leaders forvolunteers should be aware of four arts for sustainedinvolvement. Learning and practicing these arts can contributeto success for volunteers and their chosen organizations.Art One: Active Listening. Encourage others to talkand search for meaning. Be aware of values of volunteersand strive to meld organizational values and individuals'values. Encourage volunteers to talk about the organizationand what they expect from the volunteering experience.Art Two: Mentoring. Supportively guide others inlearning and sharing not only how, but why specific rolesare important. Strive to match available skills with volunteers'and organizational needs. Help others solve problemsthat are holding the organization back.Art Three: Public Dialogue. Encourage public talk onmatters that concern us all. Facilitate interaction to helpvolunteers gain understanding and appreciation for allsegments of a project. Emphasize the free-flow of information.Art Four: Evaluation and Reflection. Assess andincorporate the lessons we learn through action. Publicdecision making encourages those expected to implementplans to have ownership of those plans. Encourage newvolunteers to make suggestions and avoid suggesting alockstep method for the organization.ABOUT THE AUTHORRichard CumminsVisiting Assistant ProfessorBush School of Government and Public Service andDepartment of Agricultural EducationTexas A&M UniversityCollege Station, Texasr-cummins@tamu.eduFrom: Richard Cummins, “Leadership for Volunteers: TheWay It Is and The Way It Could Be,” Journal of Extension 36,no. 5 (1998). Used with permission.Providing leadership for volunteers can be exhilarating,frustrating, exciting, tedious, rewarding and demanding,all at the same time. Learning how to assess what isand assessing what could be is an important function ofleadership for volunteers. Investing time to learn andpractice the four arts for sustained involvement can yieldsubstantial results.45
Page 1 and 2: VOLUME FOUR STRATEGIC PERSPECTIVESL
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Page 10 and 11: 12CHAPTER 12INTRODUCTION TO STRATEG
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Page 14 and 15: mandates or resolutions that would
Page 16 and 17: and ambiguity, aspiring strategic l
Page 18 and 19: 12.2 National Security StrategyThe
Page 20 and 21: within our borders has always been
Page 22 and 23: front common challenges like violen
Page 24 and 25: and our strategy, not sector earmar
Page 26 and 27: thinking about organizations. She m
Page 28 and 29: A systemic approach to failure is m
Page 30 and 31: The late W. T. Grant Company is a r
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Page 34 and 35: focal point for describing and inte
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Page 40 and 41: Web, can be viewed as a CS attempt
Page 42 and 43: How to evaluate users and contribut
Page 44 and 45: 13CHAPTER 13LEADING PUBLIC &VOLUNTE
Page 48 and 49: 13.2 Take Root: Volunteer Managemen
Page 50 and 51: QualificationsClearly list educatio
Page 52 and 53: and effectively track their volunte
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Page 56 and 57: • Send a birthday card.• Submit
Page 58 and 59: and tested more than six decades af
Page 60 and 61: specific interests of the donors, v
Page 62 and 63: tain) tax-exempt status from the In
Page 64 and 65: Smucker, 1999).The Internal Revenue
Page 66 and 67: culture is necessary to ensure the
Page 68 and 69: 13.4 The New Look of TransparencyBy
Page 70 and 71: ees for a couple of reasons: One, i
Page 72 and 73: 13.5 Public and Private Management:
Page 74 and 75: TABLE 1:FUNCTIONS OF GENERAL MANAGE
Page 76 and 77: 3. Career System. The model corpora
Page 78 and 79: islative charter - the Clean Air Ac
Page 80 and 81: In controlling performance, Chapin
Page 82 and 83: 14CHAPTER 14AIRPOWER ASSTRATEGIC LA
Page 84 and 85: 14.1 Strategic Air Power: Fulfillme
Page 86 and 87: carry it out. Their daylight raids
Page 88 and 89: you did not rely on strategic bombi
Page 90 and 91: 14.2 Warden and the Air Corps Tacti
Page 92 and 93: ecomes one of applying sufficient i
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courage the rapid and widespread ex
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it to influence physical players in
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14.4 Basic Air Force DoctrineAF Doc
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earthquake-stricken Haiti. The worl
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perspective. Airmen do not divide u
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Command and ControlCommand and cont
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14.5 Should the US Maintain the Nuc
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form of human government.” 20 Dem
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obtainable goal. See the Global Zer
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15CHAPTER 15ORGANIZATIONAL CULTURE
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15.1 Organizational CultureBy Doria
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Review. This action strives to unco
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gram will serve and then having the
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ticipating the changes being made b
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Many years of working with change p
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At the least, the areas of concern
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15.4 Developing an Innovative Cultu
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CONCLUDING THOUGHTSIn an ever-chang
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global issues. Businesses that poss
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— Sees the big picture—the shif
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16CHAPTER 16STRATEGIC COMMUNICATION
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16.1 Principles of Strategic Commun
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16.2 The Art of NegotiationBy Brend
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16.3 Negotiating Effectively Across
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hidden areas can act as cultural ho
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and four conflict styles. Hammer be
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maintaining the relationship. As th
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25 Mitchell R. Hammer, “Chapter 1
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tural, socioeconomic, and psycholog
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for the win-win," during which time
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interests and, at worst, as a gun s
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Public diplomacy is surely about mu
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But public diplomats do not have th
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Photo courtesy of the familyThe LEA
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THE CADET OATHI pledge that I will
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