As I look back I realize that my involvement in each volunteering opportunity was hit or miss.  I’d sign up for something to “give it a try.”  Maybe it would work. Maybe it wouldn’t.  There wasn’t a strategy in how I decided where to volunteer.  More importantly, however, organizations didn’t have a strategy for my volunteering.  (Surprisingly this was encouraged by most organizations, or at least not discouraged.)

Most organizations and people seem to have an “it’s the thought that counts” attitude when it comes to volunteers   Volunteering is judged not on whether it’s successful.  Or whether that volunteer is the right fit for the organization, or even if the volunteer has the right skill set to do the job.  It’s simply did the volunteer “get into the game.”

Of course as we all know, it’s never just the “thought that counts.”

Actions matter.  Even actions a volunteer takes.  Maybe especially the actions a volunteer takes.

When we volunteer haphazardly we’re running the risk of a revolving door of volunteering, where volunteers come and go, and organizations have no predictable pattern to guide decision making.

This attitude about volunteering leads to two major problems: Turnover and Engagement.

Turnover increases costs, slows down productivity, and hurts morale and satisfaction.  It makes it difficult to work as a team if part of your team is always changing.  So why do we encourage it when it comes from a volunteer?  Why do we allow a system that encourages some people to stick around only a few times?  Is it really giving volunteers the best experience possible?  Because it’s certainly not helping the organization!

The second area haphazard volunteering hurts organizations is in engagement.  If you’re not finding the right volunteer for the right position, good luck getting an engaged group of volunteers to work on your projects!  Also, good luck keeping them focused or wanting to come back for more!

So how can we fix this problem?  While there are no quick fixes (even on the interent) there are, however, two steps you can start taking today.

1.  Use some kind of “hiring” system.  I’m not suggesting some 8 hour grueling interview process, but we need something more than a “try it to see if you like it” approach.  Have volunteers fill out an application.  Interview them.  Find out if it makes sense for them to volunteer with you.  And while you do all of that, explain to them that you’re really just trying to make sure you get the right team together.  And if they get upset and leave, well, then you know they weren’t the right fit!

2.  Create a stronger mentoring / coaching process for our volunteers.  Once you start bringing in the right volunteers, make sure you keep them engaged by helping them to grow their skills.  The best way to do this is through coaching and mentoring programs.  They’ll not only stick around, but begin to display talents you might never have seen before.

Without a doubt I wouldn’t be volunteering in some of the roles I am if I didn’t have good volunteer leaders looking for hidden or underused talents that I had.  In fact, I probably wouldn’t be writing this blog (or releasing a volunteering book) if it hadn’t been for a volunteer leader seeing hidden talent a decade ago.

So let’s not encourage haphazard volunteering, instead, let’s make a better volunteer experience by finding the right volunteers for the right positions.

image provided by flickr user COD Newsroom

I realize that’s rather blunt.  But it’s true.  Often my biggest motivator is fear of being terrible.  I don’t want to turn in a crummy project to a client because I’m afraid they’ll think I’m an idiot.  I edit, and re-edit (and sometimes re-re-edit) blog posts because I don’t want people to think I’m a lousy* writer.  I’m driven to succeed because I’m afraid of failure.  Afraid of being laughed at.

And I bet you are too.

Yet the  fear of failure is ironic.  It seems to drive people to greatness.  Not everyone.  But enough.  Artists, writers, engineers, and bureaucrats throughout history have produced brilliant work because of these fears.  We can succeed because we are motivated through our fears.  We all know that a parent can motivate their child by yelling.  We see this play out every Sunday as football coaches yell at their players.  So clearly it works.

However the more I think about how we should apply our meaning to our work, the more I wonder if this is the right way.  Let alone whether it is healthy.  Yes it works, but does it get compliance, what what we really want is greatness?

One of the philosophies of Meaning to Work is that we should set people free, not “push” them.  When we push, we can get things to happen.  Unfortunately the moment we stop pushing, stuff stops happening.  When we “set people free” the creativity never stops – a natural outpouring of being set free.  This is why we fight for the cubicle class at Meaning to Work.  Being trapped at your desk will never let you live up to your potential.

I believe this idea of pushing verse setting free is at odds of creating out of fear.  Sure I can create a training program, give a talk, or write copy for a website because I’m afraid of what would happen if I didn’t.  It might be good.  It might even be great.  But what would happen if instead of working from a place of fear, I was working from a place of passion?  What if I put in all that effort not to avoid getting laughed at (or yelled at), but because I loved what I was doing?  How much better would my product have been?  Writing out of fear can get me to do some pretty cool things, but can it get me to a place of greatness?  Will it unleash the full potential of my creative skills?

I admit I create a lot out of fear.  Maybe it’s time I change this.  The more I think about it, the more I see that’s not how I’ll ever do my best work.  How about you?  Do you create out of fear?  Is this really the best way for you to create?

*I used to have an English teacher who hated that word, he would ask us if we really meant we were full of lice.

image provided by flickr user CarbonNYC

For starters, sandwich making robots are clearly the holy grail of science fiction.  Which means we’re one step closer to living in the future. A future with great sandwiches!

But more than that, this has practical implications for our work.  It impacts the type of jobs available, how people work with machines, customer service, and even how customers interact with organizations.

Now here is where most places jump into discussions about robot overlords, the evils of technology, or the economic implications of this move.  But that’s not what we do here at Meaning to Work.  What we’re interested in is how we unleash our potential, and how we can be freed to pursue our passions.  So can sandwich making robots be good for your career?

Ironically, I think the answer is “yes.”  Sandwich-Making-Robot-Overlords will help us because it puts the burden of your career / job / life back on your shoulders.  If you think you can get up, go to work, and mail it in, then you’re going to find yourself replaced with a robot-sandwich-making-device at some point.  Companies won’t have a choice, because you don’t provide them with any value.  While this has been true for years now, it will become even more important with robot competition.

Right now, we provide value to organizations simply because they need someone, anyone, standing there.  And organizations will settle for “terrible” over “no one.”  Or “average” for “perfect.”  We’ve all experienced this in fast food restaurants, where the person taking our order acts as if we’re putting them at a major inconvenience for forcing them to do their job.  Or we’ve called into customer service, and the last thing we receive is “service.”  These are often the result of having the wrong people in the wrong jobs.

But what happens when companies no longer have to settle?  What if they can just replace you with a robot who doesn’t complain, miss work, or waste the lettuce?  You see, it’s not that robots are cheaper, it’s that they are proving to be better at the jobs than their human counterparts, because we let them.

I know that being replaced by a robot is not exactly a comforting idea.  But let’s face it, whether this happens today or 10 years from now, it’s on its way.  It’s something we’re going to have to deal with.  And I think the way to deal with it is to apply more of your meaning to your work.  There will always be room for people to bring their meaning to work.  Even at a sandwich shop, if you make a great sandwich and provide great customer service you’re beating the robot in ways that it can’t compete.  If you’re an accountant who knows her numbers, and knows how to make a client laugh, then you’ll have a place in an organization that values those things.

Where I think robots will make the most difference is in eliminating the people who don’t want to be doing what they’re doing.  (And I’ve worked in enough fast food restaurants to know that’s just about everyone!)  They will replace the people who don’t want to be making hamburgers or cooking fries.

So back to the main question, can robots actually make sandwiches?  Well not quite yet.  They still have some ways to go.  Which means your career at Subway is safe for now.  But in the future, this is something we’re going to have to confront.  No longer can we sit back and just “do” our job.  We need to excel at our job.  Of course, why would you want to do anything other than excel is beyond me.

image provided by flickr user adactio

I set aside three SMART goals for 2011. If I hit those goals, I will consider 2011 a success They were:

1.  To finish the second round of editing my book on managing volunteers by the 1st of February, and the third round of editing by May 1st. With the goal of having a publishable form done by the end of the year.

2.  Get back on track with exercise by hitting the gym 3 times a week and cutting calorie intake to 2000 cal / day.

3.  Spend more time with my family. Set aside 20 minutes to read to my daughter when I get home from work. Spend 20 minutes cooking in the kitchen with my wife. Then have an uninterrupted family dinner at the dinner table.

So how did I do? Well I guess it depends on how you define “success.”

I would say that #1 was a huge success, I’ve revised the book 3 times (and it needs several more revisions, it’s no wonder Winston Churchill said that writing a book starts out as a love, and turns into a demon!). But I didn’t hit any of the time goals. Nor is it ready to be published. Still, I’m happy with the progress.

As for #2, that was a disaster. I’m embarrassed to admit it, but I never made it to the gym. Life, stress, and work got in the way. Which is pretty much true for all of us. While this won’t be a specific goal for me in 2012, I’m realizing the the older I get, the more important diet and exercise are to my ability to create content.

#3 was also a success, although not in the way I imagined. I don’t spend a rigid “20 minutes” in each of those categories, but I do make sure to wash the dishes and hang out with my wife when she’s making dinner. And my daughter and I do many more things together.

So keeping Iacocca in mind, what are my SMART goals for 2012?

Well my Big 3 are…

1. Writing. I’ve been writing content for years, with various columns around the internet, but this year I’m making a focused effort to publish an e-book. Which means final edits on my book The Volunteer Difference (working title) while also taking a page from J. A. Konrath and make sure I’ve launched another book project into the pipeline. Here’s the goal: Finish edits on The Volunteer Difference by June, and have 50% of a second manuscript completed.

2. Increased focus on Twitter. I’ve dabbled with Twitter, but until recently just couldn’t fit it into my work flow. Well now thanks to Buffer App, it’s part of my daily routine. Here’s the goal: I would like to increase @MeaningToWork by 300% by the end of 2012 (so if you aren’t following @Meaning to Work on Twitter, now’s your chance!)

3. Improve my skills. Our skills become obsolete in about 18 months. This is especially true for the knowledge worker. Because of this I want to use deliberate practice and the 10,000 hour rule to make sure I have the skills to really use my Meaning in my work. Here’s the goal: Spend 1 hour a day focused on improving my knowledge skills, with at least 1 more hour working on my communication skills. (That won’t get me to 10,000 hours anytime soon – but it will be a huge, deliberate, boost to my skills.)

Those are my goals for 2012. What are yours?

photo provided by flickr user GollyGForce

Hearing this tells me two things.

1. This must be an amazing hospital if people are willing to spend (literally) a lifetime working there.

2. These nurses love what they do.

It’s this second point I want to focus on.  To most of us working for one organization for 40 years sounds kind of shocking.  We cringe at eating the same food at lunch for a week.  We scoff at wearing last year’s fashion.  We drool over next year’s iPad’s.  We live in a society that loves change.  (And that’s not necessarily bad.  But it does mean that we don’t really value stability and longevity and often wisdom.)

The only way you can stand to last this long with one employer is if you bring your meaning to your work.  You have to love what you do in order to get up for 10,000 days worth of work.  You must bring meaning to your job if you’re going to put up with grumpy patients, terrible bosses, and annoying bureaucratic tape.

The nurse we spoke with certainly did. In fact, she said that since she was turning 70, she was feeling it was time to retire .  (Her original plan was to retire at 65, but she had cruised right on past it – she simply couldn’t bring herself to leave her job.)

How many of us avoid meaning in our work, or worse, look for our work to give us meaning, only to be disappointed day after day?  Maybe the reason you can’t imagine going to work for 10,000 days with one employer is simply because you aren’t doing what you’re meant to be doing.  Be honest with yourself.  Do you bring your meaning to work every day?  If not, why do you keep doing it?  Is it really worth it?  I mean, deep down, worth it?

We’re headed into a new year.  Maybe it’s time you make that change.  Maybe it’s time to go for that promotion, switch that career, or take that pay cut.  Because if you don’t, when you’re 70, what will your work say about you?

photo provided by flickr user otisarchives3

We often think of empathy as “feeling your pain.”  (Thanks Bill Clinton!)  But it’s actually more than that.  True empathy is the ability to recognize and relate to other people’s emotional states.  Both the good and bad emotional states.

So how does this relate to our work?

Well, all of us experience aches and pains in our daily lives.  Maybe we have a chronic illness.  Maybe we’re just sick.  Or maybe we didn’t sleep well the night before and we’re in pain from an uncomfortable mattress.  (Or because you have a 5 week old baby who refuses to sleep.)

When we experience these aches and pains, we have a need to emotionally unload those feelings.  This usually results in gossip, complaining, or just general lollygagging (which is a scientific measurement recognized in the Ukraine.)  In terms of productivity, though, our aches and pains create an obstacle in our path that derails our productivity.

Having an empathetic boss removes that obstacle by reducing the chance we’ll complain about those ailments.   Instead of trying to find a way to unload our frustrations, we have our need met by our empathetic boss, which in turn improves our work.

So the next time you’re feeling the aches and pains of life, instead of “venting” at the water cooler or to a random co-worker (or Facebook!), find someone with real empathy, and talk to them.  Not only will you feel better, but you’ll be more productive.

Scott, BA, Colquitt, JA, Paddock, EL, Judge, T  “A Daily Investigation of the Role of Manager Empathy on Employee Well-being.”  Organizational behavior and Human Decision Processes. (2009) 

photo provided by flickr user makelessnoise

Now look, I admit I’m not an MBA.  I’m not a CEO of a fortune 50 company.  I haven’t even slept at a Holiday Inn Express recently.  And here at Meaning to Work financial forecasting isn’t our specialty (our specialty is focusing on how to free employees to be better, to become more productive.)  So I may be stepping out of my element (financially speaking.)

But I don’t see how raising rates, while reducing service is any way to improve your financial situation.

No matter what industry you are in, you have to serve your customers.  And you definitely can’t annoy your customers.  Without your customers, there is no one to buy your products or services.  Even if you despise your customers (and hopefully you don’t, because that would tell us you’re in the wrong industry), you must find a way to offer your customers what they want.

This is especially true in the “internet age.”  Thanks to social media more people have more access to more products and services.  If you aren’t providing them with what they want, then they have a choice.

This is true for the post office and it’s true of your consulting business.  It’s true of churches and it’s true of hospitals.

This is obviously disruptive for huge bureaucratic organizations like the Post Office, or gate keeper organizations like Hollywood or recording studios.  But for the rest of us, this is fantastic news!  It means if we can find a way to offer customers what they want, then we can have a successful business (or church, or hospital.)

(And by the way, “giving customers what they want” isn’t always about finding the lowest common denominator, sacrificing your beliefs, or hiding your motives.  In fact, it rarely, if ever, is.)

image from the public domain

For the second year in a row I managed to complete a 50,000 word book.  And yes, I did that in a month.  This is both impossibly harder, and wonderfully easier than it sounds.  Make no doubt about it, 50,000 words is a lot.  But at the same time, writing 1,667 words per day is actually pretty manageable if you’re willing to put in the work.  Which, of course, is like most things.

As I close up NaNoWriMo for the year, I realize that I’ve never really had writer’s block.  At least not since I became a blogger.  And as I thought about it, I think there are reasons for this lack of writer’s block.

1.  Practice Effect.  When you need to come up with content day in, or in the case of Meaning to Work, week-in, you have to keep at it whether you feel like it, or whether you are inspired.  So you write, write, and write some more.  Which means you end up practicing the things that make your writing better (i.e., writing.)  This practice effect is probably the single biggest reason I’ve been able to avoid writer’s block. 

2.  Jump to What Inspires.  If there’s one lesson that NaNoWriMo and Meaning to Work have taught me it’s that you should follow what inspires you.  The same goes for your writing.  When you begin to feel the first signs of true writer’s block, shift gears.  Write a different segment of your story.  Start a new chapter.  Go back to an old section.  Whatever you do, don’t just sit there staring at the same text.

3.  Have Goals.  Goals provide the structure for your inspiration.  If you just jump to what inspires, then all you do is have a bunch of spastic activity, and not progress.  Goals help you structure what inspires you into something meaningful.  Goals get you to where you need to be.

4.  Sticking With It.  It’s easy to do the first three steps, and then not follow through.  I used to do this in college.  I’d work my tail off for the first 90% of the semester, then come finals time I would be too tired to finish strong.  And I’d slack off.  As a result I never turned in my best work.  The older I get the more I understand pacing (and therefore avoiding procrastination).  But I also understand the need to finish strong.

While I use these techniques to write.  The truth is they also apply to other work.  You can use these four ideas to become a better chemist, a better project manager, or even as a way to brainstorm new ideas for your business.

So where can you apply these ideas in your life?

It was the holiday that was smashed between the candy-sugary goodness of Halloween and the present-filled awesomeness of Christmas.  It was simply the overlooked holiday.  At best it was a time to stuff my face.  At worst it was a time that inconvenienced my life’s schedule.

But as I get older the more this changes.  Sure I still love trick-or-treat, Christmas presents, and vacation days.  But I also realize just how much I have to be thankful for.  This has been a challenging year on a lot of fronts.  Of course, that’s not unique to me.  Most of us could say that of the last few years.

Even though it’s been hard, in many ways it’s been some of the best years.  I got married, had a kid, started a business.  I now get to do what I love: teach and speak about social media and organizational psychology.  I get to volunteer in ways that help the local church improve its impact through its volunteers and staff.  (And yes, that’s what I call “fun.”)

On top of all of this I’m working on the first draft of my second book thanks to the added motivational power of NaNoWriMo, and I am enjoying teaching one of my best classes at Xavier University.

If there’s a lesson I’ve learned in the last two or three years it’s simply that crap happens.  And it happens all the time.  Which means there will never be a better or more perfect time to do something than right at this very moment.

So this Thanksgiving, seize the day while you’re also seizing a turkey leg.

photo provided by flickr user purpleslog

So how do you avoid pain in life?

Actually you can’t.  It’s a trick questions.  Life isn’t about avoiding pain – it’s about embracing the opportunities you have to make a difference.  It’s about leading with love.  It’s about not giving up when things get hard.  It’s about taking your meaning and applying it to your work.

I’ve been thinking a lot about that recently.  Especially as my wife and I enter the home stretch of a very challenging pregnancy.

Somehow we’ve been fed the lie that we can avoid suffering, pain, rejection, fear, and generally icky feelings (that’s a technical term.)  The truth is, life is more about pain, suffering, etc… then it ever is about being pain-free.

Your life is going to be interrupted by death, sickness, terror, accidents, pain, and misery.

It’s a fact.  You can ignore it all you want, but that doesn’t make it any less true.

Your life isn’t measured by how well you avoided any of that – your life is measured by how you dealt with all of that.

So what are you going to do when life throws you a curveball?

image provided by flickr user dbking