Leadership through self differentiation

I have been struggling with my responsibilities as a volunteer board member. Even just to say that is difficult. And at the same time, a relief.

Many professional organizations are run by volunteer boards. The people who join these boards tend to be over functioners--the types to get things done, take things on. I count myself as one of those types of people. Sounds quite complementary so far, right?

And I also see a tendency to buckle down and do things on my own. To take responsibility for everything, and to feel badly when things aren't moving forward. To feel like "I'm not doing enough, I need to do more."


I finally reached a point about a month ago when I said "no more--I have to get to a different place around how I participate on this board. I'm tired of feeling like I'm failing at this." And with that realization, I've decided on a road forward that I quite like.


The way out is self definition. I've sat down and given much consideration to why I'm on the board, what I want to get out of it, and what *I* would like to see happen. And I've come to some conclusions about what is interesting to me, what I'm willing to take on, what I will commit to. It feels great.

Here's the challenge--I'm expecting pushback of one sort or another. I'm not sure what form it will come in, but I'm pretty sure it'll show up. There are good reasons for a school of fish to all look pretty much the same--there is a safety in uniformity, in being part of the group. Yet leadership requires risk, requires standing out, while still remaining connected to the group.

My bet is that if I stay calm, stay connected to the other members of the board, then they'll get it, they'll go with my strategy, even if it's different from what's been done before, even if I stand out from the crowd because of it.