"The leader finds the dream and then the people. The people find the leader and then the dream."
John Maxwell

Somehow people think of volunteers are people who care but really can't get the job done. The whole concept that we hear so often that they are "only volunteers" says it all. Even volunteers have been heard saying that they are only volunteers, therefore don't expect too much of them. Or the attitude that the volunteer is not getting paid, so don't expect a professional attitude or performance. This is absolutely silly. Look at college sports players, they don't get paid but they will play their hearts out on the football field or basketball court. Why doesn't the college player say, "Well I am just a college player, don't expect too much from me until I get a big salary in the pros." You and I know that this attitude would never get them to the professional ranks. Also the fans don't pay high dollars for college stadium fifty-yard seats and then say, "don't expect too much because they are only beginners." So why do we allow this minimal expectation from our volunteers. It's our job to raise the bar and begin to expect excellence, to commit to excellence.

Lou Holtz, in his book, Winning Every Day, gives it to us directly when he says, " Leaders must challenge and inspire. I know that many people today believe that demanding excellence is politically incorrect. We are supposed to accept whatever an individual gives us as the natural expression of his ability and not pressure him or her by asking for anything more. Nonsense." Our job as volunteer coordinators is just like the college coach, that is, to find and develop the best volunteers we can. Our job is to encourage our players and help them reach their goals. Every volunteer arrives at your front door fired up to perform a job that will make a difference. They have a burning desire to create change for people. Read the mission statement for your agency, isn't that what it says it will accomplish? And those volunteers come in to do these tasks that will make that difference. So what happens? Many times it is the lack of leadership on the part of the manager and their staff that deflates that excitement. Holtz uses the example of General Patton who when quizzed about the ability of his army to finish one battle, march one hundred miles and then fight another encounter in less than forty-eight hours, said " That's what we're in business for." Every leader must think that way.

These high standards start with us. We must know and understand what we are there to do. We have a job to perform that makes a difference in people's lives. We use volunteer staff to accomplish this task. We could not get it done without them; none of us have enough paid staff to accomplish our goals. Our volunteers must be continually motivated to continue their daily chase toward getting the work done. That's when we must put on our coach's cap and start to work. The volunteer manager must have the traits of leadership in be the kind of person that people want to follow. I have seen many definitions that try to explain the difference between management and leadership but the best I think comes from Warren Bennis. Warren is a professor in the Leadership Institute at USC. He says that "managers do things right, but leaders do the right things." When you work with volunteers doing the right things is critical. This involves selecting the right people, continually motivating them and assigning them to the right tasks.

Volunteers want a leader who they can trust. A leader who quite literally "walks their talk." A leader cannot be a person who says one thing but does another. Volunteers look up to their volunteer leader; they expect to see commitment and honesty in them. A leader that talks about putting the client first, but fails to do so, is far more likely to be judged harshly by their volunteers and clients alike. People expect the leader to be committed to the mission of the organization and to the volunteer program. How many times I have seen someone assigned to manage the volunteer program that had no interest or understanding of volunteers. In fact they had never volunteered themselves. This is a recipe for disaster. People do not follow uncommitted leaders. Commitment inspires and draws people to you. They will follow you if they believe that you believe in the cause.

John Maxwell in his classic text on leadership, The 21 Irrefutable Laws of Leadership, talks about the law of buy-in. Maxwell says, "People don't at first follow worthy causes. They follow worthy leaders who promote worthwhile causes. People but into the leader first, and then the leader's vision." Think about your own past experiences in business or in a nonprofit. Didn't the person that you respected as a leader become the person who influenced you to become even more involved then you ever thought you would. Maxwell says it so well when he states "people want to go along with people they get along with." As a leader though, it is not enough that you have this vision and a good cause, you must become a better leader. This is a never-ending task. Studying leadership means watching fellow leaders in action, it means reading books about and by leaders; it means attending seminars and viewing videos. Leadership is a skill that can both be learned and then continually refined. It is the key skill of the volunteer manager, oops, sorry, of the volunteer leader.