Leadership, Volunteers and S.T.E.A.M.

It was about 7 years ago when I volunteered and attended Meeting of the Minds that just so happened to be at the same conference center we hosted S.T.E.A.M. at in March. That weekend I was the smiling bartender who got to pretty much meet everyone. It’s interesting to think about the people I met, the volunteers that helped make that a success, and just how different the world was. At that point, I was a pretty new member with ABATE of Wisconsin and just getting to understand what this organization is about and how we make things happen. Helping at that event was what prompted me to become an MRF member.

Jen happened to be one of the people I met that weekend and who knew that years later she would ask me to help her with S.T.E.A.M. This go around I realized far more how much time and effort volunteers truly put into these events. At S.T.E.A.M. the volunteers did have some familiar faces, but there were also some I’ve never seen before. It’s always refreshing to have new volunteers or people step up that may not normally do so for something like this. When all was said and done, I’m really proud of how we all pulled together to make this a great seminar and showed people from 10 states how friendly Wisconsin hospitality is. And yet again, I got to meet new people from around the country who have a passion for motorcycling.

While we had a variety of speakers presenting on excellent topics, I take a great deal of interest in Leadership and growing as a Leader. I was really excited to hear Jazz speak about the Principles of Leadership. Some of what he said I may have heard or read before, but still they were good things to hear as a refresher. There were also a few things that really prompted thought. The first was that he talked about how people are going to be passionate, blunt, and occasionally assholes, when telling you their opinions and as a leader you have to control your response. You can’t emulate their behavior, or you end up getting nowhere and you look worse. Leaders are watched and held to higher levels of expectations whether they like it or not. One of his suggestions on how to deal with this was that you make sure to have 1 person that can be your confidant. Someone that you can bitch to and don’t have to worry about who else they will tell. Someone that just listens to you and understands that you just need their ear, and they don’t need to solve your problems. You can’t keep it all in! In today’s world now more than ever, I agree.

I also think we all need to reflect on how we are treating/judging others. How are we acting when we are just attending an event? Are we being as understanding as we would want attendees to be if we were in leadership positions? As volunteers are we being critical of the department and committee chairs? Are we being as understanding as we would want event volunteers to be if we were in leadership positions? As event chairs, committee members, and state officers, are we being judgmental of volunteers’ efforts or criticizing them whether publicly or privately? Are we being as understanding as we would want event chairs, committee members, or state officers to be if we were in volunteer positions? My biggest takeaway was to ask myself these questions in the future each time I go to an event, help with an event, or lead an event. I also think it’s important that we all help each other be better leaders by asking these questions when someone appears to be answering NO to the questions.

Pretty much all volunteer organizations across the nation are struggling to find and keep volunteers. As each organization is struggling to find members, I think this might be a piece of the puzzle. While our primary purpose is to participate in the legislation process to preserve motorcyclist rights, we have to remember that we can’t do that without people and money. People fundraise so there is money to support the cause. The cause needs money. Not one part of this happens on its own. We all have to work together. People attend these types of conferences to learn but also for the comradery. Its ok to have fun while we work on our objectives.

Thank you,

Krissy Bowe