Volunteering in your community and volunteering in your industry. Both are important but today, I want to talk about the advantages and the importance of putting some time into your industry.
Adding value to your industry can help in so many ways.
Great for networking
This is where you can meet other people who have at least one thing in common with you, your industry! Build your database. What’s more important than that in this day and age? This can lead to being in a position to serve your colleagues as being a resource for them. Refer to them and refer others to them. This will really elevate your status within the group and industry. Remember, the person with the biggest database wins in business these days. Look at the success of LinkedIn.
Giving and gaining knowledge
What a great way to talk about best practices. What’s working and what isn’t? What are the latest trends? Think of this is a way to set up a mastermind group without the formalities. I’m not even talking about the formal programs.
Give back to the industry
As with anything we do, the more we give the more we get. I know it sounds like a cliché but it really does hold true. We owe it to our industry to grow it, to develop it, to nourish it. How else will it grow if we don’t leave our mark on it? If we always say that each person is responsible for their own accountability or development, why would it be any different for us and the people we support?
Increase your profile within the industry
This is where you can shine and people can see you for who you really are. As they say, “give and you shall receive”. This is where all the above reasons to volunteer work together. It shows you are a giver. It can give you credibility. It can show you are serious about the work you do. Being a volunteer is one way you can stand above others.
Any volunteers? Find your local ASTD chapter, national ASTD, ISPI or whatever organization speaks to you and don’t just join, but get involved.
Leave a Reply