Don't Volunteer? Baloney!

I spent two years in the Army courtesy of my local draft board. Before I went everyone told me to keep my head low and don't volunteer. But experience quickly taught me that volunteering could be good, if we learn to use it to our advantage.

My barracks sergeant had difficulty getting volunteers for a number of different tasks. It didn't take too long to figure out that Sarge was negotiable and willing to swap one thing for another. I could volunteer for something that I didn't mind doing and trade it for getting out of something I did mind doing. Thus I volunteered to sweep out our barracks boiler room every morning, a five minute job. The trade off was that I would do the sweeping during reveille and roll call where everyone else from my barracks stood in ranks out in the cold for up to 15 minutes each morning. After sweeping the warm boiler room for five minutes, I could go back into the warm barracks and rest on my bunk until the company returned.

Following this process I ultimately avoided lots of things I didn't like to do by volunteering to do things I didn't mind doing. This was a win-win situation for both Sarge and me. Sarge had a permanent volunteer for hard-to-staff duties and I permanently avoided unwanted duties.

After leaving the Army and embarking upon a career in management, I soon discovered that savvy volunteering could continue to serve me well. Indeed it could enhance my career opportunities. For example, as an entry-level consultant I worked in a firm that was acquisition oriented. The merger and acquisition (M&A) work was conducted by the partners and I was not involved, informed or included. So I volunteered to come in on Saturday on my own time to assist in any way I could in the M&A work, much of which was often done on Saturdays as everyone was busy during the week on our consulting engagements.

When I first approached the company president and offered my volunteer services, he put out a memo to all the M&A partners along the lines of "Dan Pelley has volunteered to come in Saturday to work on our M&A projects. I suggest you use him, so you can teach him the principles of M&A and while he assists you in your work."

You see, that's the deal I struck with a company president. In exchange for volunteering, the company would teach me how to do M&A. And that's how I became experienced in mergers and acquisitions.

Volunteering can be useful for you too. Think about how you can create win-win volunteering situations that allow you to benefit someone else who in return can enhance your capabilities and career opportunities.

About me: Dan Pelley's career experiences range from the shipping room to the boardroom and the college classroom. He has worked in companies as diverse as metal stamping, foundries, pharmaceuticals, computers and electronic components, hospitals, nursing homes, motor carriers, distribution, retailers, social services, government, quasi-government agencies, a major art museum and an airline. He shares his experiences through programs and seminars for companies in New England and through this blog.

Copyright © 2009 Daniel W. Pelley
All rights reserved.