FEATURE: DEVELOPING YOUR VOLUNTEERS
Offering Opportunities
By Sam Chand
We don’t have to be top leaders to give people
opportunities. All of us—leaders, co-workers,
parents, and friends—have the privilege of
pointing people to something more meaningful.
I’m afraid too many of us take these relationships
for granted, so we don’t observe other people
very well.
If we’ll open our eyes and notice a person’s
character and talents, we can name them—
“I’ve watched you care for that person and I’m
really impressed with your heart,” or “You’re
really talented at…”—and then cast a vision of
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the future: “I can see you doing… You may not
go in that direction, but it’s something you can
consider because you have what it takes.”
I assure you that simple statements like these
can make a difference, but only if they are
targeted and sincere. In his book, Extraordinary
Influence, organizational psychologist Tim Irwin
distinguishes between two opposite messages:
words of death and words of life.
Words of death undermine a person’s safety
and confidence, often using criticism to control