Herding Cats

I’ve spent most of my career working with volunteer organizations. Even those that didn’t think they were volunteer were, in actuality, volunteer by nature of who they served. I might have been paid by the University of Illinois to work with them, but most of the students were involved in extracurricular activities they agreed to do. They didn’t have to. Therefore, we had to work with them as volunteers. And that placed stresses and strains on staff accordingly.

Same with alumni of the institution; they didn’t have to do anything with the campus. We were lucky if some alums showed up and agreed to perform volunteer duties. Also with parents of students. We did what we had to do to keep everyone happy. If heavy duty professional work was required to fill in gaps among volunteers, so be it. That came with the territory.

The same dynamics appear in church work. Very few are paid staff in that setting. Most of us are volunteers. And home owner associations, ditto. PTA, Boy Scouts of America, Girls Scouts, and so on. Each is a volunteer organization at their very roots. So all of us, whether paid or not, conformed to volunteer cultures.

Now, getting people to do good work under voluntary circumstances is interesting. It requires discipline, skill-sets from many professional career disciplines, as well as sheer perseverance of belief in mission. Along the way fellow travelers either get excited by the mission and the long term vision for the organization, or they don’t. Those that do become long term volunteers. Fixtures, even. Those that don’t get excited, are short-termers in the organization. Trouble is, you never know for sure who is who.

Organizing the efforts of volunteers, therefore, is like herding cats. They do exactly what they want to do, feel at the moment to do, and are quick to change their minds without notice. Just like a cat. I’ll sit on the window sill and soak up sunshine; don’t bother me at this moment. Later I’ll catch up with you; if I feel like it.

Sound like herding or leading? Neither, you say? You are probably right on the money!

Regardless, if you believe in the purpose of the organization you will follow through and do what you can to make it work as best as possible. So many organizations survive on this: hospitals, schools, PTA, HOAs, fraternal organizations, churches, synagogues and temples. Mosques, too, I bet!

I got excited at the diversity of our town’s artists. They were quite good. Not just crafters, but artists. Very creative and articulate, also mind bending. So I thought we should have a community organization that supported the arts, artists, and interactions through exhibits, concerts, recitals and art fairs. Enough volunteers stepped forward to get the group off the ground. We incorporated, got our 501c3 status approved, opened a checking account, wrote grant requests, and received early funding for concerts and exhibits. We worked hard producing a concert series, an exhibit series, and attempted to conduct art classes to engage more artists and budding artists living within the community. We did this work for seven seasons.

Exhausted, the dwindling number of volunteers became overworked and decided to shut down the organization. We had been successful financially. We had been successful producing a diverse family of events. The community began to know who we were and supported our mission.

Our volunteers, however, did not grow in number, and the public didn’t support us in volunteer growth. Those of us left had our own reasons for being involved and didn’t always abide by what needed to be done. So internal discipline began to slip and the cat mentality became more pronounced.

The herd refused to be led. Sort of like modern day republicans, don’t you know? Sometimes this interaction pattern is refreshing and conducive to producing new thinking and philosophical shifts. Mostly, however, the pattern exhausts the poor devil volunteers who remain in the active ranks.

And they die of overwork. Each and every one of them. Sometimes with a smile on their lips, sometimes with a grimace. Each knows the fight is for good, but appreciation for personal efforts appears lacking inevitably. And then the death knell is heard.

Not a gasp. Not a rale or rattle. Just an evermore silenced sigh.

Cats don’t lead. They do. Just do.

October 15, 2015