Author: Julie Williams, APR, 2018 President-Elect
As I was committing to the presidency last July I had to think about the whole experience: what the merger would be like, how 2018 fit into vision 2020, and especially who I’d work with on the board.
Back then my first thought was pretty typical – recruiting my friends.
As we started validating the Service Draft idea as a new recruitment model for the Nominating Committee and getting traction last fall, I knew we were heading in the right, new direction though the significance didn’t quite hit me yet.
The revelation has slowly revealed itself this year.
New Perspective
We default to our friends, to those who are well known to us, because there’s trust. There’s shared values. There’s accountability. There’s respect. There’s care.
All things that grow through relationship.
I used to think it was necessary to cultivate these relationships personally – one by one.
Now I see that these relationship bonds do not rely on me personally, but can exist with the community. In this case, the PRSA Oregon community of members.
I trust the community. We have shared values. I feel accountable to the community. I respect the community. I care deeply about the community.
And I see now, that it doesn’t matter who I work with or whether I know them in order to do joyful, fulfilling, valuable work together that delivers results.
It’s not about who’s compatible with me, it’s about us all being compatible with what we’re trying to achieve.
If we all have matching levels of commitment, honor our needs, offer the best we can and share grace with each other, our work is achievable, mutually beneficial and fun.
Growing Community From Within
This new way is about building something together, not architecting it. Building teams that work, together.
We may be strangers to start and we might work very differently and we may occasionally get frustrated but we will grow into a team that takes care of us all.
Perhaps this is how everybody on our leadership team and in our committees already looks at their roles. My guess is many still see it the way I did – working with/for their friends and/or for themselves.
Heading into our Service Draft where we’ll draft 35 talented colleagues from our membership pool into roles that will help them grow professionally while helping our community and profession grow, the anticipation is ripe.
I expect that by the end of 2018, I’ll have a lot more friends in our community than I could have made on my own.
Now, I feel more eager than ever before to see who we’ll discover, who will lean in, who’s journey is in sync with ours as we grow PRSA Oregon into a fully engaged chapter for every member next year.