Impactmaking is a group effort.  You can’t go it alone!

There are lots of a great leaders in business, sports, and faith communities.  Every one of them could not do it without the support of people around them.  

Steve Jobs famously said that he hired people to tell him what to do (not vice versa).  

Tom Brady routinely restructures his contract to allow more money for teammates. 

Billy Graham could not have evangelized to so many people without the support of noteworthy community leaders.

I am here to tell you that no matter how great your impact idea is, no matter how big the need, no matter how much money you can raise, you will need help.   

A Team Game

I have had the pleasure of working with some incredibly impactful non-profit organizations over the years.  Some of my favorite are Habitat for Humanity, Food for the Poor, Boomer Esiason Foundation, His House Children’s Home, and Wigs for Kids.  

They have each identified one or more needs in society, created ways to address the need, promoted advocacy for the cause, and made a great impact in the world in their own way.  There is certainly no single method to be a successful impact organization.  However, I can say that the most productive organizations have tremendous leadership at multiple levels.  It’s not just one great person at the top or an amazing volunteer base.  It’s everywhere.

A non-profit’s team is the fuel for its mission.

I have taken numerous facility tours and I remember the highlights of many.  But, one tour in particular sticks out the most.  It is indelible (like the E-Impact from December 1, 2020, this word has become habitual) because the tour was like an event for the organization.  

I must be clear that this tour was not a special scheduled day nor was I part of an “important person parade”.  I happened to be there and was asked if I wanted to “look around”.  

I said, “Sure, show me the place.”

I can imagine that there was some practice and concentration on these type of opportunities to show pride in what they had but it wasn’t a show.  In fact, it was an honest presentation of what the organization was about.  

We went through buildings, rooms, fields, and offices.  Some of them were in great shape, others not so much.   They were proud of what was beautiful and willing to be vulnerable with what needed work.  It was very transparent.  

Aesthetics aside, what I saw most clearly was the group effort that presenting their place was.  I felt like the most valuable item to their community or a ball a team passes from player to player guarding it from their opponent with great effort. 

There was one person with my for most of the time.  But, they were there just to be of assistance.  The tour was really given by each member of the team.  There must have been twenty people that contributed to the experience.  

Ironically, a huge, impromptu tour was highlighted by all the little experiences that each person provided.

Smaller is Better

I am not sure how much time was spent by the people at the organization preparing to show people around.  Yet, I know they spend a lot of time doing the work they are called to and they really care about the cause.  They are “all in” together.  

On multiple occasions, one team member would reference the work of another department or person that does something completely different than them, but was essential to the organization.  

I noticed that people were not concerned about the size of their task, but that it was done well.  They took pride in whatever it was, whether it was the chief financial office or the groundskeeper.

Interestingly, the Executive Director described their role as just a piece of what happens there.  Much of the focus was on the people of the organization.  

I would imagine that it was an encouraging work environment.  

Doing the little things consistently outweighs the accomplishment of something huge.  

Recruiting

I’m not much of a recruiter.  I had to do some of it in my previous career and had mixed results.  I was trying to do a full-time job in just a few hours a week.  

Ironically, I got my job at my former employer because of a recruiter.  See my book, “Personal Finance in a Public World” for a detailed version of the story.  I owe him credit for much of my professional opportunities but I didn’t learn much about his role.

When I was attempting to recruit people to work for my company, I often thought I needed to present the most amazing position.  However, I value honestly greatly.  I couldn’t present something that wasn’t true.  While I believe the positions I was trying to fill were great opportunities, I also worked in the roles for many years and knew everything about them.  I knew what was great, what was average, and what was absolutely terrible.  It was very hard to show how much the good outperformed the bad.  

People want to talk about the bad.  It’s human nature.  I found myself getting in extended conversation about shortcomings of certain positions.  I knew there were solutions.  But, as much as I was explaining how to avoid the worst, we were still spending time on the negative.  I believe this hindered my ability to attract top talent.  

I spent too much time selling the amazing career, huge company, and  great benefits and not enough time serving people in a simple way.

Recruiting is not selling a big opportunity.  It’s providing a service.

Environment is Everything

I don’t like going to the movie theater.  I’ve always believed that it was because I don’t like movies.  This will always have something to do with it.  

I just figured out a new reason though.  It’s the environment.  It really doesn’t matter how good the movie is.  If I am uncomfortable, I will not enjoy the experience.

I can remember many highly acclaimed movies that I have seen and not one experience do I care to repeat.  Previously, I would have stressed, “It’s recorded.  I can always watch it again.”  This is true.  There really is no need to pay $12 and more for food and drink to see a movie in a theater.  It was a combination of money and the fact that I never learned much at the cinema.  

Ironically, the only movie I can ever remember seeing with my parents as a young person was Titanic.  I was willing to see it because I thought I would learn about the boat and its historical significance.   Little did I know it was just a love story.   

Now that I have thought about the subject deeper, I can say that sitting in a crowded, closed, dark, and seemingly unsafe theater is a big part of why I do not like the movie theater. 

I am terribly uncomfortable sitting in an unknown room that anyone can walk into.   I have to sit in the back-near an exit.  Lincoln (yes the same Lincoln that presented the Gettysburg Address from the October 13, 2020 E-Impact) was shot (on my birthday, April 14th) in a theater.   There have also been some more modern day theater shootings that just make me feel sick.  Perhaps more rational in 2021 is a fear of germs.  Who knows whose been sitting in those seats?

I would much rather prefer going to a ball game.  This definitely has to do with my interest in sports and competition.  But, maybe an open air stadium with tighter security is just more appealing.

Your environment is everything to your experience.

Workspace Wow!

Environment is not just important for entertainment.  

It also means a lot in the sports world.  Have you ever heard of home field advantage?  

It means a lot to a family.  The work I have done with Habitat for Humanity to help families build a house is life-changing.  The house is a building but the home is an environment.   

It means a lot to business.  Workplace harassment is unacceptable.  Employees deserve a safe and healthy place to work.  

I think one of the primary reasons why people choose to work for or volunteer with an organization is that it makes them comfortable.  They appreciate the environment.  

You create an entire environment by consistent, small fine points.  It’s not a single impressive thing.  I was impressed by the amount of passionate people involved in my tour of the non-profit facility.  I don’t remember any single room, item, or person over another.  I am sure there were some awards on the walls but they were irrelevant.  

The people that I hired at my previous company all joined because of the entire package.  Not one took the job for the money, benefits, flexibility, or recognition alone.  In fact, I am sure there were places they could go that had better versions of each of those.  

If environment means something in all the above scenarios, it means just as much, if not more, in your impact project. 

What’s your impact workspace like?

Little Item Big Impact

There are a lot of things that seem insignificant but can go a long way in making someone feel comfortable.

The number one thing that comes to mind is asking someone how they are doing.  This seems so simple.  Yet when asked with legitimate interest, is the most powerful question you use.   I have found that it doesn’t actually matter how uncomfortable someone is.  If you genuinely care about their well-being, you will make them more comfortable around you.  And if you plan on doing impact work with them, I would imagine that you’ll be around them a lot (whether in person or digitally these days). 

Display care for someone you have identified as a potential candidate to join your organization or project.  Refrain from piling on all the benefits of participating or even all the needs that exist.  Start with small acts of kindness (Remember E-Impact 60 from last week?). 

If you’ve already asked how they are, try these others suggestions:

• Pay for a meal/drink.

• Suggest a podcast (like Speaking of Impact!).

• Give them a book (not like Personal Finance in a Public World, haha).

• Write them a note (e-mail if you must).

• Ask how a specific person or situation in their life is.

• Offer to review their resume.

• Ask about a professional opportunity that they have mentioned is.

• Bring them something from the place you’re making an impact (not too sales with this one)

• Ask what causes means the most to them.

• Connect them with other people who may be of assistance.

• Ask what they and their family enjoy doing.

The small meaningful things mostly take a little thought and a willingness to care for someone else.  Impactmakers express these every day.  

Congratulations!  You’re a master recruiter.