When no one makes decisions, nothing gets done. Having a strong voice, or a set of unified voices is key for setting and achieving goals.
The foundation you put into place is key to your success. Build a group that you would be proud to join if it already existed. What do you want to gain from the group? This is a pivotal time for your group, so step up, or support someone who is willing to step up.
“Who’s going to do all this work?”
There are many structures that you can adopt and while each is dependent on the willingness of your membership to step up, ultimately its on your shoulders to get this going. Yep, the fact that you care enough to read this means that it’s on your responsibility.
I know that can be a heavy burden and it’s tempting to ease the weight by making this a democratic endeavor from the start, but before you can vote on anything, someone has to rase the banner for people to gather around. That’s you.
Odds are good that you’ll find some volunteers early in the process – people who have ideas and want to share their passion for this idea. Great! Help is good, but you need to ensure that the help follows through. That may come off as dismissive, but it’s not. We all have the best of intentions, but this modern age keeps us busy, so we prioritize how we spend our time and energy shifting our priorities.
So, how do you balance the need for resources with the reality of priorities different than yours? There are a few of ways: go it alone, create a formal division of labor or form an informal coterie of people that you can rely on. Each has benefits which we’ll cover in upcoming posts, but its important to realize that you may well adopt each of these at different points and that’s fine. It’s not a progression, it’s a set of tools that help you do what it takes to be successful.