21. Be Involved in Your Community.

As my career and family moved from Atlanta to New Jersey to Orlando with Hewitt Associates, I felt lucky, blessed, honored, and a host of other adjectives. I worked for an amazing firm, a growing organization, rubbed elbows daily with incredibly bright and talented people, and had a stable full of mentors. I felt like I had won the lottery. However, there was always one thing I felt was missing and I was having a difficult time wrapping my arms around it in an organization the size and scale of Hewitt. That “something” was community service and it was noticeably absent from my life.

From a young age, my parents instilled in me the need to give back to your community and I had watched my father and mother give willingly to the Orange Park, FL community in which I was raised. Mentally, I knew what I needed to do, but I still found it difficult to “find the time.” I recognize that was both a standard and terrible excuse, but it was the early 2000s reality for me and was the rut in which I found myself. I was actively engaged at my church and I coached my kids in pretty much every sport they played, but I still felt something was missing. I felt I had more to give, but the hours that we kept at Hewitt and the fact that it was such a large, global organization, I felt disconnected from the local community and I had convinced myself there weren’t as many opportunities to serve locally while at Hewitt, whether true or not. This desire to do more in my local community became one of the reasons I considered leaving Hewitt after 17 years and a driving force for what I was looking for to help fill that void.

I was fortunate enough to find the right organization in CoAdvantage. CoAd was founded in Orlando by three gentlemen that were very active in the local community and giving back was a cornerstone of the company. Additionally, their networks were very different from mine and my association with CoAd soon began to open other doors for me throughout the community. I was introduced to several non-profit organizations and I was encouraged to volunteer my time and talents within these organizations – and I did.  I was fortunate to be invited to sit on several non-profit Boards and I thoroughly enjoyed the experience. 

What I found interesting is that while I actively sought out new volunteer and non-profit leadership positions for intrinsic reasons (filling the community service void in my life and giving back to my community), I stumbled upon some extrinsic value that I originally did not anticipate. Now, to be perfectly clear, I should note that I am totally against Dead Weight Board Membership – people who suck up oxygen on a Board, are not actively engaged in the mission, and are there for all the wrong extrinsic reasons. There are unfortunately too many people that fall into this category. That said, for Board members that are actively engaged, there are benefits that extend beyond the altruistic. For me, this stumbled-upon value was the ability to work alongside a new set of leaders, entrepreneurs, and community servants to better our community.  I most definitely grew as a leader as I had the opportunity to build a new network and see how other leaders approach problems, develop solutions, and make decisions. From these experiences, my Leadership Mosaic was positively and forever modified and expanded. 

I owe a debt of gratitude to organizations such as All Saints Church, The Destiny Foundation of Central Florida, Fast Start, Trinity Preparatory School, Winter Park Health Foundation, and the Track Shack Youth Foundation for providing me with opportunities to expand my experiences, give back to my community, and grow as a leader. These opportunities have shaped me, given me opportunities to work with some exceptional community and business leaders, and, most importantly, they have done amazing things in the Orlando Community.

My encouragement for anyone at any stage of their life or career – get active in your local community, share your time and talents, and expand your network and leadership mosaic. It will always be difficult to “find the time,” but I assure you that the value you gain and deliver will exceed any measure of time you can devote.