Opinion: Enjoyment key to joining women’s groups
BY MICHELLE DeCLERCK | President, Conference Event Management
Here in Central Iowa, we are fortunate to have many women’s groups and organizations. With so many to choose from, selecting the right one(s) is integral to what I call your “involvement enjoyment.”
When asked to step up for women’s groups, the natural reaction for many of us is to want to say yes, or to simply blurt out “yes” before we give it any serious thought. The next time this happens to you, you can do yourself a service by considering a few important things first.
Ask yourself: Does spending your time there align with your values? Will you be able to make a difference? How will they benefit from your involvement? Do they have requirements for you? (This is frequently the case with some networking groups.) If there are requirements, are you truly comfortable with them? Is it an active working group where you’ll be investing a lot sweat equity? If so, do you have a good sense of those requirements? Or will you be driving change and decisions with little to no actual volunteer time? What type of time commitment is really required?
Most of us don’t have a true work-life balance; therefore, making a decision based on finding this balance, versus your “involvement enjoyment,” may not yield your desired results. In fact, I’d like to challenge you to consider whether some “involvement enjoyment” could replace a balance, thereby actually making the imbalance more enjoyable for you.
This is true for me. I will never be known for doing my fair share around the house. My husband has always done more of the work around our home, especially during the many times I’ve been on the road for days on end for my career. We’ve never dwelt on the imbalance; instead, we created “involvement enjoyment” for each of us to do what was necessary to make our home life run smoothly.
In and around Des Moines, we have women’s groups that focus on leadership, groups to help us with our businesses, groups that connect us and help us network with other women, groups that support disadvantaged women, groups that mentor women, and even groups where we can drink with other women.
My advice is to hit the pause button on joining any of these groups until you understand your “involvement enjoyment,” and you’ll be sure to find the power in selecting the right groups for you.
Michelle DeClerck
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ounded Conference Event Management (CEM) and Financial Speakers Bureau. She was named a 2016 Event Top 20 Trendsetter by MeetingsNet Publications, 2016 Clive Citizen of the Year, and former Iowa NAWBO Iowa Business Woman of the Year. This year she founded Iowa Hospitality Donation Network (IHDN) to rescue usable products from hospitality venues and get them into the hands of the hungry and homeless, and Mentor Tank to provide opportunities for young women to jump-start their careers. She sits on the Executive Council for Iowa Women Lead Change and for the Lt. Governor’s Million Women Mentors. She also enrolled her company in the Iowa Epic Challenge to foster opportunities for women at all levels of their careers.
CONNECTION POINTS
She can be reached at Michelle@myCEM.com.
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