Page 222 - HBR Leader's Handbook: Make an Impact, Inspire Your Organization, and Get to the Next Level

Leading Yourself 211

than spread yourself too thin or simply pad your résumé with a list
of token volunteering.

• Diversify your sharing portfolio. Consider, as many successful
leaders do, coaching not just key employees in pivotal roles, but
also a sprinkling of more-junior people or people with very differ-
ent backgrounds than yours—simply to broaden the experience of
what you might learn as you contribute. Similarly, consider diver-
sifying the kind of external organizations for which you volunteer
or on whose boards you serve to enrich the range of problems and
different networks you might potentially encounter.

• Don’t shy away from the occasional open-ended contribution. As
much as you should assess the value you bring and what you also
might derive from a sharing opportunity, sometimes it’s worth vol-
unteering without a predetermined ROI. Trust your gut if a person
or organization calls you in need and answering the request “just
seems like the right thing to do.” Realize also that helping others
and taking yourself into new situations often leads to unexpected
and sometimes unrelated opportunities, far beyond anything you
would have guessed when you first began. Be a bit speculative with
the investment of your time, but don’t overdo it.

Questions to Consider: Sharing Yourself

Here’s a short self-diagnostic to help you get started as you think about how to re-
spond to demands for your help—and where to proactively give your time to others.
■ In what ways are you sharing your knowledge, skills, relationships, or other
leadership assets with others today? Where are you having the most im-

pact? Why? Where are you making the most difference for time invested?
For those you’re helping? For yourself?

■ With that in mind, consider whether and how you might expand further—
but also better structure—your contribution to developing other people