“The way to gain a good reputation, is to endeavor to be what you
desire to appear.” ~Socrates
Today I will be making the final
collection of donated non-perishable food items for my High Performance
Leadership project titled Holiday Season Food Drive to benefit the Salvation Army of Brampton. My goal for this project was to collect at
least TEN 3.0 cubic feet (18 x 18 x 16) boxes by December 18, 2013 (today). From
all indications I will surpass my goal by about 5 to 10 boxes courtesy of a substantial
donation which I will collect today from Give & Go Prepared Foods Corp.
The joy of giving and being able to support someone’s dream to have food and eat this holiday season has
led to a sense of contentment that
is indescribable. The success and happiness I have experienced on this journey
is attributable to the generosity and support I received from Toastmasters
clubs and members in the cities of Brampton and Mississauga over the past four
weeks. On this journey I have learned that fear can prevent us from doing good
things. It was fear that kept me sitting on the fence with this project for
more than three years. I also doubted my abilities to successful execute the project as well as I questioned myself
in terms of what would I accomplish or how would I benefit from such an
initiative.
Today I can say without a doubt that the level of satisfaction and
sense of accomplishment knowing that I have contributed to the Salvation Army
of Brampton’s mission to meet human needs and be a transforming influence in my
community by helping to feed those in need is awesome. I am also elated by the
fact that I did not do it by myself. For this I am truly delighted for the support
and encouragement from the people around me and as such I am already planning
for 2014. In a later blog I will do an official thank you.
You too can make a difference in
your communities in 2014. In 2013, I was able to contribute more to my
community by using my time and skills and consequently I experience the sense
of belonging and being part of a wider community. This year I mentored more high
school and college students and delivered my Leaders Leave Legacy Workshop
numerous times. I got involve as co-chair of Terry Fox Elementary Public School
council. I got involved as in Toastmasters District 86 as Area Governor in
Guelph, Ontario. I advocated against youth violence and human trafficking in
the Greater Toronto Area. I was also able to re-connect with Calabar High
School in Kingston, Jamaica by getting involved with the Calabar Old Boys’
Association – Canada Chapter. Like me you too can make a difference in 2014
with very little by giving and sharing your time and skills with those who will
benefit from you compassion and generosity.
Here a 3 ways in which you can
make a difference in 2014:
Create a domino effect
When Faraz Moin saw the flyer for
my Holiday Season Food Drive he did not hesitate to participate. He immediately
sent out an email to all the members of Point of Tale Toastmasters with a short
personal message asking for donations. He created flyers and posted them around
his desk at Loblaw so people knew where to drop off the food items. When his
manager, Rhonda Templeton saw this, the next day she jumped on board and helped
Faraz spread the word within other departments at Loblaw. She made arrangements
for Faraz to announce the food drive at their weekly floor huddle, where he
confirmed that he and his team would go around and collect food items from
people’s desks. They put up flyers all around the building at Loblaw and Faraz
constantly send out emails to his peers reminding them on a weekly basis.
Faraz
created a domino effect. Faraz credited his success to the collective effort by
the people who decided to help him raise awareness and the people who decided
to donate, especially the supply chain teams at Loblaw. When start something
that is positive it creates a domino effect for others to join forces with us
and consequently we have a greater impact. We don’t all have to find the cure
for cancer or radically impact our world like Steve Jobs to make a difference
but we can take small actions that counts towards making a difference. Faraz
demonstrated that though our collective efforts we were able to make a
substantial contribution to the Salvation Army of Brampton.
Be you and be passionate about making a difference
As I mentioned in my post The Joy
of Giving, after listening to my 7 minute speech titled “Leaders Leave Legacy”
Judy Martin, Sales Analyst at Give & Go Prepared Foods Corp offered to make
a substantial contribution to my Holiday Season Food Drive. She said it was a
pleasure listening to my “Leaders Leave Legacy” speech and that she could hear
my passion for the project in my delivery. The truth is I have experienced
tough times or setbacks but I have never had reasons to use the food bank, but
what if during my tough times or setbacks I have to rely on the food bank?
Would I want others to care about my well-being?
Making a difference in 2014 is
about making a connection with the people around you and in your community.
This is true secret of service to others. It ensure that both the giver and receiver
benefits. As I mentioned above I am not only helping to support someone’s dream
to meal this holiday season but I also feeling a sense of satisfaction achieved
by being able to make a difference in people’s lives. The reward for me is
contentment and recognition that I am part of a wider community in which we
should care for each other.
Accept your vulnerabilities and unlimited capacity
On Saturday December 7, 2013 I
had to attend a funeral services in Pickering, Ontario and consequently I was
unable to keep my commitment to speaking at Soar to Excellence, Lambs to Lions
and Comfortably Speaking Toastmasters Clubs in Mississauga. Diana Alandete
agreed to collect the donated items on my behalf at Soar to Excellence and
Neeru Ria agreed to be my replacement as a speaker at the other two clubs. On
December 11, 2013 I was unable to keep my engagement with Speak to Inspire
because of a doctor’s appointment for Marisa as well as it was my 20th
wedding anniversary and Michelle had taken the time off work for us to
celebrate. Tuula Redditt agreed to collect the donated items for me.
You cannot make a difference if
you do not accept your own vulnerabilities. As you would have noted above it
would be impossible for me to be in more one places at the same time. A part of
my success was recognising that there are others around who are willing to help
me achieve my goals. Once you accept your own vulnerabilities and recognise
that success is not about me but rather about us you will be able to make a
difference.
Tuula wrote me a wonderful email
in which she said “leadership is not about doing it all yourself but as a leader
having the ability to lead everyone to do the roles. You inspire leaders in
others by giving leadership roles to them. Allowing me to help you enjoy your
day 20th anniversary and delivering our club’s donation ourselves
gives us a sense of leadership.”
We have to be able to look
outside of ourselves if we want to make a difference. The growth that takes
place once you start to look outward has unlimited capacity. There is a Buddha
quote that says “thousands of candles can be lighted from a single candle, and
the life of the candle will not be shortened. Happiness never decreases by
being shared” which I think is appropriate. Essentially once we start to allow
ourselves to grow and others around us to grow we create a domino effect of
positive energy that is infinite.
If you want to make a difference
in 2014 do the following:
- Create a domino effect
- Be you and be passionate about making a difference
- Accept your vulnerabilities and unlimited capacity
How will you make a difference in
2014?
Mark McKenzie is a leading
Subject Matter Expert in financial services regulation and supervision as well
as a professional motivational speaker, corporate trainer and youth
mentor. He can be contacted by email
mastbmckenzie@gmail.com or by telephone 647-406-4622. Read my blog
http://mastbmckenzie.blogspot.ca/ and always write me a comment and share.
Follow me on Twitter @mackynacky. Connect with me on www.youtube.com, Google+,
Facebook and Linkedin.
No comments:
Post a Comment