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Willy Volk succinctly describes how he applies his experience in the Peace Corps to his work. I have known several Scouts (all Eagles) who went on to serve in the Peace Corps and gained a great deal from it.
Volk outlines five excellent lessons to apply to any leadership challenge – ones I think are particularly accessible to youth leaders:
I joined the Peace Corps to try something different. I certainly got that.
Simultaneously, and without knowing it, I learned many valuable lessons. When I started, I was a long-haired kid who couldn’t manage his way out of a dim room. By the time I left, I had acquired a solar system of management training. Here’s some of what I learned…
1.) When starting a project, or meeting a team, don’t presume you understand their problems.
… It was arrogant to assume I knew the solution to their problem. I was embarrassed, and left discouraged. Had I made a mistake joining the Peace Corps? Of course not. But I had learned the lesson of never assuming I was smarter than everyone else… which brings me to Point Number Two.2.) Surround yourself with people smarter than you — and don’t be ashamed about it.
The next day, I visited a local community development officer named John… John understood better how villagers lived. …I wasn’t ashamed that John was better at explaining things. I was proud! He was teaching me valuable cultural information.
3.) Do the hard work with your team, but don’t do it for your team.
John and I helped organize villages to build wells. We’d even do some digging ourselves, as a show of solidarity. But we never did the work for them — because if we did that, they wouldn’t learn the skills they’d need to care for and maintain their wells after we left. Moreover, they wouldn’t feel a sense of ownership in the final product. I knew this, because a non-governmental organization (NGO) had installed hand pumps in select villages a few years prior, and when they broke, the villagers did nothing to repair them. Because they were “the NGO’s wells,” the Zambians waited for volunteers from that NGO to return to fix them! As you can imagine, they never returned.4.) Don’t be a jerk. Be awesome!
People remember two kinds of people: the jerks and the awesome. Don’t let yourself be remembered wrong.5.) Relax.
Getting angry or frustrated won’t make these things change. In the Peace Corps, I called it “rolling with it.” As a manager, I refer to it as “pivoting.” Things you don’t plan on happening, still happen. Roll with it. Or pivot. Or whatever. But relax. It could be worse.
