Getting Involved: Is This Your Year To Step Up?

It’s a new year, which can mean new beginnings. I’d like to raise your awareness of a place where you can contribute, something I don’t hear talked about much. As entrepreneurs, we are all leaders. We have the opportunity to really change things, to make a difference in a positive and significant way. We spend a lot of time thinking about how we can be better leaders in our businesses. We spend time and energy on it. And that’s very important. Now, I invite you to expand your awareness of how you can be a leader by looking to the community. Your city or town is changing. It may even be growing. Every community has the potential to be a role model of what communities can do and be. And your business is operating within that environment. It’s affected by it. You can be part of deciding how things change and grow. What better way to have impact on your business than to be a leader in the community? I’m not necessarily talking about running for mayor, city council, or the county commission. It doesn’t have to be big. There are many ways you can get more involved in the community and be a leader. Here are some ideas:

• Step up and offer to lead in organizations you’re already a part of: hobby groups like hiking or photography, religious communities, or service organizations.
• Consider joining a city or county commission or committee that covers topics that affect you and your business, like sustainability, housing, and redevelopment.
• Join a non-profit as a volunteer or even a board member. Boards love to have people who have business experience.

Pick a topic that interests you, and find a group or organization that shares your interest. That can be directly connected to your business or not. These organizations are looking for leaders like you. And the networking opportunities are endless. You’ll meet people you wouldn’t otherwise meet. You’ll connect with them in a joint effort that’s meaningful, which will help you form bonds you wouldn’t otherwise have. Whether you’re an introvert or an extrovert, there’s a place for you. It’s really wise to expand your network beyond the obvious business connections. You just never know who can connect you to your next wonderful client or stream of income. We live in interesting times, as the Chinese proverb says, and it can be scary because we don’t know what’s coming. We can empower ourselves in times like this by remembering that everything, everything begins locally. It begins person to person on a local level. You can influence how things unfold at that level. And the ripple effect of all of us taking positive action means we can collectively influence the future for the better. So I invite you to be the change you wish to see in the world. Is this your year to step up? You have the opportunity, as a business leader, to be a contributor to meaningful and positive change. You have the opportunity to have impact, perhaps on a bigger scale than you’re ever considered. I invite you to look outside your business and see the tremendous opportunities there, for yourself and your business. And even beyond that: for the community and the larger world. You matter. What you do matters. And what you contribute is a gift to us all.