Recently I was speaking with a young woman who was a mentor to my daughter in high school. In watching Makala lead on the lacrosse field for years I had no doubt she would go on to be successful in life.
We had a conversation recently about her experience as a volunteer for Dance Marathon at FSU and what she has discovered about herself as a leader and about leadership in the process. Following is some of the wisdom Makala shared.
Get Involved and Let Your Role Evolve from There
My involvement in the Dance Marathon started because a commitment to service is part of Greek life on campus. So the first year I simply volunteered as a dancer in the event and raised money. In the process I learned more about what the organization was all about and applied to become a delegate for Chi Omega and ended up getting a spot on the CORE team as a fundraising coordinator. Makala now serves on the Executive Board as the Outreach Chair.
I didn’t plan to become a leader in this organization. I simply got involved and my role evolved from there. When you get involved in something that is a good fit for you, stepping up to a leadership role becomes a natural outcome.
Choose Where You Will Invest Yourself
[ctt template=”4″ link=”wDU72″ via=”no” ]“Success is not about the number of things you get involved in, but rather how you invest yourself in the things that you choose to do.” Makala Peirce[/ctt]
I always thought I needed to be involved and tried to do it all. I thought that was what I was supposed to do, but I discovered that it’s better to choose where to invest myself based on what I care about. I can make a much bigger difference when I resist the urge to spread myself too thin and try to do too much, and instead focus on something specific and putting more energy there.
You Get Inspired When You Know You are Making a Difference.
Our fundraising goes straight to pediatric illness and injury Shands Children’s Hospital and FSU College of Medicine’s Pediatric Outreach Programs. Through Shands we get assigned Miracle Families who are benefitting from our fundraising.
Meeting these families inspires you to do all you can do to help them. One of the miracle families we supported is the Patterson Family, whose daughter has mitochondrial disease. They said, “we can’t believe we have hope now of living a full life”.
I am inspired by giving people hope that they will find the answers they need, and finally find the cure. That’s what motivates me to do as much as I can to support our success as an organization, because I see first-hand the difference we are making.
Don’t Sweat the Small Stuff
One of the ways being a part of this organization has changed me is that I no longer allow the small things to affect my whole day or whole life. When you are around kids from 4-15 with serious illness, you realize your problems aren’t really that significant. They are your problems of course, but it really puts things into perspective and makes me grateful for all that I have. It has really helped me to not sweat the small stuff.
Every Little Bit Helps!
I have seen firsthand how dollars contributed, no matter how small, directly helps those we serve. For example, $5 can buy a crayon pack for a child to use while they are sitting for a chemotherapy treatment for 6 hours.
How Can People Contribute?
Our Marathon, which marks the end of our annual fundraising is on March 1-3. Our fundraising goal this year is $2.4 million. If you would like to make a contribution to this cause and support Makala CLICK HERE to go to her fundraising page.
About Makala:
My name is Makala Peirce and I am the Outreach Chair on the Executive Board of Dance Marathon at Florida State University 2019. In our 24th year, I have the privilege of leading our freshmen leadership program, InspiratioNOLE Leaders, as well as our Dance Marathon alumni team. Through this organization, we raise funds and awareness for pediatric illness and injury with our dollars going directly to our local Children’s Miracle Network Hospital, Shands Children’s, and our local FSU College of Medicine’s Pediatric Outreach Programs.
You can’t learn leadership at TED Talks. You learn by being part of it as a player and doing it as the leader. Followers are just along for the ride.
Yes Tom, just like you can’t learn to ride a bike until you get on a bike. Although reading leadership books and watching Ted talks are still useful as they can open your mind, shift your perspective, show you new approaches, etc. so that you see new actions you can take or ways to do things. Nonetheless, as you suggest, unless you apply what you discovered by taking action or make a change to the way you take action you won’t actually grow as a leader.