In my previous blog-post, I talked about how I discovered the vitality of Hartford’s non-profit/community service scene. Since then, I refocused my work with The Purpose Project to doing research on Hartford’s most effective social leaders. Surprisingly, this task includes a lot less walking than one would expect – but much more talking. My research has already had a profound impact on me, because I am beginning to see the threads of some really interesting stories in the information I’ve been gathering on each person. As a hopeful up-and-coming social leader myself, I can’t help but be inspired. As I think about my own place in the world of social involvement, I’ve started to consider some of the characteristics that define a social leader, and how someone who wants to make a difference in the community can take the steps necessary to develop into that role.

My story is probably not too different from many others who are considering getting into this field. Right now, I’m about to enter my last year as an undergrad and I’m considering a wide range of choices regarding my path in life. I’ve come to a few conclusions based on my thinking and research on social leaders. No one is going to become filthy rich working towards a social mission, and I will politely say that if personal gain is your prime motivator in life then you will not be very effective in this field. What you will gain, however, is the knowledge that your efforts are making a positive and meaningful impact in many people’s lives. In this way, a social leader’s own personal fulfillment is directly proportional to the value that he or she places on other people’s lives and the amount of energy that person is willing to invest in them.

But once you are motivated to help people, you may grapple with how to do so, and the process of finding the role that is best suited for you. You may wonder, “Will my talents be optimized if I invest them in trying to help people directly by working for a social organization?”, or, “Could I make a bigger contribution by entering an academic, artistic, business, or scientific field?” Just recently, I learned that both of these approaches can lead you to surprisingly similar outcomes.

I interviewed Gloria McAdam, the President of FoodShare, who emphasized the necessity of having many different people with diverse skill-sets to achieve the mission of a social organization. I won’t reveal too much about that interview because The Purpose Project will soon be doing a longer feature on Ms. McAdam, but what I found most striking was the fact that she places an equal importance on business-minded people and humanities-oriented people in social organizations. One can imagine that academic people are crucial for policy organizations, as are scientifically-minded people who understand certain things about health issues, the environment, or energy. There are also a plethora of artists’ collectives and guilds that play a key role in the community. So no matter what you’ve studied or specialized in, I’m convinced that there is a way for everyone to apply their talents to serving others within a social organization – even you, Folklore and Mythology majors!

However, the question remains, how does one get a foot in the door of a social organization and apply the position to making a large impact? In other words, how does one become a social leader? Martin Luther King founded the Southern Christian Leadership Conference, and Mahatma Gandhi led the Indian National Congress. So, does one need to enter into a leadership position to make a difference? Yes and no, I think. Gandhi and Dr. King’s roles as leaders went far beyond their titles. The truly compelling aspects of these leaders are their stories – their backgrounds, the things they said and did, their firmly held beliefs, and their methods of making a difference. Gloria McAdam, for example, holds the simple belief that no one should go hungry, and after learning more about Foodshare’s work it is easy to see how she has used this belief as the guiding principle of her leadership. As a result, she has become very effective at doing what she does.

I’m also learning that another measure of one’s leadership is the extent to which someone is willing to take personal responsibility for his work. Every social leader has to take risks to achieve their goals, because if there was a way to make a difference that was without risk, things would already be perfect. One doesn’t always have to go out on his own and found an organization. One can simply bring a new approach to an existing one, or dare to dream big and serve as a catalyst for growth within an organization. Even making the choice to dedicate your life’s work to a social mission is a risk, and it is one of the first great risks that up-and-coming social leaders will take.

So, back to the earlier question, how does one get their foot in the door? Well, volunteering and interning is a great way to start. I can say that based on experience. In some ways joining an existing organization is similar to being hired for any regular job out there – you have to be able to convince them that you can contribute to their organization in a meaningful way. But having a passion for what you do – and having compassion for other people – those are things that every social leader has, and they are things that you need even before you step out the door and start your own organization, or go to that first non-profit organization interview. It doesn’t matter what skills you have or what organization you join. What is important is the process of identifying the qualities inside of you that make you truly good at what you do and finding a way to apply them to the social mission that you are passionate about.

This entry was posted on Sunday, August 16th, 2009 at 10:01 am and is filed under Partner Changemakers, Thoughts and Questions, Writings. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.