Efforts recognised

The past two days were very rewarding. The p3 and p5 kids gave me many cards and presents. It was immensely satisfying and I interpreted it as acknowledging my teaching ability. I felt myself performing better than last year and those responses certainly affirmed me. It was all too wonderful! I felt like sharing with everyone. The next day had me recognised in both Kidsread and Mentoring. Both occasions, because of my lateness, I did not go on stage to receive my awards.

I'm glad that I did not go on stage. It's not an excuse for being my lateness. But it occurring twice, my lateness or not going on stage, reminds me to keep vanity in check. I will.

I never thought much about awards and recognition. Those are not what I volunteered my time for. All along, the things that I did was thought of as things that should be done and I enjoyed myself in the process. So, year after year, I had tried to do as much as I can. And the truth is, volunteerism isn't the highest on my priority, thus if any award is to come along, I don't really deserve them as people might think I am. Also, for some organisation, the sceptic me would sometimes think that giving awards is just the organisation's way of telling themselves that they had already done something for people who had provided free service to them. And so, very crudely, a 'PAID' can be stamped on the invoice. Regardless, I'll always just take whatever they give, I am certainly not proud to the extent of declining people's 'bestow-ment' ;)

I was pleasantly surprised and embarrassed to be named in part of the opening speech during the Kidsread event. And to top up the pleasantness immeasurably, my Dear is beside me to share the glory. For the sake of the records, though nobody who reads this would know what was described, the description of me was over-rated.

The occasion stimulated me, however. Perhaps because I felt bad for not being as wonderful as described; or the sight of the other volunteers and children inspired me. I had renewed drive to steer Kidsread towards benefiting more. I had the idea of getting mentees to read to children but it was put off, but that day, I had thought it quite feasible and beneficial to both children and teenager! Shall explore on to it!

The evening event was Riverside's 20th anniversary dinner. It is still a young school, despite being 20. But it has achieved much and built a strong identity. Like other years, we mentors are given a certificate for Friends of Riverside. The only difference this year is the symbolism of the presentation coinciding with the anniversary ceremony. The certificate wasn't the recognition for me that night. It was the mentors who were present that made the night. The boys were dressed smartly that night. Jeans and long sleeved shirts. Very presentable. In comparison, I was the one under-dressed. Jason informed me that he'll be reporting for NS on the 15 June. It is a beginning of a milestone for him. Jason's news, the round-table dinner, the way everybody tucked in to seriously whack the food for our famished stomachs, demonstrated the camaraderie forged over the years in the name of mentoring.

It was amazing hoe time flies. I can never forget the time when Sam and I was seated in the conference room thinking who to take Wee keong and Jason. Today, one of them is going for NS. And Jason said that he'll still want to come back for mentoring during hie book-out times. It speaks of what this programme can forge for young people. All with the correct amount of commitment by people!

Now on the real subject of this post. Recognising people can make recipients feel re-energised when done from the heart. People will recall the efforts made when the right significance is placed.
Some tips:
Do not line up the recipients in the hope of saving everyone's time (or is it the guest-of-honour's?) - we're not distributing rations ,
A little something should be described about the recipient - everyone has made unique contributions,
Some kind of practical stuffs should also be given with the certificate, eg vouchers, watch, etc- so that people will still recall the appreciation time after the event,
Appreciation must come not only on ceremonies, it should be given every now and then while people are on the job.

So it boils down to 2 things- personalised and sincerity. Put in the extra effort for the people you want to appreciate if you truly do.

SmileUp!

Building an enduring system

The kinds of volunteer work I had been involved so far can be classified as medium-term, long-term, and short-term (ad-hoc of a day or two).

There's no difficulty at all in ad-hoc events. Only challenge for me is to blend in with all the other volunteers. Not so easy for me since I tend to be a proud and relatively introverted depending on which brother of the Gemini is at work in me.
Medium-term would be like YEP, requiring intense effort over a few months, managing team dynamics and creating learning opportunities. It is still not considered difficult since one just do his/her best at each shot with whatever life experiences one can avail to provide more insight and with tact.
It's everyone's guess that long-term works are the most testing. Long-term means the work is over years and activities are probably weekly.

Two such programme I'm involved in is Mentoring and Kidsread. They are actually the only 2 programme I'm involved in currently. What's testing is putting an enduring system into place. Somehow, and I don't know how, I'm most of the time put in a leadership position through the different phases of my life. As such it is my personal interest to study the job, duty, and desirable characteristics of a good leader. The subject today is placed under 'jobs of a leader'.

I remembered LKY mentioning one of his major duty for the rest of his time in office. That is to help put in place a system in the government that as long as right and capable people are placed in it, the administration will be able to continue serving the country no matter which political party comes to power- as long as the system is kept.

I understood what he meant. And I think only the most outstanding leader can achieve that. It is not as simple as having a CEO who can boost bottom line and make strategic investments for future earnings. No. This CEO will have to build a running system in the management that will ensure self-renewal of capable players and continual steady performances by the team. I don't know a person who could and had done that yet. Heroes soar high in their time. The successor is seldom heard of, the successors... no, successors are not relevant, because the empire had fallen.

Back to the 2 programmes. Mentoring and Kidsread, like all voluntary programmes, faces the uphill task of getting good and sufficient volunteers. In mentoring, more than half the mentors will be joining the workforce or gong to NS, a gaping void will be left. Who am I going to find to fill?If no one comes, how are we going to perform the manpower management stunt?
And for Kidsread, how am I going to ensure a continual stream of volunteers year after year? And how am I going to encourage volunteers to stay?

As long as a good system is not in place, both programmes will run the yearly risk of zero volunteer intake and with veteran volunteers having to leave sooner or later, the programme itself is in danger of stopping.

Unfortunately, no feasible solution has struck me yet. I'll continually think about this...

Nevertheless,

SmileUp!